The intersection of Lexington and Marshall represents two points of entry by African Americans: education and athletic achievement. In Saint Paul, access to educational institutions was generally available to African Americans, resulting in one of the most literate black populations in the United States. Central High School, which sits on the northwest corner of Lexington and Marshall and is Minnesota's oldest continuously operating high school, relocated here from downtown in 1911.
Saint Paul Mechanic Arts (Manual Training) High School was another important school that educated black students. Because of their proximity to the racially diverse Rondo community, these two schools became the primary educational institutions for many African Americans during most of the 20th century. Mechanic Arts closed in 1976 when several high schools consolidated.
The second point of entry relates to sports achievement. Central High School's football stadium honors its 1930s graduate, James "Jimmy" Griffin who became Saint Paul's first African American police chief. Most famous of the hometown sports heroes is Dave Winfield. Born and raised in Saint Paul, Winfield gained international attention as a left fielder with several major league teams including the Toronto Blue Jays, where he helped garner their first World Championship in 1992. Winfield was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.
]]>The first employment services for African Americans seeking entry into the local workforce were delivered out of barbershops and beauty parlors. Most important of these was the Hall Brothers Barbershop. S. Edward and O.C. Hall serviced white politicians and business leaders. Using these connections, the Hall Brothers posted jobs and personally referred many individuals to prospective employers. Churches began providing a more organized resource for locating jobs and housing through newsletters like St. James A.M.E.'s "The Helper."
In 1887, the Minnesota Protective and Industrial League and later the Afro American League played pivotal roles in improving the economic condition of blacks Out of a confluence of local activities and a national black agenda emerged the Urban League of Saint Paul, founded in 1923 with the help of barber S. Edward Hall. Interestingly, the local white business association objected to the formation of this branch fearing that it would encourage more black migration to Minnesota.
]]>In 1914 the Union Hall Association was created to meet the needs of the growing black community and to improve relationships with the white community. It built the Hallie Q. Brown Community House between Mackubin and Kent to house its programs. The facility became the second-largest neighborhood center in Saint Paul, nurturing youth and providing a gathering place for African Americans. Later, the name was changed to the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center and a larger facility was built. Today the center includes the Martin Luther King Recreation Center and the nationally acclaimed Penumbra Theatre.
]]>The State Capitol and Mall represent an interesting political history for Minnesota's African Americans. In 1868, the state's black population reached 759 people. That year, the state amended its constitution to allow blacks to vote in state elections. It was almost 30 years later, in 1899, that John Francis (Frank) Wheaton became the first black man elected to the state legislature. African Americans would not hold office again for nearly 80 years, when they would be elected to both the House of Representatives and the Senate (Ray Pleasant and B. Robert Lewis, respectively). The first black woman to be elected to the legislature was Neva Walker in 2001.
]]>People arriving in Saint Paul between 1900 and 1940 generally came by train through the Union Depot. In its heyday, this neoclassical structure served 282 trains and 20,000 passengers daily. The depot is significant both as a point of entry for African Americans and as an opportunity for job-seekers. Although most black workers were confined to menial roles, the industry did provide educated African Americans with a more respected occupation as Pullman porters. Regardless of job status, black station employees were important ambassadors. They were often the first friendly face for a new arrival, and their networks of information about where to find shelter and a good meal were invaluable.
]]>- A Powerful Political Influence (1874-1969) -
Nellie Griswold Francis, wife to William T. Francis (the first black to receive a diplomatic appointment), was a strong political influence in her own right. After leaving her job at West Publishing Company in 1914, this Saint Paul activist devoted her energy to securing women's right to vote. No sooner was the 19th amendment passed than Nellie Francis turned her attention to drafting and lobbying for passage of Minnesota's anti-lynching law. Within a year of the infamous Duluth lynchings of 1920, the Minnesota law was passed with little opposition.
Francis's name, along with twenty-four other Minnesota women who contributed their efforts to the women's suffrage movement are commemorated in the Woman Suffrage Memorial Garden on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol.
]]>A block from Rice Park stands the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Renamed in 1984 for the executive director of the NAACP and longtime civil rights advocate, the auditorium has been an important venue for live entertainment since 1932. Entertainers booked there have included Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington, B.B. King and Herbie Hancock. The original building was designed by Minnesota's first African American municipal architect, Clarence W. Wigington, whose other buildings, Harriet Island Pavilion and Highland Water Tower, are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Roy Wilkins (1901-1981) was born in St. Louis, and raised in Saint Paul by his relatives. Educated at the University of Minnesota, Wilkins went on to edit NAACP's Crisis magazine and eventually lead the national institution. For his work, he received the country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Lyndon B. Johnson. Saint Paul boasts two memorials to the "favorite son" of Minnesota: one at the interior entrance to the Roy Wilkins Auditorium and a large interactive monument on the State Capitol Mall.
]]>Many skilled black artisans were recruited to Saint Paul to work on buildings going up in the early 1900s. Many of them arrived from Georgia with the marble used in those buildings. Casiville Bullard, a master stonemason, helped build such Saint Paul icons as the current State Capitol, St. Paul Cathedral, and City Hall. His descendants still live and lead in Saint Paul alongside the progeny of other stonecutters, bricklayers and masons. Some of the buildings they worked on still exist around downtown's Rice Park, including Landmark Center, Saint Paul Public Library and The Saint Paul Hotel.
]]>Even though pre-Civil War legislation attempted to restrict the movement of African Americans to Minnesota, free blacks and fugitive slaves continued to come. The highest concentration of blacks resided in the downtown commercial districts where jobs and affordable rents were more readily available. Most workers were relegated to occupations as porter, waiter and laborer. But some blacks owned successful businesses.
