Treasure, stacked in boxes in a room in St. Anthony City Hall. It sounds like “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” but it’s the property of the St. Anthony Historical Society, and the “treasure” is most apt to be documents and photographs.
The City of St. Anthony Village has a relatively short history compared to other Minnesota cities — just over 75 years. Conserving and sharing that history is the historical society’s mission.
The society got going in fits and starts. Accepted as a mission by the St. Anthony City Council in 1988, incorporation papers were filed in 1990 and the organization received its authorization as a 501(c)3 organization in 1991. According to an introduction written by Florence Marks for “A Village in the City,” charter members included Judy Makowske, Leslie J. LaCount, Mary Ann Baker, Ruth S. Harris, Frank Gregorie, Bernice Kuure, Kim Johnson, Florence Marks and Russell Pahl.
“Then,” Marks wrote, “the society became inactive.”
In 2006, when the city was coming up on the 60th anniversary of its incorporation, the City Council revived the society. Kim Moore-Sykes, assistant city manager at the time, was given charge of the project.
The group solicited donations — monetary and artifacts — from St. Anthony residents. Sorting and archiving materials became a major undertaking, one that continues today. Marks recalled receiving piles of photographs. “Old photographs would come in without any identification of who the people were or what organization was represented,” she recalled. “It was a big problem.”
In an effort to keep more St. Anthony Village history from slipping away, Barry Tedlund, Bill Sauer, Charles Kirk, Sue Bailey and Marks and her husband, George, gathered oral histories from longtime residents in a series of videotaped interviews throughout 2008-09.
Tedlund recalled interviewing Dan Ramberg, who with his cousin Karen Abrahamson on his shoulders, perfected riding three horses bareback, Roman-style, while jumping them through a ring of fire.
A publishing house
The society became a publishing house in the second decade of the 2000s. Gail Olson, a veteran Northeaster reporter, was contracted to write St. Anthony’s history. Over the course of seven years, she produced four books: “A Village in the City” (2011), “World War II Courage and Survival” (2013) and “Hit the Deck and Pray” (2018) about the 1984 tornado that swept through St. Anthony. She also wrote a children’s book, “More Pigs Than People!” (2013). “A Village in the City” is sold out and out of print, but the other books are available for purchase at City Hall.
More recently, Bob Manske, the society’s current president, has been creating videos from old photos and film clips. The first three deal with the city’s history from the days of Father Hennepin up to 1960. A fourth, about the Apache Plaza Shopping Center, is “under construction.” The videos can be seen online at https://www.savhis
torical.org/our-videos.
In April, Manske presented a video documenting the career of Dr. Dave Abrahamson, former St. Anthony school superintendent. It drew a record number of people to the society’s annual meeting.
Why a city historical society?
Why does St. Anthony have its own society?
Manske attributes it to an independent attitude. “St. Anthony Village is made up of the ‘residue’ of earlier annexations by Minneapolis, land gained from Ramsey County in 1958, and some acquired later from Mounds View Township,” he said. “This city was founded by a group of people who didn’t want to live in Minneapolis. We still have our own school district. We fight to maintain who we are.”
Florence Marks said historical materials are always relevant. “You have to find out what’s already happened in order to make wise decisions,” she said.
Tedlund said he plans to use some of the society’s old photos for a class reunion. “They’re great for sharing and giggling,” he said
Wanted: Members, artifacts and a few good digitizers
The St. Anthony Historical Society has some three-dimensional artifacts, including a board game, “The Game of St. Anthony Village,” produced for the city’s 50th anniversary in 1995, a dented garbage can that ended up in a tree after the ’84 tornado and the old kiddie train from Apache Plaza, acquired in 2016. If you have something you’d like to share, they’re very interested, and will gladly sit down with you to learn more. They welcome everything from high school homecoming buttons to items handed down through families.
The society is also always on the lookout for history-loving people; membership is $25 per year and is tax-deductible. You can pay membership dues online.
Most meetings are online. The society meets 7 p.m. on Zoom on the third Tuesday of each month except April, when the society holds its annual meeting at City Hall.
Like many nonprofits, the society relies on the services of volunteers. In addition to Manske, current board members are Michael Volna, vice president, Mary Pucel, secretary, Dale Gunderson, treasurer, Bill Sauer, Keith Pearson, Melba Hensel and Barry Kinsey. Two board positions are open, and Manske would like to pass along the job of society president to spend more time with his wife.
The society would also like to make the materials stored in those boxes at City Hall more easily available. To do that, they need to convert hard copies of newsletters, photos and other papers to digital files. They also have voice recordings, films and videotapes that need the same treatment. If you can help out with scanning or conversion, or can contribute money to take materials to a conversion house, contact savhistorical@outlook.com.
Students at the White School gathered wood to heat their classroom in 1933.(St. Anthony Historical Society)
