Keep citizen journalism alive in Phillips
Pictures from the Alley Annual Meeting 11-11-11
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- Alley Board member Leon Oman greets new arrivals to the 11-11-11 36th Alley Birthday Party and Annual Meeting while others wait in line to eat before the program.
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- Attendees of The Alley’s 11-11-11 200th Birthday Party for Wendell Phillips included Janet Gillespie, sitting beside her 100 year old father, Carl Peterson and across from Mark Welna talking with his parents, Virgil and Pat Welna.
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- Raymond Jackson who read Louis Alemayehu’s poem “Thrones’ that is on a brass plate of Amen Corner at the Franklin and Chicago Touchstone Plaza listens as Dee Henry Williams acknowledges the original dream and creative genius of Rafala Green who designed the sculptured ceramic mosaic covered “thrones” and mosaic walkway and vine covered arch to be a place for cultures to come together to talk. Dee spoke of how the spoken word of many diverse peoples is happening there again and how the community has reclaimed that corner and Peavey Park for all to use through listening to one another. Pictured on the left is Emily Duma.
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- Dave Moore, neighbor, artist, poet, and cartoon-creator of “Dave’s Dumpster” and “Spirit of Phillips” cartoons, thrilled and captivated the audience with a “Rhythmic, Rhetorical, Recitation” of his poem “In Search of Wendell: Boston 2001” at the 11-11-11 Birthday event for Wendell Phillips namesake of Wendell Phillips Junior High School and Phillips Community.
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- Queen Elizabeth II, impersonated by Josie Winship, local artist and entertainer, read a Proclamation on the occasion of the 200th Birthday of Wendell Phillips and saying she had sought him in Boston but understood that he was, indeed, in Minneapolis that evening as he had been in the 1860s. She acknowledged her agreement with him on egalitarianism but staunching disagreed with his disapproval of the caste system of which she is the head. She hastened to ally with him on his adamant campaign for women’s rights and used herself as an example of what a woman can do. Wendell did appear as she spoke at which time she greeted him, bade him farewell, and took her leave with her dog Ginger and her Herald-Trumpeter Claude impersonated at the 11-11-11 event by Tom Carlson of the Brass Messengers and other venues.
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- Jim Stewart, Wendell Phillips biographer and dedicated student and professor of Wendell, the Civil War, Reconstruction Period, Slavery: Then and Now impersonated Wendell Phillips at November 11th Alley Birthday Party commemorating The Alley’s 36th Birthday and Wendell’s 200th Birthday Nov 29th 1811. Stewart is also the co-founder of Historians Against Slavery (historiansagainstslavery.org) a non-profit which says, We’re “Historians Against Slavery” because: We’re convinced that historical knowledge and perspective are essential to understanding modern slavery and for combating it effectively. This knowledge and perspective is grounded in the history of the enslavement of Africans and Indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere and in the many other systems of slavery once prominent throughout the world. We understand that powerful legacies of the “old” slavery continue to enable the spread of modern enslavement among people of color in the Western Hemisphere. Within the U.S., for example, these include racially skewed applications of capital punishment, profoundly imbalanced incarceration rates, heightened incidences of infant mortality, lowered life expectancies and greatly elevated unemployment rates. We insist that the histories of struggles against earlier systems of slavery provide crucial perspective, insight and inspiration when combating slavery. Knowledge of the histories of slave resistance and abolitionist struggle are critical to combating slavery today.
Alley Communications, Inc., producer of The Alley Newspaper: Accomplishments in 2011
Carl Peterson shown standing on the 24th Street pedestrian Bridge during the “Bridging Minneapolis” Event in 2011. Carl became 100 years old in 2011 and has lived with his wife Helen in Phillips over 70 years. Carl was at the 11-11-11 Birthday Party for Wendell Phillips and 36th Birthday of The Alley and was featured in a beautiful slid show presentation by Robert Albee that was done to music with remarks by the Bridging event creator, Dallas Johnson. Carl was “the man” behind the citizen movement to have the 24th S. bridge built forty years ago. Picture by Robert Albee
- The Alley Newspaper was able to produce a unique issue each month that also had continuity with previous issues and past years which regularly featured articles and art produced by: Bob Albee, Erin Thomasson, Sue Hunter Weir, Patrick Cabello Hansel, Howard McQuitter, Peter Molenaar, Dave Moore, and Janice Barbee.
- Continued multi-year exclusive publishing of these unique features found in no other newspaper: Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Cemeteries, “Spirit of Phillips” Cartoons and Dave’s Dumpster, Raise Your Voice, Searching, Backyard Initiative Updates and Annual Report, and Movie Corner.
