News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Friday December 26th 2025
124 Year History of Franklin Library Reflects Community, U.S. and World events
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- 1920
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- 1954
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- 1979
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- Urban 4H Club
By Cassie Warholm-Wohlenhaus
This year the Franklin Library celebrates its 100th year serving a large area now called Phillips Community and Elliot Park, Whittier, Corcoran, and Powderhorn Park Neighborhoods. Exploring this history through research into the library”'s annual reports and other documents from 1914 to 2014 has revealed a fascinating and intimate bond between a community and its library.
2014 marks 100 years of service in the beautiful Carnegie library building at 1314 E. Franklin Avenue, but the library as an organization predates the building. It originally operated out of two rented rooms in the A.J. Bernier building at Franklin and 17th starting in 1890. In the library”'s earliest days this was a neighborhood largely of Scandinavian immigrants, and a huge collection of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish books and newspapers was in constant demand.… Read the rest “124 Year History of Franklin Library Reflects Community, U.S. and World events”
All in the Family
By Peter Molenaar
Misfits and “free thinking” types should take Cedar Avenue to Hiawatha, west to Highway 94 to 394/12 all the way to Willmar, Minnesota. There you will find a sanctuary. Actually, this particular Unitarian church was founded by my Grandpa Peter Molenaar. I journeyed there recently to attend a reunion.
The first encounter was with a second cousin. Mega-factory pig farms had put him out of the hog business years ago. Skeptical with regard to the emerging market for free range pork, Jay has taken to selling John Deere Tractors.
Mary Anne, now at 90 years of age, was next on the scene. Taking both her hands, I bowed my head while apologizing for having disrupted one of her Bible lessons. The gift of her last hug will not be forgotten.
In came first cousin Steve who had been an accountant in a polyethylene injection molding company. These days he is a “hired hand” on the 450 acre corn and soybean farm his wife owns. Between the two of us, it was determined that the existence of God is not proven in the ”˜doctrine of first cause.”'
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November 2014 Spirit of Phillips
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