75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard // Saint Paul, MN 55155
The restored Senate, House and Court cambers and other public spaces are included on a guided tour of this architectural masterpiece designed by architect Cass Gilbert.
]]>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.
]]>- 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.
]]>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.
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