- Published the complete monthly Calendar of the Franklin Community Library and Computer Center each month.
- New features were added this year: the Crossword puzzle by Sami Pfeffer and Snack Attack by Courtney Algeo.
- We had increased coverage of the four Phillips Community Neighborhood Groups— Phillips West, Midtown Phillips, East Phillips and Ventura Village- with updates and special events by Bob Albee, Crystal Trautnau, Shirley Heyer, Joseph Spangler, Carol Pass, and Brad Pass.
Become an Alley Ally today!
January 2012
Dear Friend of the Alley:
The Alley Newspaper is the free community newspaper of the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis, serving over 20,000 residents, businesses, and visitors. Published on a shoe string budget and largely volunteer run, the Alley informs, engages, facilitates communication, and promotes the exchange of information, opinion, culture and creativity among Phillips residents.
We are writing today to launch a new initiative – an Alley Ally campaign. We ask you to consider becoming an Alley Ally to sustain our ability to continue to publish our monthly print newspaper. Your tax deductible donation of $100 or whatever you can give will keep our print edition alive.
The Alley is the only paper to concentrate exclusively on the Phillips Community. This allows us to cover in-depth the issues and stories that matter to the people who live here as written by people who live, work, or attend school here. It ensures that our stories are told from our perspective as we experience them and provides a historical documentation of our neighborhood history. We encourage community involvement in all aspects of creating the paper because we want the voices of Phillips to be heard.
Alley Allies of 2011
Robert Albee
Sharon Albee
Nancy Anderson
Veryl Andre
Anne Christians
Jean Christie
Karen Clark
Jim Cook
Steve Compton
Craig Davidson
Knowles Daugherty
Linnea Hadaway
Luisa Hansel
Patrick Cabello Hansel
Jan Gillespie
Dee Henry Williams
Shirley Heyer
Jacy Hildreth
Julie Ingebretsen
Soren Jensen
Dallas Johnson
Mary Ellen Kaluza
Pat Kaluza
Betty Kinsey
Joyce Krook
Jeenee Lee
Mary Mahoney
Siama Matauzungidi
Jana Metge
Jonathan Miller
Amy Miller
Peter Molenaar
Dave Moore
Mary Regina Moore
Donna Neste
Ruth Olkon
Leon Oman
Lois Parker
Brad Pass
Carol Pass
Carl Peterson
Winton Pitcoff
Gera Pobuda
Connie Pray
Catherine Pususta
Jason Rodney
Claudia Slovacek
Sandy Spieler
Dotty Stewart
Cathy Strobel
Mathew Swora
Jane Thomson
Carol Vara
Dee Dee Vara
Pat Welna
Virgil Welna
Paula Williamson
Edgar Young
Alley In-Kind Contributors 2011
Franklin Street Bakery
Susan Gust
Joan Hautman
Sue Hunter Weir
Julie Ingebretsen- Ingebretsen’s Gifts
May Day Café
Jonathan Miller
Dave Moore
New French Bakery
Leon Oman
Lois Parker
Steve Parker
Jim Stewart
Cathy Strobel
Mark Welna – Welna Hardware
Josie Winship
All writers who we list respectively for each issue every month. Everything printed in The Alley and on Website is contributed writing, art, and photography. See below for list of writers who contributed in 3 or more issues.
The Alley Deliveries in 2011
Beverly Adams
Tara Beard
Vi DeMars
East Phillips Improvement Coalitions
Jacy Hildrith
Sue Hunter Weir
Raymond Jackson
Majorie Magnuson
Lynne Mayo
Howard McQuitter
Midtown Farmer’s Market
Dave Moore
Donna Neste
Brad and Carol Pass
Phillips West Neighborhood Organization
Muriel Simmons and Family
Paul Weir
Youth from Calvary and Mt. Olive Churches
Alley Writers and Artists of Monthly (3-12*) Contributions 2011
Robert Albee
Britney Algeo
Janice Barbee*
Patrick Cabello Hansel*
Linnea Hathaway
Shirley Heyer
Sue Hunter Weir*
Raymond Jackson
Dallas Johnson
Howard McQuitter*
Tim McCall
Peter Molenaar*
Dave Moore*
Chris Oien
Brad Pass
Carol Pass
Sami Pfeffer
Angela Schneider
Carstens Smith
Tim Springer
Jim Stewart
Erin Thomasson*
Jane Thomson
Crystal Trautnau*
Searching – A Serial Novelle Chapter 34: Everywhere you are is where you’re supposed to be
By Patrick Cabello Hansel
There is something about coming in from the cold that warms the heart along with the rest of the body. Angel and Luz had literally come in from a long, cold search; as they woke on that clear, bright December morning, their hearts knew—ahead of their brains—that they had come in out of the cold of fear and hatred, and were new immigrants in the country of hope.
