Alley’s Gallery of Loss-August
Sideyard of 2512-14 Chicago Avenue looking East that is now the approximate location of the Skyway Connecting the east building of Children’s Hospital to the new 800 car Parking ramp on the west side of Chicago Av.
Foreground: Wooden apple crate from the National Tea Grocery Store at corner of 25th St. and Chicago Av, Harvey Winje with family dog Tipper and his red J.C. Higgins bike from Sears Roebuck 5 blocks away. Back ground: A Chicago-Fremont route Twin City Rapid Transit streetcar passing by on Chicago Av. Behind the street car: the block of housing demolished in 1968 for the building of the first portion of Children’s Hospital in 1969 by Bor-Son Construction Company under a new concept called “Turn-Key” Project in which it was all financed, designed, and built by the contractor and then paid for at the end. A new structural concept called post-tension cable construction was used which had been used locally near Loring by Bor-Son Construction for the first time in the Midwest on two, tall apartment buildings. It was a structural concept that strengthened floors subsequent to hardening of concrete and eliminated heavy beams thus minimizing the total exterior height of each floor. It resulted in minimizing the use of many building materials that extended the height of the building; i.e. exterior finishes, interior vertically piping, and interior wiring. Thus, structurally and socially Children’s was built with post tension that remains today.
Photo Credit: Maybe Hilma or Paul Winje (Harvey’s Parents), Clarence, Hazel or Paul Winje Jr., Dick or June Johnson (Harvey’s sisters and Brothers), or best friend Bruce Koberstein from 912 East 25th Street. 1948 with “Box” camera
Teams are “Planting the Seeds” to “Grow Health”
by Janice Barbee, Cultural Wellness Center
Community Health Action Teams are “Planting the Seeds’ to Grow Health
Residents who live in the Backyard area (East Phillips, Ventura Village, Phillips West, Midtown Phillips, Powderhorn Park, Corcoran, and Central neighborhoods) have been meeting monthly in Citizen Health Action Teams (CHATs) to develop their strategies to improve the health of residents. The Backyard Initiative was initiated by Allina Hospitals and Clinics in the fall of 2008. What was once a project led by Allina is now a community-owned project in which Allina is a major partner.
At the July meeting, several CHATs presented an update of their work.
Liberty and Justice for all?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all!
Once again, on America’s 4th of July Birthday, we are reminded that some Minnesotans have been in the forefront of efforts to ensure “liberty and justice for all.” For example, there were many early leaders of the movement to abolish slavery right here in Minneapolis. Paul Hawken reminds us that, “abolitionists were the first people to create a national movement to defend the rights of those they did not know. Until that time no group had filed a grievance except on behalf of itself. The founders of this movement were largely unknown…and their goal was ridiculous on the face of it: at that time three out of four people in the world were enslaved.” And yet there were people right here in Minnesota that we did know who had been denied “liberty and justice for all” as they were devastated by early settlers and whose crimes against humanity are perpetuated today. The recent efforts to redevelop Fort Snelling “unearths” the travesties that happened there on sacred land. It is an opportunity to revisit the dilemma by making historical accounts and depictions accurate because it is the right thing to do and to ensure that we never again allow liberty and justice to be denied “for all.” The articles begin with information and excerpts setting the stage, followed by an opinion article by neighbor Jim Graham, a third about indigenous people as the focus of a new Movies and Music Series, and “Listening, Responding, and Supporting” a positive effort by young people to work for justice.
See also “Bow to Rwanda” in Raise Your Voice on pg 7 about liberty and justice for all in Rwanda
“Liberty and justice for all” demands history of all
By Jim Graham
Yes, we SHOULD look in depth at the history of Ft. Snelling. And then pray no one ever comes to “Re-Develop” us, our culture, and our children.
Another advocate of unrevised history recently said, “What I learned from that experience with the state-hired historians, is that their information is hugely biased and not to be trusted, particularly when it comes to delineating the history of a mostly vanquished people who lived entirely in an oral tradition.”
At an open house to receive “Public Input” a United States Park Service representative was quite aggressive in his assertion that their was NO history of the Cold Water Springs. (The sacred area near Minnehaha Falls that was violated during the routing of the Light Rail Transit and rerouting of Hiawatha Avenue in spite of disagreement and protest.) area having any documented religious significance for the Mdewakanton Dakota people.
Indigenous people focus of new “Movies and Music” series
Indigenous artists, filmmakers, producers and actors will be showcased this summer in a four-part music and movies series at Father Hennepin Bluffs Park in Minneapolis. The series is hosted by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Migizi Communications and the First Nations Composer Initiative.
Musical performances will feature local artists Red Ponie, Blue Dog, Mitch Walking Elk, and Chase Manhattan. The series offers the opportunity to catch Indigenous films that have been shown at national and international film festivals, and been sold out at the Walker Art Center (Barking Water).
The last evening in the series features the next generation of filmmakers with several student-produced short films from youth media programs such as In Progress and Migizi Communications, as well as Magic Wands, a new pioneering Ojibwe language film from Minneapolis filmmaker Elizabeth Day.
Summer of Solutions Workers Listening, Responding, and Supporting
by Martha Pskowski and Nalatlie Camplair
At the beginning of June, six members of Summer of Solutions (SoS) moved into a house in Midtown Phillips. This summer residence serves as headquarters for the SoS program, a grassroots youth leadership program that focuses on building capacity and potential in communities to address social and environmental injustices. There are 15 full-time SoS members in the Twin Cities. Summer of Solutions, hosted by the non-profit Grand Aspirations, was formed by Macalester College students in 2008 and is now made up of young people from around Minnesota and the U.S.
