Description: John, Daniel, and Jessie Lyght (left to right) in their class at Lutsen School (Lutsen, Minnesota), 1933. From the John Lyght photograph collection.
John Lyght, Minnesota’s first African American sheriff, faced different challenges than his constituents as one of the only African Americans in Cook County. A reputation for fairness, however, won him multiple re-elections with wide support between 1972 and 1994.
Rev. Denzil A. Carty (standing at center) with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (sitting) in 1956, during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. From the Minneapolis Spokesman-Recorder.
Rev. Denzil A. Carty, ca. 1950s. In The Scott Collection: Minnesota’s Black Community in the ‘50s, 60s, and ‘70s (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 2018), page 365.
Rev. Denzil Angus Carty was an Episcopal priest and civil rights leader who fought against discrimination in Minnesota—particularly in the City of St. Paul. He was the rector of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in St. Paul for twenty-five years, from 1950 until his retirement in June 1975.