In this segment of MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds, Britt Aamodt explains how the execution of William Williams led to the end of capital punishment in Minnesota.
In the late 1970s, eight female employees from the Citizens’ National Bank in Willmar stirred up controversy in their town and across the country when they filed a complaint against the bank for unequal pay and gender discrimination. The Willmar 8, as they were called, formed their own union and went on strike for two years. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us the Willmar 8 came to symbolize the uphill climb many American women face when seeking equity in the workplace.
Model School junior high students give gymnastics demonstration
in the College Hall gymnasium of Winona Teachers College, 1937. Winona County Historical Society, Photo Archives, A5137. Used with the permission of Winona County Historical Society.
Mohamed Abdullahi, the first Somali police officer in the city of Minneapolis, on duty in 2012. Photograph by Bill Jolitz. Printed in Somalis in Minnesota, by Ahmed Ismail Yusuf (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2012), 50.