One of those entrepreneurs was Robert James Hilyard, who established a popular clothing store and used his success to develop several black institutions. These included the first Masonic Lodge for African Americans in Minnesota and the "Western Appeal," launched in 1885 as Minnesota's first black newspaper. Another was Thomas H. Lyles, one of the city's wealthier citizens, who pursued ventures in real estate, publishing and mortuary sciences. Highly persuasive, Lyles recruited Frederick L. McGhee, and Dr. ValDo (Valdo) Turner, Saint Paul's first African American lawyer and doctor, respectively, to relocate here. Lyle's wife, Amanda, was also influential. She opened The Hair Bazaar at 4th and Wabasha Streets and managed the funeral parlor after her husband's death.
]]>In the 1800s Saint Paul served as the head of navigation on the Mississippi River. The lower landing provided entry for most of the people and goods coming North. Like many early groups to the region, African Americans settled near the river banks to ensure steady work and food. The river was also a route along the Underground Railroad, providing passage to slaves escaping to Canada.
]]>(1831-1900)
When the steamboat Northern arrived in 1863 carrying labor and equipment to defuse a Dakota Indian uprising, it also towed a raft of 76 ex-slaves that had been found drifting. The ex-slaves (considered contraband at the time) called themselves "Pilgrims." They were met by hostile white dock workers and were taken to Fort Snelling for their protection. Soon, they were joined by a second group of 218 escaped slaves. While some settled near the fort, the remainder, led by dynamic preacher Robert T. Hickman returned to Saint Paul. Three years later they founded Pilgrim Baptist Church, one of the oldest continuous black congregations in the state.
]]>- Saint Paul Early Settler, 1799-1884 -
James Thompson arrived at Fort Snelling as a slave in 1827. He married an Ojibwe woman and learned the language. In the 1830s, he was hired by missionary Alfred Brunson as an interpreter. Thompson's success on Brunson's behalf prompted the missionary to purchase Thompson's freedom. Thompson became one of Saint Paul's first settlers and a man of property. He eventually donated materials and money in the 1840s for the construction of the city's first Methodist church, formerly at 352 Market Street in downtown Saint Paul.
]]>The first significant point of entry for African Americans was in bondage to officers stationed at Fort Snelling. Although slavery was never legal in Minnesota, Army officers were allowed to bring their slaves into the territory. Once here, some slaves sought freedom. The most famous case of this is that of Dred & Harriet Scott. After their owner's death in 1846, the couple, then living in St. Louis, sued for their freedom on the grounds that they had once lived on free soil, including Minnesota. Their case resulted in the infamous 1857 Dred Scott Decision, which held that no black person had ever been, nor could be, a citizen of the United States. This decision propelled the country toward Civil War and launched an influx of African Americans into Minnesota.
]]>- Minnesota's First African American Lawyer (1861-1912) -
One long-gone home, at 665 University Ave., was the residence of African-American leader Frederick McGhee. The McGhee home was a showplace. The large wooden home had open porches and a large balcony. It had bay and stained glass windows and was three stories tall at its highest point. McGhee lived there with his wife and daughter.
McGhee had humble beginnings. The son of slaves grew up to be one of the nation’s first African-American lawyers, a writer, and a pioneer in early desegregation and civil rights cases. Several histories state that he was the first African-American criminal lawyer west of the Mississippi River. He was a contemporary of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois.
McGhee was born in Mississippi. He attended Knoxville College in Tennessee, and graduated with a degree in law in 1885. After practicing law in Chicago he moved to Saint Paul and became Minnesota’s first black lawyer admitted to the bar. He holds that same “first” in Tennessee and Illinois. He was a highly skilled and sought-after attorney. He is well-known for winning clemency from President Benjamin Harrison for a client who was a black soldier. The soldier was falsely accused of a crime.
McGhee was also a strong advocate for improving race relations and was active at the national level in discussions of racial equality and social justice. In 1905, McGhee, Du Bois and others formed one of the first national civil rights organizations, the Niagara Movement. This opposed the conservative actions and views of Washington. The Niagara Movement was the forerunner of the NAACP.
McGhee was an active republican and was chosen as a presidential elector for Minnesota in 1892. He was replaced due to protests from white Republicans. He quit the party a year later and became a Democratic Party (United States) member. This was another first as almost all prominent Blacks were Republicans.
Although his father was a Baptist minister, McGhee converted to Catholicism at a time when the vast majority of African Americans were Baptists. He was very active in Saint Peter Claver Church.
McGhee died in 1912, at age 50, of pleurisy. A plaque about McGhee is displayed at Western Bank on University Avenue.
]]>419 Sherburne Avenue is the Charles James home. The three-story home, with its corner bay windows, is missing its original front porch and much of a second floor balcony, so it looks much differently than it did years ago. But it is still a reminder of a remarkable man. James was a member of a pioneer Saint Paul African-American family. He was a local and national leader in the Boot and Shoe Workers Union in the early 20th century.
James became a union leader when the boot and shoe makers were coming into their own in the labor movement. He served three terms as the president of Saint Paul’s Trades and Labor Assembly. The term of office was not long -- six months -- but historian David Riehle tells us that was unusual then for anyone to be elected more than once to the Assembly's top position. James would then serve seven more years as recording secretary of the Assembly.
James and his family were among the city’s African-American elite. He was the labor representative to the Saint Paul Charter Commission. James was involved in civil rights and church groups. He was very popular in the labor movement and in the greater community, and was widely mourned at his death in 1923.
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