Participants will work on bike access, urban agriculture, energy efficiency and green manufacturing. Summer of Solutions will support existing local organizations that already work in these project areas and support them with their time and energy. For example, participants will be working with a variety of urban farms this summer, including several in East Phillips. SoS is also working on creating networks of urban farmers to create jobs and keep “food dollars” in our communities. Another partnership with a for-profit co-op, Cooperative Energy Futures, seeks to create jobs and build community by capturing the savings from energy efficiency projects. CEF is working with Karen Clark to pursue the solution of improved energy efficiency in Phillips as a strong argument against constructing the Xcel transmission lines.
CEF, urban agriculture and all the projects of SoS attempt to create new models to replace those that aren’t working for employees, the natural world and our health. Redefining the priorities of both business and charitable work to build potential in communities is primary goal of Summer of Solutions.
In all its work, Summer of Solutions tries to listen and respond to the needs and concerns of community members. The members are excited to be in the Phillips neighborhood and be a part of its rich tradition of organizing. The program runs until the end of July but many members will continue to work on local projects throughout the rest of the year.
What and Where is this in PHILLIPS Community?
Identify what and where of these photos and win a chance for a drawing for a $10.00 Gift Certificate to Welna Hardware on Bloomington Avenue. Email us the answer.
Hint: It was news in June that this corner will have a $21M change in 2011.
Alice’s murder exploited by vagaries of politicos and publishers
Phase I of the fence restoration is scheduled to begin in late July. Thanks to all of you who helped make it possible. Additional funds are needed to complete Phase II, the final phase of the restoration. Enough money has been contributed for 430 of the 1,583 pickets. There’s still plenty of time to adopt a picket
Roosevelt, Taft, politicos, prostitution, Titanic dominate headlines
by Sue Hunter Weir
Alice Mathews led a rather ordinary life except for one thing: she was murdered. On Saturday, March 23, 1912, the night that she was murdered, Alice was twenty years old. She worked as a packer at the Pillsbury C Mill and lived with her father, stepmother and four siblings in South Minneapolis. Alice had spent the evening downtown going to a movie and having a late supper with two of her girlfriends. At 11:06, Alice caught the Cedar Avenue streetcar. She got off on 34th Street and Cedar Avenue, the end of the line, and started to walk home, a distance of about seven blocks. When Alice was within a few houses of her own home, someone attempted to rape her. Failing that, her attacker strangled her.
The story of Alice’s murder was front-page news for the next three weeks. Except for those who were interested in the battle between Theodore Roosevelt and Howard Taft for the Republican endorsement in the 1912 presidential campaign, there wasn’t much interesting going on, at least not much that would sell papers. But it was an election year for local politicians as well, and Alice’s murder provided an opening for people to vent their frustration or show their support for various local candidates and causes.
Searching – A Serial Novelle Chapter 16: El Corrido De Don Jaime
By Patrick Cabello Hansel
When Angel and Luz arrived at her abuela’s house, the whole neighborhood was gathered. Children running everywhere, elderly women dancing to scratchy phonograph records from Mexico. Even though it was freezing outside, Luz’s cousin Rodrigo was in the backyard, turning steaks and sausages on a large grill cut from an oil drum. People who had run in terror from the raid just a few hours before were partying as if Mexico had just won the World Cup. Luz finally found her grandmother Dolores in the kitchen. Over the noise, she asked her what happened.
“Your Uncle Jaime is free!” she shouted as she gave her a big hug.
“What?” Luz cried. “Immigration let him go?”
“No, mi amor—he escaped—he flew the coop—¡voló como un paloma!”
It took a few moments for this to sink in.
“Where? How? Abuela, they’re going to come looking for him! They’ll bust the door down!” Luz shouted.
“No-no, he’s safe—he’s not here—he’s miles away and they’ll never catch him again!”
Luz wasn’t quite sure what that meant, and kept shaking her head. Angel, meanwhile, stood with his hands in his pockets, surrounded by people whom he did not know, but who surely knew Luz. Everyone, young and old, came up to give her a hug or a kiss on the check. Angel finally nudged her with her elbow.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Luz laughed. “This is mi abuela Dolores. Grandma, this is Angel”.
“Oh I know you”, Dolores said. “The Tecolote Man!”
Latest Topics
by Janice Barbee, Cultural Wellness Center...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA! I pledge...
Have you ever wondered why Hiawatha and...
By Jim Graham Yes, we SHOULD look in...
Indigenous artists, filmmakers, producers...
by Martha Pskowski and Nalatlie...
By Patrick Cabello Hansel When Angel and...
Elders met where Rivers meet Genesis and Genocide are Whitewashed
Have you ever wondered why Hiawatha and Minnehaha Avenues run counter to the north/south grid system of most streets?
It’s because those roadways were originally entrenched trails between major water sources–the falls of rivers and creeks— made by the indigenous people and animals long before the imposition of a European geometric grid street system.
The same is true of Hennepin Avenue from river falls to the lakes southwest. This part of our history is “marked” indelibly in the landscape. Other parts of our history are written. And there are parts of our history that are passed on from person to person, decade to decade as oral tradition. Some oral history is remembered within rhythm having been made into song with music. Here are excerpts from an article in the StarTribune by Nick Coleman, June 6 column, “Fort Snelling: State’s cradle — and stain” suggested that the Minnesota Historical Society has neglected to tell the difficult story of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 at Historic Fort Snelling. The following excerpts are from that article. Read the full text at www.startribune.com or Coleman’s article and related text at www.mendotadakota.com or www.friendsofcoldwater.org
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