RACE, CREED, AND COLOR

St. Louis Park was basically started by a band of stalwart New Englanders. In came the Germans and then the Scandinavians, all white, of course. The population of the Park was to remain homogeneous for many years. This chapter outlines some of the events that occurred on the road to the acceptance to all races, creeds and colors that we enjoy today.  Your comments and contributions are welcome; please contact us. 

The first known black person in Minnesota was said to be George Bonga, a fur trader who died in 1874.

In 1820, the Missouri Compromise banned slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the southern border of Missouri.

The first African-Americans to come to Minnesota arrived as the slaves of Major Lawrence Taliaferro, who came to Fort Snelling on May 2, 1823. He sold some of the slaves to his friends at the Fort and freed the rest.

The US Government signed treaties with the Dakota at Traverse des Sioux and Mendota, opening up southwestern Minnesota to white settlers.

The US Government and the Ojibwe signed a treaty in Washington, DC.

Slaves Harriet and Dred Scott came to Minnesota with their owner, a Fort Snelling surgeon. in 1836.  In 1857, Scott sued for his freedom, since Minnesota was not a slave state, but a far-reaching Supreme Court decision ruled that he could not claim freedom; i.e., his owner had a right to his property.

The Territorial legislature considered a bill in 1854 that required African-American residents to post a bond of $300 to $500 as a “guarantee” of good behavior.

Although Minnesota was admitted as a free state in 1858, there were those who supported slavery. In March 1860, the Democratic party put forth a bill that would allow slave owners to bring their slaves into Minnesota and keep them here for six months without challenge. That bill was defeated, and Republican Abraham Lincoln roundly defeated Democrat Stephen Douglas that same year.

Black men first won the vote in Minnesota in 1868 after two previous referenda turned it down. That year, the Sons of Freedom was formed, open to all African-Americans in the State who needed assistance in jobs and trades, or in maintaining their personal property.

Minnesota’s first Mexican resident was Luis Garzon, a trained oboist and graduate of Mexico City’s Conservatory of Music. He came to play with the Mexican National Band at the Minneapolis Industrial Exposition in 1894 and stayed. His children were the state’s first Mexican-Americans.

J. Frank Wheaton was the first black State Legislator, elected to the House in 1898 and serving in the 1899-1901 session. Wheaton was also the first African-American graduate of the U of M Law School.  After his term in office he moved to New York City and became a prominent civil rights attorney. 

In 1916, the first permanent Mexican-American settlement was established on St. Paul’s west side. Residents formed the Sociedad Anahuac, with the purpose of promoting civic, social and religious activities of Mexicans and chicanos.

Three black carnival workers were lynched in Duluth in 1920, accused of raping a white girl. No one is convicted for the crime.  Read about this terrible time at http://collections.mnhs.org/duluthlynchings/html/background.htm

Minikahda Vista, carved out of the Hanke farm, was advertised in a pamphlet that listed "Twelve Facts to Consider Carefully." One promised "Building restrictions of $5,500 to $6,500 to protect your home investment." Also no apartments or duplexes, just single family homes that had to have two stories. Not exactly a racial restriction, but it did have the effect of keeping out the summer shacks that were being thrown up in Brookside.

The Ku Klux Klan made its presence known through the newspaper Voice of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, published only twice in February and April 1923. It was published by the North Star Klan No. 2 of Minneapolis - one of up to 10 Klans in Minneapolis. The first issue features a letter to members of the Minnesota State Legislature signed by the "Exalted Cyclops," and provides a guide to what it stands for, which is freedom of religion, but not for Catholics in politics. The second issue makes it clear - the screaming headline reads "Plot of Rome to Grasp Control of U.S." A cartoon shows the Pope sitting on the globe, pulling puppet strings and aided by a bag of money contributed by the Knights of Columbus. Apparently the KKK saw as many Catholics infiltrating the government as McCarthy saw Communists. One statement meant to prove its righteousness is particularly colorful:

You will find every Bootlegger, Blindpigger, Dive and Resort Keeper, every Dope Seller, every Crook and Criminal in the United States individually and collectively opponents of the Ku Klux Klan, and lined up with these... will be found every Anarchist, every I.W.W., every "Red" Radical, every enemy of the Public Schools, every Servant of a Foreign Pope and every Alien Enemy of our country..."

