History
Who cares?
This Duluth campaign sign from 2001 is my all-time favorite. I think what Dan Williams might have intended to suggest was that he was the answer to the question — he cares. But no one took it that way.
Williams was running for the Fourth District City Council seat. He was knocked out in the primary by Roger Reinert and Neill Atkins. Atkins eventually won, topping Reinert by 18 votes.
Chief Osaugie Gathering on Wisconsin Point
Interview with Donna Ennis Chief Osaugie Descendant
httpv://youtu.be/5Orqd6S1i6g
This has come up on PDD before, but I did this interview with Donna Ennis today and I thought it was something to share. Romance, intrigue, ancient ceremonies, and even a shameful grave desecration make an appearance in just 8 short minutes of community radio.
I haven’t posted in awhile, it’s been a busy summer this gives you a little idea of where I’ve been, I guess.
Duluth Album Releases in 2007
Trampled by Turtles
Trouble
(March 19)
Available on iTunes
Low
Drums and Guns
Sub Pop Records (March 20)
Available on Bandcamp
The Hotel Coral Essex
Glisten
(April 27)
Available on Bandcamp
Henry Brick
Since the subject of Henry Brick came up in the “Bring back the bricks!” post, I thought I’d offer some background by way of a retrospective article I wrote 15 years ago for the Budgeteer News.
The man who saved downtown
By Paul Lundgren
Budgeteer News
June 1, 1997
The bricking of Downtown Duluth’s First Street in 1984 created traffic problems, parking hassles and unpleasant noise and dust. Retail shoppers took their money elsewhere. Superior Street was next on the bricking list in the summer of ’85, and business owners feared the effect on business would be similarly disastrous.
Then came Mr. Henry R. Brick, clad in overalls, flannel shirt, black bowtie, hard hat and horn-rimmed glasses. He starred in 38 television commercials that summer, encouraging shoppers to “come on down and jaywalk” through torn up Superior Street. They did.
Henry Brick quickly became one of the most highly recognized people in Duluth. When the construction was finally completed and the future of downtown secure, he disappeared – like any superhero would.
(more…)
The 1940s: From our floors to you
Remodeling our hillside home has been a largely subtractive process involving a complex stratigraphy of floor, wall, and ceiling coverings. Thus far, we’ve taken out carpet, panelling, linoleum, lath and plaster (fun, that), dimensional 8′ 2×4 studs that are so dried out they can’t weigh more than 5 pounds, and quite a lot of charred stuff from at least one historical fire. We’ve also uncovered a fair number of newspapers from the late war/early prewar period. While I’m sure all of this is available in some or other archive, finding it on our floor has a magical quality I wanted to share. Enjoy, and suggestions on the non-English language are appreciated (Finnish?).
Calling All Traphagen Nerds!
Since I am moderately obsessed with local history, I decided start up a project on Duluth architect Oliver Traphagen. While the Internet is great, I am looking for more perspectives on the man as well as some information on his personal life and ideals. If you want to share your knowledge then please contact me: romen021 @ d.umn.edu.
Duluth Button Collection
If you have a button to add, upload it to the comments. It’s one of the nice things about the Internet — we can all have a button collection without having to have a button collection. (more…)
Duluth Album Releases in 2006
Cheer Up Poems
Here Not Up There
Wire Heart
Sara Softich
Pipe Dream
Available on CD Baby
Centerville All Stars
Not Dead Yet
Happy ninth birthday to us
Perfect Duluth Day is nine years old today – Friday, June 29, 2012. We’ll be celebrating tonight at Tycoons Alehouse and Eatery (in the board room upstairs) starting at 8 p.m. There will be cake and an array of door prizes. Come on out and share in the merriment.
PDD Calendar entry | Facebook invite
What started as a fun little experiment for Barrett Chase and Scott “Starfire” Lunt in 2003 has grown into a hideous beast containing well over 10,000 posts about everything from wood ticks to roller derby. Thanks for all the support, whether you are a PDD user, lurker or just someone searching Google for karaoke photos.
