Recent content from Curt Brown
Minnesota History: Ad man turned Paul Bunyan into a folklore icon
Still largely unknown 66 years after his death, William Laughead helped popularize perhaps the biggest name in American folklore.
Minnesota History: James Griffin used persistence to blaze a trail for St. Paul's Black police officers
Said Griffin, namesake of Central High's stadium and the St. Paul police headquarters: "I had to fight for everything I got."
Minnesota History: For Granite Falls doctor who tested thousands of kids for TB, new recognition is long overdue
Kathleen Jordan battled tuberculosis in Minnesota children with energy and guile.
Minnesota History: A New Ulm baker wearing a blanket fell to friendly fire in the U.S.-Dakota War
Jacob Castor was accidentally shot by fellow settlers who "mistook him for an Indian."
Minnesota History: Columbia Heights memorial will honor fallen WWII airman 80 years after his death
"Biggest thing we ever did before he went in was a trip to Chicago in 1937 to see our first baseball game and ride on the El," his brother said.
Minnesota History: Mayo Clinic physician-scientist forged cardiovascular breakthroughs in flight, space
Dr. Earl Wood led a brilliant career at Mayo, stretching from World War II into the 1980s.
Baseball historians remember career of legendary Minnesota pitcher Walter Ball
He was good enough to play in the majors, historians say, if there hadn't been a color line.
Vaudevillians played musical chairs, personally and professionally, in 1930s Winona
A new book by a retired Winona music teacher tells the tale of four musicians whose lives became intertwined in surprising ways.
Girl, 13, took charge amid 1925 storm chaos on Minneapolis lake
Her aunt and toddler cousin were killed, but rather than letting the trauma paralyze her, the young teenager put her Girl Scout first-aid training to action.
Pioneering bird-in-hand magician went from Mankato to stages around the world
Jack Kodell bought his first trick at a Minneapolis magic store in 1941.
As global war loomed, the McLaughlins of Bloomington preached peace
The couple spearheaded the peace movement in the Twin Cities in the mid-20th century.
Remembering a Minnesotan who stormed the beach on D-Day 80 years ago
Gerald Heaney survived World War II to become a respected lawyer and federal judge in Duluth.
From gung-ho Vietnam medic to peacenik to proud Army veteran
A southern Minnesota man looks back on his evolution from gung-ho soldier in 1967 to questioning dissenter by 1972 to proud Army veteran today.
Civil War group honors the last Union veteran buried in each Minnesota county
History buffs hope to 'keep green' the memories of long-forgotten soldiers in blue.
St. Cloud professor's book paints nuanced look at enslaved woman freed in Minneapolis
Author Christopher Lehman has unearthed a surprising character long overlooked in Eliza Winston's story: President Andrew Jackson.
Paying overdue tribute to his grandmother, a Minnesota farmer recarves family history
Man honors hardworking women on family gravestone.
Civil War officer brought formerly enslaved family to Minnesota
Simon and Flora Boggs lived in Mantorville for 30 years.
Two Minnesota children in 1870 were lost in the woods, but not to history
A granite marker has replaced the lilac bushes in the farmyard where the children were buried.
Saving brewery ruins just the latest preservation project in historic Mantorville
Jane and John Olive help lead preservation efforts in the southeastern Minnesota community.
Bogus Ghost Dance scare spooked Roseau County settlers in 1891
Ojibwe leader Mickinock kept the settlers' livestock fed and watered after they fled in panic.
From New Ulm to Bataan: A fallen Medal of Honor recipient is remembered
U.S. Army Capt. Bill Bianchi is the only soldier from Brown County to receive the military's highest honor.
Remembering Albert Lea's fallen cop, more than a century after run-in with an angry father
An Albert Lea police sergeant stumbled upon the story in the archives of the Minnesota History Center in late 2019.
Remembering the lucky life of WWII gunner, cribbage champ and tuba player Ed Zieba
The son of Polish immigrants worked at the Salem Lutheran Church Dining Hall at the Minnesota State Fair and was an Aqua Jester.
Deadly love triangle murder case captivated Minnesota in 1950
"The media circus surrounding the murder turned Laura Miller into a local celebrity," according to Brian Haines, executive director of the McLeod County Historical Society.