In 1924, 1,100 Klan members from throughout the Midwest held a rally at the Fairmont Fairgrounds to initiate 400 Minnesotans. 13,000 people came to watch. In 1926, it is rumored that crosses were burned near Catholic residences in the Park. It is reported that a cross was burned in St. Paul on May 25, 1926.

In 1924, the Country Club District of Edina was platted. The subdivision was based on a similar subdivision in Kansas City and from the first was meant for the higher classes. The first house, sold in June 1924, was located on Browndale Avenue in the heart of the development. By 1927, 200 houses and a golf course had been built, despite the Depression. Homebuyers faced many restrictions as to the cost of the houses they built, the kinds of trees they could plant, the animals they could keep, etc. Most notably, occupants were strictly restricted to the "white or Caucasian race." All restrictions were to expire on or before January 1, 1964 except the one regarding race, which was to remain in force forever. However, all such race-specific real estate covenants were invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948. Such attitudes contributed to the movement of the Settle, Lucas, and Yancey families, black families that had lived in Edina for generations, to move to Minneapolis.

A 1932 note in the Hennepin County Review informs us that Miss Alice Feudner and Mrs. Alfred Truman were directing rehearsals of "A Night in Harlem," a negro comedy. 

In 1934, the Indian Reorganization Act recognized Indians' right to live as a separate culture and form their own governments.

In 1938, Calhoun Realty advertised the new subdivision of Knollwood, "a restricted, architecturally controlled subdivision of beautiful picturesque homes." The term "restricted" sometimes meant that you had to build an expensive two-story house, and sometimes meant no Jews and no blacks.

A leaflet distributed to Minnesota farmers in 1940 was issued by the American Christian Movement, which had a Minneapolis address. The pamphlet aimed its invective against the New Deal and Jews, telling its audience that the Jews were not worth going to war for.

On March 10, 1944, the Hennepin County Historical Society hosted a talk by Rev. Edwin T. Randall of Hopkins. The subject of his talk was “The Race Problem in the World to Come.” Randall was the director of the Bible School of the Air.

Some of the earliest incidents of what would now be considered racism were the minstrel shows that various groups put on for fun or to raise money. They probably were not malicious, since most of the people involved had never even seen a black person.  These shows might be found in schools, churches, the PTA, and one in 1946 when St. Louis Park Cub Scouts held a minstrel show in blackface, performing to 700 people.

In 1948, Minneapolis Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey gave a groundbreaking speech on civil rights at the Democratic National Convention.

1949 was a year in which the Park Department was greatly expanding the number of parks throughout the Village. Gone were the days that children played in the fields surrounding their neighborhoods, as new houses replaced them. In one particularly ugly incident, a park was planned for 40th and Brunswick. But the man next to the proposed park, Mr. John V. Knotz, objected. In fact, he objected so strenuously that he threatened to sell his home to a “nigger” if the park was built. Local citizenry, afraid he would follow up with his threat, asked the Village authorities to move the playground. They did.

Park’s first black family to move in was the Woodfin Lewis family. Lewis was a nuclear physicist, come to the Cities in 1952 to work at Honeywell. First accepted, then evicted, they negotiated with their landlord in the face of public outrage at their eviction. They won, but only stayed for six months before moving into the City. Be sure to read the whole story by clicking above.

