News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Friday September 4th 2026
Reparations of Past Harms Leads to Stewardship of the Land, Justice & Love for the People
By ANEESA PARKS
This fall there will be a new landowner in our neighborhood. Although no money exchanged hands, on May 22nd the land transfer was celebrated with a ceremony and drum circle. Christians worshipping at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church and leaders from Indigenous Protector Movement forged a relationship over the last three years that linked our value of stewardship. Stewardship of our faith and stewardship of the land.
The journey Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church took began with truth-telling in 2019: the truth-telling work of uncovering and learning our history, the truth-telling work of confession, and the truth-telling work of decolonizing Jesus and our faith. We came to recognize the truth that our church has done unspeakable harm to Indigenous communities. Harms in the name of “the church” and specifically harms in the name of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. In the 1920s the Ladies Club raised money for an Indian Boarding School in Wisconsin. In the 1950s as the boarding school closed, one of the last directors came to Minneapolis and had an office out of our building on the corner of Chicago and 23rd.… Read the rest “Reparations of Past Harms Leads to Stewardship of the Land, Justice & Love for the People”
The Long Struggle for Voting Rights
By THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS MINNESOTA
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
-The United States Declaration of Independence, 1776
On July 4, 1776, the leaders of the American Revolution declared independence from Great Britain and boldly proclaimed that “all men are created equal”. Yet its promise of equality sharply contrasted with voting rights to which only white male property owners were entitled.
Since those beginnings, the long struggle to expand voting rights and secure equal representation in pursuit of the nation’s ideals has unfolded. Grounded in First Amendment rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and petition, individuals and movements have advanced voting rights to create a more inclusive democracy. Yet each advance has been met with persistent and powerful opposition that has worked to slow or reverse progress.
The history of voting is a story of struggle, activism, and efforts to uphold equality, representation, and democracy. This article traces the history of progress in American democracy over the past 250 years through protest, amendments, legislation, and Supreme Court decisions. The lesson of this history is that ongoing vigilance is essential to achieving and preserving an inclusive, representative government.… Read the rest “The Long Struggle for Voting Rights”
Remember the Ladies During the Semiquincentennial
248th in the series Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery
By SUE HUNTER WEIR
become Minnesota. She and her family arrived in the 1850s. PHOTO: Courtesy the family.
On March 31, 1776, as her husband and other members of the Constitutional Congress were drafting a new code of laws for a new, independent nation, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband reminding him to “Remember the Ladies.” Two hundred and fifty years later, that is easier said than done. There are 15 women buried in the cemetery who were born in the 18th century. A few of them, primarily those born in New England, are somewhat well-documented but in other cases there is very little record of them.
What is remarkable about all of them was their longevity. The average life expectancy for a woman born around the time of the American Revolution was 36. All of these women were alive at the time of the War of 1812, and 12 of them were alive during part, if not all of, the Civil War. Their ages at the time of their deaths ranged from 64 to 92. Not surprisingly, the cause of death for seven of them was simply given as “old age.”… Read the rest “Remember the Ladies During the Semiquincentennial”
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