Dibiki Giizis – The Moon – Seeking local music
Usually I work in early childhood family education but for the summer I am returning to one of my first great loves, radio. I actually wrote about WGZS-FM Dibiki Giizis in this post from several months ago. For the summer anyway I will be hosting and producing some music and public affairs programming on the station mainly during the weekends. Right now the station is still in ramp-up mode, broadcasting at about 70% power and in FM Mono. The schedule is 9-4 pm on weekdays and 9-2 on weekends. Eventually it will be in 100,000 watt FM Stereo and 24 hours a day. (more…)
Indian Country Today: Girls and Women in Duluth Sexually Exploited for Generations
Earlier this month Indian Country Today, a national daily newspaper, featured an historical analysis of the sexual exploitation of Native American girls and women. The story, and the pattern, is chilling enough as it is, but the story is framed in and around Duluth, making it all the more compelling. This is an excellent piece of advocacy journalism by Mary Annette Pember. (more…)
View of Rice’s Point, circa 1961
The above shot of Rice’s Point is from the Cliff’s Barber Shop Collection. It must be from 1961, as the new Blatnik Bridge (highlighted in the below) appears to be not quite completed in the photo.
(more…)Zenith City Online is … online !
I just wanted to drop those PDDers with a taste for local history a reminder that Zenith City Online is up and running at zenithcity.com. I’m hoping you stop by Zenith City after your morning check of PDD for your daily dose of Duluth history with “This Day in Duluth.” This month’s issue also features … (more…)
Homegrown Origin Mythology (part 1 of 3)
Our story begins in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety eight, A.D. in a city built upon a hill, overlooking the greatest of the Great Lakes, the Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas – Duluth!
For those too young to recall, these were dark days in our fair city. The musical landscape was largely barren – a virtual wasteland of yellow beer and cover bands. A dark cloud hung perpetually heavy upon the arts community. A fog of pessimism and oppression obscured the vision of what this city could offer and whispered a sinister, “move to Minneapolis.”
In this darkest hour, a small group of rebels were desperately fighting to establish a foothold for original live music and authentic culture. One dark and dreary night they gathered at Enger Tower. Among the rag-tag group of rebels – Bacigalupo, Monroe, Lindquist, Brewhouse Boys, The SparHawk, and Rick Boo.
Duluth to California $40.22
From the Duluth News Tribune; Sept. 10, 1914 via The Oregonian Blog (pdf).
Duluth Album Releases in 2004
Greg Cougar Conley
For You
HDC Records
Jerree Small
Mobius
Available on CD Baby
Trampled by Turtles
Songs from a Ghost Town
Available on Amazon
‘Where is Duluth?’
I stumbled upon an interesting Duluth factoid, courtesy of the Futility Closet:
In 1871 the House of Representatives was considering subsidizing railroads to serve the Midwest, including tiny Duluth, Minn. Kentucky representative J. Proctor Knott rose, produced a bucket of sarcasm…
Yet, sir, had it not been for this map, kindly furnished me by the Legislature of Minnesota, I might have gone down to my obscure and humble grave in an agony of despair, because I could nowhere find Duluth. Had such been my melancholy fate, I have no doubt that with the last feeble pulsation of my breaking heart, with the last faint exhalation of my fleeting breath I should have whispered, ‘Where is Duluth?’
Little did he know that Duluth was destined for greatness thanks in part to its railroad. Full speech here (along with annotated laugh track): The Kentucky Anthology
Does anybody know the history behind the Homegrown Chicken as a mascot?
Don’t get me wrong, the Chicken is cool, but I still don’t understand how it became the mascot. If anybody has any insight into this historical mystery, let me know.
Old Duluth Homes
My name is Kaitlin. I am a journalism student at UMD and am currently writing a story about old Duluth homes. I am in search of people who own or know someone who owns an older home in the Congdon area or anywhere in Duluth. I am interested in talking with residents about the problems they’ve had in renovating or just general issues they’ve noticed in their older homes.
If you or someone you know have had any sort of issue or is willing to talk about their old home, I’d love to talk!
Thanks so much!