In the wake of the Lewis incident, in November 1952, representatives of 50 organizations met to see if they should hold a community conference on human relations. The meeting was held by the newly-formed Citizens Committee on Human Relations in St. Louis Park. Leading the meeting was Rev. Max Karl, regional director of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

On November 3rd and 4th, 1953, Roger DeClercq and Jack Alwin produced the “Negro Classic Play ‘Green Pastures’” at the high school. “Green Pastures is an attempt to present certain aspects of a living religion in terms of its beliefs. The religion is that of thousands of Negroes in the deep south. With terrific spiritual hunger, these untutored black Christians have adopted the contents of the Bible to the consistencies of their everyday lives.” The show featured a 30-voice choir singing 20 spirituals.

In June 1958, the owner of 15 acres on Wayzata Blvd. gave an option for $60,000 to builder Oscar Peterson to build an “all-colored subdivision.” This turned out to be a threat to the City as a result of the Council’s refusal to approve a pay dump in that area. The Council did not take the threat seriously, but it is another example of using the sale of land to blacks as a threat.

In 1959, the Rondo neighborhood, a center of St. Paul's black community, was razed for the construction of I-94.

In 1960, an incident in Morningside led the St. Louis Park Ministerial Association subcommittee on fair housing to issue a resolution deploring panic selling. The resolution called for fair housing and equal rights for all citizens and prospective citizens. That year, the minority population in St. Louis Park was .5 percent, and the black population equaled 21.

Also in 1960, St. Paul picketers joined the NAACP in a national boycott of Woolworth's until the company desegregated its lunch counters.

Black members of the Minnesota Twins were forced to live in segregated quarters during Spring Training in Orlando, February 1963.  Outrage ensued.

In 1964, St. Paulite Roy Wilkins was named executive director of the NAACP.

The mid-1960s were a time of racial violence, as city after city experienced unrest. In 1964, many were injured in riots in Philadelphia and Elizabeth, NJ. Protesters demonstrating for civil rights disrupted the subways on opening day of the New York World’s Fair.

In 1965, a group that was making noise was the John Birch Society, founded in 1958 by Robert Welch. The Society was opposed to the United Nations, the Supreme Court, and accused former President Eisehower and other government leaders of being communists. In 1965, the St. Louis Park Republican party publicly excluded any member of the John Birch Society from taking office in the party. There were two dissenting votes.

In March 1965, Dr. Fred Lyons, president of the St. Louis Park Human Relations Council requested funds from the City Council to accept an award at a conference of the National Assembly on Progress in Equality of Opportunity in Housing, to take place in Springfield, IL on March 18-20, 1965.  No action was taken.

In July 1965, 22 white Minnesotans traveled to Peach County, Georgia to promote voter registration, education, and “community benefit projects in general where Negroes earn livings by picking peaches and pecans for a pittance (about 20 cents an hour).” The Dispatch declared that the group “will be Negroes by sundown Saturday.” Their leader was experienced civil rights worker Jack Mogelson, who was living with his parents at 3152 Florida Ave. in St. Louis Park. The project was called SCOPE: Summer Community Organization Political Education. Participants were students or graduates of the U of M.

Jack Mogelson was inspired to become a civil rights worker while watching the funeral of three other rights workers who had been killed in Mississippi. He dropped out of school and became a freedom rider in Mississippi himself. He was an organizer of the March on Selma, and then spearheaded the 1965 trip to Georgia. Jack did the lion’s share of the fundraising for these activities. He met his wife Judy, a nurse, on a picket line, and they moved into North Minneapolis just as most of the whites in that neighborhood were moving to the suburbs. He made his career as a Union organizer, working with hospital, University, and public employees. Jack died in about 2000.

On September 17-18, 1965, community leaders from nine suburbs attended a Leadership Training Institute on Open Occupancy, which was sponsored by the West Suburban Council on Religion and Race.  Mayors, police chiefs and councilmen were invited to attend.  The purpose was to educate and stimulate community leaders to secure basic rights for all people, particularly as it relates to housing opportunities for minority groups.  Residents were refusing to sell their houses to members of minority groups, supposedly because of the neighbors.  Actions like these led to the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

In September 1966, the local Young Republican League held a forum around the topic Black Power, which was being espoused by Stokely Carmichael of the Student Nonviolent Co-Ordinating Committee in Mississippi. Four African American organizations were represented, with two coming down on the side of Black Power and two espousing more conciliatory methods. At the time, blacks were still referred to, at least in the papers, as “Negroes.”

