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Juneteenth: America’s freedom and future
Today is Juneteenth. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers informed enslaved people near Galveston, Texas, that they were now free. The date was colloquially referred to as Juneteenth. From that day forward, it became a celebrated holiday among these newly freed people. Within African-American communities, Juneteenth stood as America’s “Second Independence Day.” That’s a good way…
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Talented couple dazzled Range baseball league in 1915
The belated, perhaps even aggressive arrival of spring this year draws attention to the sport of baseball. For me, baseball season means driving all over hell and back with our son’s travel team. But baseball was an even bigger deal a century ago. And in researching the past, I found a remarkable Iron Range story…
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Veritas et scientia: e pluribus unum
Graduation day approaches for five northeastern Minnesota community and technical colleges. And as it so happens, this will be the last graduation day before the beginning of a new era in the region’s long tradition of higher education. The festivities start Tuesday, May 10, when commencement takes place at Vermilion Community College in Ely. Vermilion…
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Awesome ‘Blossom’ shows Hibbing memory in ‘Jeopardy’
You might remember the old Zimmy’s restaurant on Howard Street in Hibbing. Boomtown is there now, but for several decades this was a bar and grill that paid tribute to Hibbing’s hometown singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. For years, the only picture in the place that didn’t include Bob Dylan was a framed, autographed headshot of the…
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Ondara to play Hibbing HS auditorium April 23
This Saturday, April 23, the singer-songwriter Ondara will appear on the Hibbing High School auditorium stage. Northern Community Radio presents the free concert at 7 p.m. thanks to a grant from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Though pre-ordered tickets were available at www.kaxe.org, additional seating will be available first come, first served on…
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Legacy visions in Bob Dylan’s hometown
Just after World War II, Abram and Beatty Zimmerman moved their family from Duluth back to Beatty’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota. But not really. Beatty’s real hometown had been destroyed. The houses were ripped away; brick buildings scrapped. In 24-hour shifts, machines stripped away the earth below like flesh from the bone. Men dynamited solid…
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Five northeastern Minnesota colleges merge
Today the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees approved the merger of five northeastern Minnesota community and technical colleges. The colleges include Hibbing Community College, Itasca Community College, Mesabi Range College, Rainy River Community College and Vermilion Community College. The new college will be called Minnesota North College with campuses in Ely, Eveleth,…
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The death of stories, and their resurrection
I recently finished reading every single edition of the erstwhile Hibbing Daily Tribune and Mesaba Ore / Hibbing Daily News from the years 1913 to 1926. I’d guess that’s about 3,000 individual newspapers, eight to 24 pages apiece. Is that a humblebrag? Honestly, it seems really hard to tell. It might just be a call…
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Power in the Wilderness podcast re-airs Mondays at 8a on KAXE
I’m nearing the finish line for my enormous book, “Power in the Wilderness,” about Victor Power and the action-packed world of early 20th Century Hibbing, Minnesota. It will be some time before the book is ready for you to read, however. Meantime you should check out the podcast of the same name that independent filmmaker…
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Novak’s ‘Steel’ holds enormous weight
Good fiction tells truth that nonfiction struggles to spit out efficiently. As I’ve been toiling on a thick tome of Iron Range history, along comes a novel that cuts right to the point. The story of the Iron Range isn’t just mining and immigrants, unions and politics. It’s an untold trauma that lingers for generations,…
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Canine namesake highlights Power story in Hibbing
This week, the Hibbing Police Department announced the winning entry from a contest to name its newest K-9 dog. The dog will be named Dottie, in honor of one of Hibbing’s pioneering entrepreneurs, Dottie Power. Gina Forti, of Hibbing, submitted the suggestion. Dottie Power was one of the most successful merchants in early Hibbing history…
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‘Hockeyland’ comes home
Northern Minnesota’s obsessive relationship with hockey has endured since the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. For some, the hockey lifestyle defines an entire 20-30 year period of life, perhaps longer as new generations continue the tradition. Even those who don’t play hockey see their lives affected by the game. Classrooms empty during state tournaments. Local fast…
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The bombs we carry
The police officers donned dark blue overcoats. Their bright brass buttons and badges glowed in the morning light. They gathered at the corner of Howard Street and Fifth Avenue. A captain barked orders, steam pouring from his mouth. Men stationed themselves at each exit of the luxurious new Androy Hotel. The town was Hibbing, Minnesota.…
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The poison in our standing water
Today, you can read my latest column for the Minnesota Reformer. The essay is entitled, “The poison in our standing water.” My work continues to transform as I ingest untold quantities of historical research for my book “Power in the Wilderness,” which I hope to finish quite soon. This piece analyzes Range history, Facebook’s power…
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Flirting with fads
In our consumeristic society this weekend becomes a sort of proving ground for material desires. We mark “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday,” not as official holidays, but as shared celebration of enormous corporations achieving their Q4 revenue expectations. The stuff we buy and sell, however, changes a little each year. I remember Tickle-Me-Elmo being…