Deadly 1938 bus crash united former roommates — and future grandmothers — in grief
A bus carrying members of the Gustavus Adolphus College football team hit a truck in fog and snow near Belle Plaine.
Minnesota-bound Swedes were tricked into laboring in South after Civil War
A Lake Elmo woman discovered a little-known Civil War-era chapter while researching her husband's great-great-grandparents.
From derrieres to matchbooks, a successful 94-year-old Minneapolis developer looks back
Ray Harris, the driving force behind the Lake and Hennepin retail center formerly known as Calhoun Square; the site of Orchestra Hall; downtown housing, and even a dog park in Loring Park, is to be enshrined in the Minnesota Real Estate Hall of Fame.
Remembering a Minnesota soldier killed in a Nazi massacre nearly 80 years ago
A family in Madelia, Minn., endured many tragedies.
'Seemingly forgotten' Black athlete and coach saw sports as tool for advancement
William O'Shields touched countless lives in Rochester, St. Paul and at HBCUs.
Eden Prairie's ancient Red Rock returned to Dakota hands
The red boulder, long a touchstone to the Dakota, was moved last year to the Lower Sioux Indian Community.
Swashbuckling WWI correspondent launched his reporting career in Minneapolis
Floyd Gibbons was fired from the Minneapolis Daily News for showing up late to work and lost the police beat at the Minneapolis Tribune after he slept through a major downtown fire.
New book details 'Outdoor Museum' of New Ulm's symbolism-laced cemeteries
History buff shares stories of tree stump markers and white bronze markers in New Ulm's City, Catholic and Lutheran cemeteries.
New questions arise in two Minnesota men's 1889 hanging
The case sparked a push to reform capital punishment in Minnesota.
All of tiny Funkley, Minn., traveled to the Big Apple and the nation's Capital 70 years ago
The junket for residents launched a nationwide drive to collect bedsheets for dressings for cancer patients.
Mantorville's Hubbell House restaurant goes way back to Minnesota's territorial days
1854 restaurant has hosted presidents, baseball stars and entertainers.
Diaries through four decades tell story of Japanese immigrant family in Minneapolis
The collection offers "great insight," says a University of Minnesota archivist.
Ham Lake teen explores story of New Ulm sailor killed in World War II
Gavin Klabechek is among 16 students selected nationally to research "Silent Heroes" from WWII. He picked Robert Ervin Kaping.
Polish immigrant, 88, recalls astonishing journey to northeast Minneapolis
Anatol Maciejny's path includes a WWII work camp in Siberia, refugee camps in Iran, Iraq and Syria, and a Swedish freighter.
At 100, a WWII vet from Rondo looks back at a life of service
St. Paul's Gordon Kirk has been a soldier, streetcar driver, skycap and the first Black commander of the Minnesota chapter of the VFW.
New Prague's pioneering woman pharmacist served as mentor to another
Rose Layne visited Marie Piesinger's drugstore as a kid and ended up buying it from her.
Labor leader launched Farmer-Labor Party and became St. Paul's mayor
William Mahoney climbed from a pressman into a labor champion and union newspaper editor, party president and elected official.
A St. Paul teen took a flying leap in 1921, on her way to a historic aviation career
Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie was in the first class of inductees for the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame.
Pioneering Minnesota pilot aced test, then she soared
Cora Fuller, a bookkeeper who married an equally adventurous flyer, was the first woman to earn a private pilot's license in Minnesota.
Sarah Wakefield's 160-year-old account still illuminates our understanding of U.S.-Dakota War
A doctor's wife, who spent the war's six weeks in Dakota captivity with her children, expressed sympathy for Native Americans.
Unlikely pair forged bond beyond race in 19th-century Red Wing
Prominent activist Julia Bullard Nelson and her former pupil Jeremiah Patterson ran the Equal Rights Meat Market.
Photo of Anoka County family comes home to Minnesota nearly 120 years later
Using genealogy and social media websites, the Photo Angel Project tracks down descendants of family members in old photos and sends them the pictures.