On July 19, 1967, racial unrest came close to home. Violence erupted along Plymouth Avenue in Minneapolis. Crowds threw rocks and set fires over two nights. The unrest started up again, and Governor Harold LeVander called in 150 national guardsmen. Three people were shot, two policemen and one fireman injured, 34 arrests, and four businesses burned to the ground. Appliance dealer Ben Koval made a hurried move from Plymouth Avenue to St. Louis Park in the wake of the riot.

Given the large Jewish community in the Park, tolerance of all kinds has been a high priority. Park was the first in the country to canvass local neighborhoods to promote an open housing program, welcoming minority families on their blocks. The City Council established a Human Rights Commission, with 7 members and 1 student. And in a show of support for the riot-torn area, the Park voted to use the Plymouth Avenue Branch of the First National Bank, located in North Minneapolis, as one of its official depositories.

City Council minutes for July 1967 show that Fred A. Lyon of the St. Louis Park Human Relations Council testified that acts of discrimination had taken place in the City.  He stated that the Minnesota State Legislature had authorized a Department of Human Rights, but it had not been established yet.

In 1968, Frankie L. Taylor sued the School Board for not hiring him as a biology teacher because he was black. He lost the suit and was ordered to pay court costs.

George Mitchell, Dennis Banks, and Clyde Bellecourt formed the American Indian Movement in Minneapolis in 1968. The group was known for occupying public buildings, including the vacant Alcatraz Island outside of San Francisco.

On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law.  The law prohibited:
 

1. Refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of his race, color, religion or national origin. People with disabilities and families with children were added to the list of protected classes by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.

2. Discrimination against a person in the terms, conditions or privilege of the sale or rental of a dwelling.

3. Advertising the sale or rental of a dwelling indicating preference of discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin (and, as of 1988, people with disabilities and families with children.)

4. Coercing, threatening, intimidating, or interfering with a person's enjoyment or exercise of housing rights based on discriminatory reasons or retaliating against a person or organization that aids or encourages the exercise or enjoyment of fair housing rights.

Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed on April 4, 1968.

Also in April 1968, Rev. Robert Bardy of Westwood Lutheran Church came before the City Council and urged it to implement a 9 point plan for the elimination of bias.  It required all City employees, contractors, depositories, applicants for licenses and permits, and elected officials to operate in accordance with fairness and equality.  The declaration called for affirmative action, low-income housing, and changes in the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance. 

Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot on June 5 and died June 6, 1968.

On October 7, 1968, it was proposed to the City Council that a minority group subcommittee be formed of the Citizen's Advisory Board.

In December 1969, Walter R. Scott was selling his book called “Minneapolis Negro Profile” which included photos of black citizens in various professions, vocations, businesses, jobs, and civic activities.

In 1969 there were 22 churches and synagogues representing 12 faiths.

In 1970, David Williams, a black janitor at Jenning’s Red Coach Inn and O’Toole’s, sued for harassment when his coworkers peppered him with racial slurs and aggressive behavior. Williams won $21,750.

In 1970, the minority population of St. Louis Park was 0.8 percent.

In December 1971, the school board issued guidelines regarding the observance of religious holidays in schools.  The guidelines prohibited Christmas parties, Christmas carols, Christmas trees, and Christmas presents.  The new rules were adopted in response to state guidelines set the year before.  Approximately 350 attended a heated school board meeting in December.  Some parents, including leader Donald H. Wright, voiced "violent" opposition and threatened legal action.  The new guidelines stood for 1971, and a 15 member citizens' committee was set up

In June 1972, religious guidelines drawn up by a citizens' committee were approved by the school board.  The guidelines were consistent with guidelines on Christmas that were followed the previous year.  Under the guidelines, religious symbols such as Santa Claus, Christmas trees and Easter eggs could only be displayed "as part of a broad cultural study."  Songs like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail," and "Dreydal, Dredal" were considered religious and could not be sung, which seasonal songs such as "Frosty the Snowman," "Jingle Bells," and "Winter Wonderland" were considered non-religious.  The citizens' committee included six lay Jews, six lay Christians, a Unitarian, a rabbi, a priest, and a minister. 

