News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Saturday March 8th 2025
Curious about Seward”'s Folly and Sarah Palin?
By Harvey Winje
The only connection of Seward”'s Folly with Seward Neighborhood in Mpls. is the namesake””William Henry Seward, 1801-1872.
Seward was a staunch fighter of slavery and, in fact, was so outspoken that it probably lost him the nomination to the presidency in the year that Abraham Lincoln (a country lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, a member of the United States House of Representatives, and twice an unsuccessful candidate for election to the U.S. Senate) won the nomination of a new political party called Republican. He had been the 12th Governor of New York and a U.S. Senator from New York.
After winning the presidency, Lincoln appointed Seward to be Secretary of State. Does this sound familiar? A Congressman from Illinois becomes President after winning nomination from a Senator from New York who then appoints his previous adversary as Secretary of State?.
Seward was stabbed in a associated, conspiratorial assignation attempt the same night that Lincoln was killed.
Seward survived and continued as Secretary of State under President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln”'s successor.
It was during that time that on March 30, 1867 he negotiated the purchase of the 586,412 square mile territory of Alaska from Russia for $7,200.000. It was broadly considered to be a wasteful purchase and thus was called Seward”'s Folly.… Read the rest “Curious about Seward”'s Folly and Sarah Palin?”
Mayor Rybak Appoints Sue Hunter Weir to the Heritage Preservation Commission
Are you curious about history, how we preserve and celebrate history in Minneapolis, and who writes it?
by Harvey Winje
If 19th century Irish poet and author Oscar Wilde is correct that “any fool can make history, but it takes a genius to write it,” then, who we commission to preserve and celebrate our local and national history is very important. Selection of those to lead us in acknowledgment of our past do well in listening to American historian Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison”'s advice, “an historian should yield himself to his subject, become immersed in the place and period of his choice, standing apart from it now and then for a fresh view.”
Sue Hunter Weir, our own local, Phillips historian, is a hands-on chronicler of the past who does “yield herself to her subject, become immersed in the place and period of her choice,” and stands “apart from it now and then for a fresh view.” She toils in the soil planting flowers at our own Cedar Avenue and Lake Street Cemetery and she rummages through scores of newspaper archive pages to tell the stories of those thousands buried there.
Perhaps agreeing with Alexis de Tocqueville that when “the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness,” a commission to preserve and celebrate our heritage was created by the City of Minneapolis in 1972.… Read the rest “Mayor Rybak Appoints Sue Hunter Weir to the Heritage Preservation Commission”
SEARCHING ”“ a Serial Novelle CHAPTER 15: The Ties that Bind
By Patrick Cabello Hansel
Our searchers, Angel and Luz walked west in the alley, holding their silence like a candle in front of their faces. They paused for a moment by the mural at Kaplan”'s. Angel said he knew some kids that had worked on it; Luz said that she did as well, and as they compared notes they realized that their world was both smaller and more connected than they thought.
They walked past the makeshift memorial in front of the store where Eddie had been shot on his way home from basketball practice. The teddy bears and dried flowers poked their heads through the fresh snow. At first, neither one of them spoke, but then, almost as if a wind had blown through them, they both sighed.
“What a waste,” Angel said.
“He was such a good guy.” Luz said.
Luz said, “I think I know who the shooter is.”
Angel replied: “I know I know who the shooter is.”
And in that moment they knew that their lives which were weaving together into the future, were also intertwined in the past. How far past they had no idea.
After they stood at Eddie”'s memorial for a few minutes, Luz asked, “Angel, where are we going?… Read the rest “SEARCHING ”“ a Serial Novelle CHAPTER 15: The Ties that Bind”
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