Where in Duluth?
By baci on Apr 21, 2012 in Where in Duluth?
With Trampled by Turtles and Two Many Banjos, I thought we could tap into the deep history of local banjoery. A clue, this is outdoors.
By baci on Apr 21, 2012 in Where in Duluth?
With Trampled by Turtles and Two Many Banjos, I thought we could tap into the deep history of local banjoery. A clue, this is outdoors.
Is there a deep history?
My guess is outside the old boardinghouse that is on Canal Park Dr.- what used to be South Lake, I think? Down the street between Joe Huey’s and Lyle Bros.
@TimK Good guess, but nope. This is currently viewable, the photo does hang, outdoors, relatively close to the location at which it was taken.
@DaVe There must be some history because this chap had his picture taken late in the 19th century.
I might have read about banjos in logging camps and the like. I even saw some reference ( apocryphal?) to using a banjo for an emergency canoe paddle. That, of course, has nothing to do with the saying, “Paddle faster — I hear banjos.”
MN Historical Society Archive.
Searching Minnesota Reflections for “banjo” didn’t work. [Although I did find something disturbing in the process--serendipity, joy.]
That is disturbing.
Disturbing. Even more so if you check out high school yearbooks in Duluth from around 1920 or so. Huuuuge groups of white kids doing that. It’s hard to imagine what that scene was like.
“Disturbing.” Today, yes. But, back then it wasn’t. We can’t rewrite history just report it.
When I grew up in Duluth I remember one black student (1940s and ’50s), I never thought about it one way or another. Joined the Navy and saw my first “colored restrooms,” etc. That disturbed me as I was never exposed to racism. But, the people that lived in the south back then never looked at it like that.
Times and people change, but you can’t change history no matter how hard you try.
Tor, I recognize what you’re saying, but I’m pretty sure that if you asked the more-than-one black population back then, they wouldn’t agree with you that it wasn’t disturbing. It’s just that the white population didn’t give a damn what they thought.
So, back to the post: gonna share where the photo is or what?
Just a quick update.. I know you’re all suuuper curious as to just “Where in Duluth” this is. Well, if you go to the East entrance to the Depot, as if you were walking from Superior St. to the Norshor Railroad, you’ll see an enlarged photograph on the wall. It’s some kind of dedication photo from when the first Depot was built. This fellow is part of the band.
I wonder if people at that time were bitching about waiting in line or having to drop $$$ on a wrist band to see them play…
I’m not 100% sure, but I think this is the first time that PDD has ever been stumped by a “Where in Duluth?” post.