The 1972 population of St. Louis Park topped 51,000. This included 89 "negroes" (as reported by the Sun in 1973), 107 Indians, 92 Japanese, 41 Chinese, 12 Filipino, and 35 other. The foreign-born population was 5.4 percent.

In September 1974, Thomas Properties, 4500 Excelsior Blvd., was successfully sued by Leon Williams for not renting apartments to blacks, and for three months it was required to advertise apartment openings in at least one weekly newspaper serving the black community.

In 1975, $20,000 was awarded to Charles R. Lewis (Minnetonka Blvd.) against the Micro Switch Branch of Honeywell, Edina. His claims that he was paid less than other employees with the same job, denied promotions, and denied desirable job assignments were investigated by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Honeywell settled before the case came to court.

In 1980, St. Louis Park was 97.9 percent white, with a minority population of 2.1 percent. Ten years later, the city was 95.3 percent white, with a minority population of 4.7 percent. This number includes 826 blacks living in St. Louis Park. There were also 452 Hispanics.

Pamela G. Alexander became the first African-American judge when she was appointed to the Hennepin County Municipall Court by Governor Perpich in 1983.  She became a Hennepin County District Court Judge in 1986.  

In 1988, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed, giving tribes an economic boost.

The 1990 census asked people what their ancestry was, and the big winner in St. Louis Park was German, which both the Norwegian (2nd) and Swedish (4th) together couldn’t beat.

In 1990, Carlos Mariani from St. Paul was the first Hispanic elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives.

In 1992, former Viking Alan Page became the first African American on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

In February of 1993, an organization called the United Patriot Front appeared out of St. Paul. A flier against Jews shows a microwave oven, with slogans “Jew Dwarfs! There is an oven in YOUR future! Communism is Jewish! White America Unite!! Our Race is our Nation.” The flier against blacks shows two purported sketches of black men wanted by the police. The flier cries “WARNING White Citizens Beware! Black Crime Motivated by Pure Hatred for Whites!” There was some speculation that the anti-Jewish fliers were related to a bagel-throwing incident at a hockey game on January 9 between Cooper and Park, but the paper could not confirm that incident.

The Human Rights Commission, originally chartered in the 1960’s, was reactivated and expanded in 1992. Its big project was a Human Rights Expo, held on February 21, 1993 at the High School. The Expo featured entertainment, workshops, and exhibitors celebrating the diversity of St. Louis Park ad its commitment to combat prejudice. It had unprecedented support by the City, allowing signs advertising the event to be placed in places that were otherwise off-limits. Co-chairs of the event were Pat Foulkes and Patrick Devine.

An attempted cross burning incident on the 5800 block of Goodrich Ave. on November 12, 1993 shook the community. This had never happened in St. Louis Park before. Police found a scorched newspaper wrapped around the bottom of a homemade wooden cross standing against the side of a garage. The cross had the word “monster” positioned at the top. Apparently the perpetrator had tried but failed to light it. Five African Americans lived in the upstairs of the duplex and a biracial family lived in the bottom. Community leaders held a press conference on November 15 to “condemn hate crimes and let the perpetrators know that bias crimes will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The Confederation of the Somali Community in Minnesota was founded in 1994.

Ojibwe hunting, fishing, and harvesting rights were upheld by the US Supreme Court in 1999.

In 2002, Mee Moua was elected to the Minnesota State Legislature, making her the highest-ranked Hmong-American elected official in the U.S.

In 2006, Representative  Keith Ellison became the first Muslim member of the U.S. Congress.


 

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.