Old wooden crate brings to life the story of a fallen Minneapolis WWII soldier
His family hadn't forgotten Myron Kuzyk; in fact, family members had followed in his Army boot steps.
For Deephaven vet, 99, an orphaned baby brought joy amid the chaos of World War II
Cloquet native's unit took care of an Italian baby they named Maria.
New headstone marks grave of Native soldier from Minnesota who fought in the Civil War
People who drive by the rural Rice County cemetery are "very rarely aware heroes lay in their midst."
Bloomington woman worked as aeronautical engineering 'cadette' during WWII
Loraine Teninga Plasman was one of dozens of young women who took a 10-month crash course at the University of Minnesota.
One Minnesota WWII veteran's story amplifies what so many endured
A retired bond trader compiled letters sent to the New Prague Times for a book, published this spring.
Century-old Minneapolis quilt stitched with names from days gone by
Rosemount woman has spent more than 100 hours on online genealogy research to find out more about the 318 signatures.
Irish descendants are embracing St. Paul's forgotten Connemara Patch
The former site of the four-block shantytown at the base of Dayton's Bluff on St. Paul's East Side is now part of the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary.
She faced racism, he fled the Nazis: A Minnesota couple look back at a century of history
An afternoon of living history was something to relish.
Dayton, Minn., revives its French-Canadian past
Dayton's rich French-Canadian roots will be the focus of an upcoming presentation.
Axel Hayford Reed: Glencoe's one-armed pioneer dynamo
The indefatigable businessman, politician and Civil War veteran was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Excelsior man dives into 1880 family murder committed by his great-great-grandmother
"If she did kill him," the St. Peter Times reported, "she simply put out of existence a notorious thief, for doing which she is entitled to the thanks of all mankind."
Letters survive, though author did not, from 1862 U.S.-Dakota War
Four surviving kids from family wound up raising 26 children, and their family tree now includes more than 1,000 descendants.
New book by family historian reveals Minnesota clan's 'messy' history
Unlike many family histories that simply string together events, Daryl Lawrence weaves in a second layer of research to place Effie Schwartz and her mother, Annie Wendell, in the context of their times.
1887 home built by Albert Lea's first doctor has sheltered his family for generations
The house built by Dr. Albert Clark Wedge went on the National Register of Historical Places in 1986.
Lake City's Anna Underwood helped open State Fair gates to women
Fruit orchard manager was active in the women's suffrage movement.
1883 tornado leveled Rochester, but opened the way for St. Marys Hospital and the Mayos
Injuries from the intense twister prompted Franciscan nuns to lobby for a hospital.
Book breathes new life into 1894 Duluth murder mystery
A 7-year-old's ghastly discovery one chilly August morning prompted a long search for the truth.
Hennepin County museum exhibit tells colorful tale of Minneapolis pioneer family
An adventure-loving former sailor and his wife settled far from the sea in Minnesota Territory.
How a Minneapolis businessman and a baseball icon made Minnesota major league
Wheelock Whitney's work with Branch Rickey helped set the stage for major league baseball to expand to Minnesota in 1961.
World wars claimed Minnesota woman's brother and the son she named after him
Mary McGowan "was the real hero," her grandson says.
Swedish pioneer's farmhouse near Waconia slated for restoration
Andrew Peterson was passionate about growing apple trees and keeping a diary.
'Forgotten' artist sketched his way from Willmar to Disney and Bugs in California
Illustrator Ralph Heimdahl does live on at St. Cloud State University, where he studied, graduating in 1930.
A Minnesota bootlegger's son delves into his father's lawless past
He was a "swashbuckling suspect" who didn't like to drink.
Two Ojibwe women shaped Minneapolis' Indigenous history
Winnie Jourdain and Emily Peake are featured in a new anthology about urban Indians.
Minnesota photographer chronicled 1960s Airstream caravan from Singapore to Portugal
Airstreams hired Fran Hall for a 14-month, 31-nation publicity campaign.
University of Minnesota bug expert advocated for a free Ukraine
Alexander Granovsky pioneered the use of chemicals to control cutworm, grubs and potato bugs.
Lake City will honor man who created water skiing on Lake Pepin 100 years ago
Boosters will unveil a statue of Ralph Samuelson on July 2.