The morning sun caressed the stained glass above their heads, and cast deep rays of color upon the baptismal font. They had not noticed last night that they were resting in the shadow of that marble and wood river. They had not noticed that the picture that was causing such a riot of color was of Jesus welcoming the children.
Luz got up first, and rubbed her eyes.
“Angel—did we sleep here all night?” she asked.
“It seems so,” he said. “Although I think we’ve learned that nothing is ever as it seems.”
“Oh, my dearies, but that is not true,” a voice answered them.
“Who are you?” Luz asked.
“Ask me who I was,” the voice replied.
Deaths of entire family grieves Cora Stickney Deaths of husband and three children within 15 years grieved Cora Stickney greatly highlighted by 80 day vigil of daughter’s “trance”
Deaths of husband and three children within 15 years grieved Cora Stickney greatly highlighted by 80 day vigil of daughter’s “trance.” Husband, John Stickney died March 20, 1876; Son, John Hanson Stickney, died Sept. 8, 1876; Daughter, Cora Stickney, died between Nov. 30th, 1887 and Thursday, Feb. 17th, 1877; son, William, died August 18th, 1891. Two markers Her husband and children are buried in Lot K, Block 100 in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery. There are two markers: an illegible military marker for John H. Stickney, and a family marker bearing the names of John H. Stickney and his youngest son. Cora and William’s names were never added to the marker; the burial place of Ann Stickney is unknown.
By Sue Hunter Weir
It wasn’t often that the death of someone buried in Layman’s Cemetery was reported in the New York Times, but the story of Cora Stickney’s burial was a most unusual, almost gothic, tale.
Cora was the daughter of John H. and Ann Stickney; her parents were transplanted New Englanders, who moved to Minnesota shortly after the Civil War. Mr. Stickney was a Civil War veteran who served in the 16th Maine Infantry. After arriving in Minneapolis he went into business but by the early 1870s was in poor health, and on March 20, 1876, two weeks shy of his 34th birthday, he died of “quick consumption”.
Less than six months later their youngest son and namesake, John Hanson Stickney, died from scarlet fever at the age of two.
Ann Stickney went to work as a teacher to support her two surviving children, Cora and William. The 1880 federal census shows that Cora, then age 12, was no longer in school but working as an apprentice to a hair dresser. The work must not have appealed to her because by 1885 she was working as a bookkeeper for Calhoun and Long, a dry goods company.
In November of 1886, 19-year-old Cora became sick, and on November 30, 1886, the city Health Officer determined that she had died and issued a burial permit. Cora’s grief-stricken mother refused to accept the fact that her only daughter had died and managed to persuade an undertaker to bring Cora’s body back home. Ann Stickney was convinced that Cora was not dead but was merely in a trance and that faith and prayer would bring Cora back to her.
In February 1887 the city Health Officer received reports that Cora had not yet been buried. When he went to the family’s home, Mrs. Stickney wouldn’t allow him in. A doctor, L. R. Palmer, was also convinced that Cora had not died; he offered as evidence the fact that Cora’s body did not show any signs of decomposition. He said that he had consulted with other doctors and an undertaker and that they agreed that Cora was in a trance, a fact which those doctors ultimately denied.
Melancholia
Melancholia
“Melancholia”
Sci-fi/Drama/Art House
Cast: Kirsten Dunst (Justine), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Claire), Alexander Skarsgard (Michael), Charlotte Rampling (Gaby), Stellan Skarsgard (Jack), Cameron Spurr (Leo), Kiefer Sutherland (John). Running time:136 minutes. Director: Lars von Trier.
“Melancholia” opens up with the classical composition Tristan und Isolde* by Richard Wagner while some of the cast are standing still or moving in eerily slow motion. What a beautiful send off with the underbelly of fate if one looks closely in the eyes of the characters.
Justine (Kirsten Dunst) has just gotten married to Michael ( life forms (including Alexander Skarsgard), both bride and groom join the wedding party at a mansion on a golf course. Justine’s consumed by depression, her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) the practical one, and her husband John (Kiefer Sutherland) reminds himself of how sumptuous the wedding party is. Justine and Claire’s father (John Hurt) calls every cute woman at the party “Betty”. The sisters’ mother (Charlotte Rampling), long divorced from their father, in her wedding toast blasts out a fatalistic statement: “Enjoy it while it lasts” (I presume she means the wedding).
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