Seward History Project Meeting

April 18, 2012, 7:00 pm

In attendance: Dick Westby, Wendy Epstein, Bob Haddow, Will Mathews, Elina Kolstad, Maddy Edwards, Clem Engen, Burt Berlowe, Bruce Johansen, Laura Weber, Trevor Born, and Linda Coffin.

General Introduction
Dick Westby presented the history, scope and outline of the book project, for the benefit of those who were joining the group for the first time. He reminded everyone that the History Committee was first formed to help Ben Krillkamp do history theater in the neighborhood. He explained that we have a file cabinet at the SNG office devoted to The Book and seven boxes of Seward material in the Special Collections archive at the downtown Minneapolis public library. If you wish to visit the Special Collections area, call before you visit and make an appointment. They are excited about this project and very willing to help. There is an outline/finding aid for the collection. If you tell them in advance what you are looking for, they will probably have it out for you when you arrive. Ted Hathaway (612-543-8203) is the director and [is it E.N. or Ian?] (612-543-8204) is responsible for technology and equipment. The Special Collection is open Monday - Thursday, and the first and third Saturdays of the month, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Heres a link for information about Visiting Special Collections: http://www.hclib.org/pub/search/specialcollections/visitspecialcollections.cfm The immediate goal of the History Committee is to publish this book on the history of the neighborhood. The long-term goal is to maintain all these materials as an archive with documentation, for the use of future generations. Dick clarified that the boundaries of the Seward neighborhood are the Mississippi River to the east, the freeway and Riverside Park to the north, Hiawatha and Minnehaha Avenues to the west, and the Milwaukee Railroad/Greenway to the south. He also clarified that the original Kings Fair in the 19th century was bounded by Franklin Avenue, 24th Street, 25th Avenue and 30th Avenue. Members of the group introduced themselves and provided a bit of background on themselves. Dick reminded everyone that the Legacy Fund requires that we have resumes in hand for all those who will be writing sections of the book.

General Work Plans

SNG has posted a summary of Seward history on their website and a timeline prepared by Wendy was distributed by email to everyone. There is a job description for writers on this project. Expenses will be reimbursed within reason and within our limited budget.

Dick explained that we will work as cooperatively as possible, sharing research and leads, and providing feedback and advice to each other, especially in this first stage. There is not much money for this project, so everyone needs to be careful about how they spend their time and whether they need reimbursement for expenses. The longer-time members of the committee will be available to read drafts and suggest interview topics and people to interview.

Specific Work Assignments

The remainder of the meeting was devoted to dividing up the research areas and topics among the writers, as follows (by chapter). Names in italics are potential resource people, not writers: 1. Early History (location, names, Historic Kings Fair) Will Mathews, Marilyn Matheny 2. Transportation, now rolled into Franklin Avenue (see below) N/A 3. Housing (public and private) Patricia Mack (public) & Elina Kolstad (private), Bob Roscoe & Pat Rosaves 4. Education (public, parochial & charter schools) Wendy Adamson (Seward) 5. Franklin Avenue / Transportation Trevor Born, Randall Cutting (streetcars) 6. Small Businesses Wendy Epstein 7. Major Employers & Companies Laura Weber 8. Hub of Hell, Restaurants & Bars Bruce Johansen 9. Entertainment & the Arts Bob Haddow, Borghild Dahl 10. Kings Fair (current), Parks & Rec, Athletics ?? 11. Progressive Politics (Sabo, Freeman, Scallon) ?? 12. Urban Renewal Burt Berlowe, Bob Roscoe 13. Social Activism Burt Berlowe 14. Cooperative Movement Pat Cumbie 15. Social Services & Community Involvement Maddy Edwards 16. Immigrants & Refugees Ryan McLaughlin 17. Ethnic Churches, Religious & Spiritual Groups Elaine Klaassen 18. Health & Environment Michael Pursell 19. Twenty-First Century ?? (to be written later) Linda Coffin is not available to begin a section now, but will be available later on for editing the chapters in later drafts.

Committee Roster Seward History Committee members

Name
Adamson, Wendy Berlowe, Burt Born, Trevor Coffin, Linda Cumbie, Patricia A. Edwards, Maddy Engen, Clem Epstein, Wendy Fick, Herb Haddow, Bob Johansen, Bruce Klaassen, Elaine Kolstad, Elina Matheny, Marilyn Mathews, William McLaughlin, Ryan Pursell, Michael Sansone, Nancy Meyer Weber, Laura Westby, Dick

Phone
612-722-7741 612-722-1504 612-568-2676 612-724-3441 612-341-2650 612-703-9706 612-333-7885 612-724-9520 612-331-9797 612-724-9351 612-865-6563 612-729-8540 612-877-2102 612-729-2442 203-530-0081 651-328-9781 651-485-1034 952-854-5066 612-207-5690 (c) 612-722-2853

E-mail
wadamson@bitstream.net bberlowe@comcast.net trevorborn@gmail.com linda@historycrafters.com sdpcmpls@aol.com maddyeds@gmail.com clemengen@cs.com wh3e@aol.com herb@bigprintinc.com bhaddow55@yahoo.com bruce.johansen@gmail.com elaineklaassen@yahoo.com kolstad.elina@gmail.com marilyn@artisopusgallery.com wmdmathews@gmail.com prevale24@gmail.com michaelspurell@gmail.com NancySansone@msn.com l-webe@umn.edu sandrich22@comcast.net

Address
2208 30th Ave. So. 2522 E. 24th St. 811 28th Ave. So. Apt. 3 3208 E. 25th St. 2516 E. 22nd St. 2100 30th Ave. So. 2900 E. 26th Street 3124 E. 24th St. 2020 21st Ave. So. 3120 30th Ave. So. 3622 42nd Ave. So. 2304 30th Ave. So. 2508 E. 22nd Street 2309 26th Ave. So. 2409 29th Ave. So. Apt. 2

612-724-3578 (home) 2901 E. 24th St.