The Minneapolis Aquatennial, held July 23-26 this year, began in 1940 partly as an attempt to improve the city’s reputation following a decade that included violent labor strikes and prevalent organized crime.
Additionally, the festival was meant to last for ten days and originally featured events throughout more parts of Minnesota than just Minneapolis.
Let’s dive into it.
Not-so-humble beginnings
W.N. Stephens and Tom Hastings were part of a group of Minneapolis businessmen who wanted to change the public perception of Minneapolis.
They came up with the Aquatennial in 1939. They wanted to put on an annual festival that rivaled Mardi Gras in New Orleans, or even just the St. Paul Winter Carnival.
Through showing all there is to do in Minneapolis, especially at the lakes and rivers, their logic went, the city would then become a vacation and business destination.
The first Aquatennial took place in 1940. A quote from the time said the point of the festivities was “to take the minds of Minneapolis citizens off past troubles and focus all minds throughout the state on some pleasant event.”
The past troubles were labor strife and organized crime, each of which had made national headlines over the past decade.
Teamsters union members and Citizens Alliance square off during the strike of 1934. (MN Historical Society)
Teamsters strike
In 1934, six years prior to the first Aquatennial, a group of teamsters was trying to unionize in Minneapolis, but their efforts weren’t picking up steam. The organization failed to garner many members.
That is, until Local 574 won a strike at a coal yard. The group then swelled to 5,000 members by May of 1934.
Many of the companies the Teamsters worked for refused to recognize the union. On May 16, they went on strike. They demanded shorter hours, wage increases and for “inside workers” — warehouse workers and truck loaders — to be employed and represented by the union.
Police worked with the employers and a group known as the Citizens Alliance (CA), a union-busting organization known for their violent tactics.
On May 21, the disputes turned violent. A few stories stated that the CA lured picketers into an alley and beat them with nightsticks. The protesters retreated, regrouped and made their own clubs.
The next day, they attacked, killing two members of the “special police,” who were thought to be the CA, C. Arthur Lyman and Peter Erath.
As a result, a deal was struck by May 25 between the employers and the union. But that deal wouldn’t stick.
The companies refused to acknowledge the agreement. More than 700 cases of discrimination were filed with the union between May and July, resulting in the organization of another strike on July 17.
Bloody Friday
Three days later, on Friday, July 20, some scab trucks were dropping off their supplies. (“Scab” is a term for a laborer hired to replace a striking worker.) Notably, a yellow truck was part of the work. Reports differ on the precise amount, but this truck was escorted by between 50 and 100 police officers.
At this point, union members had been using a tactic known as a “flying picket.” Strikers would get into a truck and move around to block the scab trucks from completing their work.
A flying picket came to stop the yellow truck after it had made its delivery. Reports also differ here — some claim that the picketers had the makeshift clubs mentioned earlier, and some say they were unarmed. Every account, though, says the police then fired upon the unionizers.
Mostly armed with shotguns, the buckshot hit the crowd, injuring more than 65 and killing two, John Belor and Henry Ness.
Strikes were outlawed by Governor Floyd Olson and many strike leaders were arrested. The status quo was restored on August 22. The CA was broken and the teamsters got most of their demands. Everyone went back to work.
But the damage had been done. The next decade was decried as a “Civil War of Minnesota,” with labor strife being a common theme for the rest of the ’30s.
Investigators outside of the home of Theodore Hamm after the Barker-Karpis gang kidnapped William Hamm Jr. in 1933. (MN Historical Society)
Organized Crime
Minneapolis and St. Paul were considered a “sanctuary for criminals” in the early 1900s. Organized crime wouldn’t mess with the area, or with each other, and police would look the other way when the criminals were in town.
This arrangement came to be known later as the “John J. O’Connor Layover Agreement.” Named for the St. Paul police chief who instituted it in 1900, this agreement between the police and members of organized crime families would last the next 35 years.
For the most part, it worked until 1932. That year, Minnesota had more than 20 percent of the bank robberies in the United States.
In 1933, The Barker-Karpis gang brought things to a higher level. They kidnapped William Hamm Jr., Hamm’s Brewery president, for a ransom that they were eventually paid.
That same year, they would rob the South St. Paul Post Office for $33,000, killing one police officer, Leo Pavlak, and injuring another.
Then, in 1934, they kidnapped Edward Bremer after he dropped his daughter off at school. Bremer was the president of Commercial State Bank and his father, Adolph, was the owner of Schmidt Brewery. Another ransom was paid out.
All of this put national attention on Minneapolis and St. Paul, allowing the FBI to increase jurisdiction to this area and start arresting organized crime members in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The Aqua Follies featured stunt divers, pictured here jumping into the Theodore Wirth pool. (Hennepin County History Museum)
The Aquatennial at first
In 1940, the Aquatennial began, in part as an attempt to get the public to forget about the ’30s in Minneapolis.
Over 200 events were to take place around Minneapolis and Minnesota over ten days. Some notable attractions were:
• A 450-mile canoe derby from Bemidji would end in Minneapolis on the first day of the festivities.
• Sail and motorboat races on Lake Calhoun (Bde Maka Ska).
• A parade, the first of which featured 186 floats, 15,000 total marchers across 50 bands and a crowd of more than 200,000 people.
• Queen of the Lakes, a contest between upwards of 50 women, each representing a community in Minnesota. This contestant would travel to parades representing the state. They would travel the second most miles of any pageant winner, only Miss America traveled more.
• High diving and synchronized swimming acts by groups such as the Aqua Follies and Aqua Dears.
• At its height, the Torchlight Parade had a crowd of more than 750,000 in 1962.
The Twin Cities River Rats performing a pyramid, a common sight for any audience member, in the 1990s. (Twin Cities River Rats)
The Aquatennial today
The Aquatennial event is no longer as big as it used to be, but the celebration always coincides with the Friday after July 20, or Bloody Friday.
In Northeast Minneapolis, the Twin Cities River Rats (TCRR) are the biggest non-downtown attraction for residents. They are a natural progression from the high diving acts of the past.
“We pulled from their history to get our Aquatennial event,” Morgan Williams, TCRR marketing and social media director, said. “2016 was the first time we were published to be a part of the Aquatennial.”
The group started in 1979, originally as part of the University of Minnesota Water Ski Club. They rebranded to their current name in 1996 and moved to mainly performing on the Mississippi River.
“We are a show ski team,” Williams said. “We put on a play on the water that includes circus and acrobatic stunts.”
The TCRR show takes place on July 23 this year, just before the Torchlight Parade, on the Mississippi River at 1758 W River Road N, north of Pryes Brewing Company.
“The Aquatennial does such a great job of bringing together so many unique individuals,” Williams said. “That’s why we align so closely with them. We have members from age 4 to 64.”