The 688th Battalion in formation, awaiting inspection

The 688th Battalion in formation, awaiting inspection

The 688th Battalion in formation, awaiting inspection. Battalion members stand in front of their Women’s Army Corps quarters in England. Photograph by Pfc. George Holt, February 15, 1945. NAID: 175539133, local ID: 111-SC-200585.

Virginia Lane in uniform

Virginia Lane in uniform

Virginia Lane in her Army uniform, ca. 1944. Printed in the St. Paul Recorder, March 9, 1945, 1.

Frazier, Virginia Lane (1921–2012)

Virginia Lane Frazier was one of the first Black US Army’s Women’s Corps (WAC) soldiers to enlist in Minnesota during World War II. She served with the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, a unit made up entirely of Black women that was stationed in England between February and November of 1945. The battalion won praise for clearing a backlog of mail that provided solace to American soldiers in combat.

MN90: The Headliner

Segment of MN90 from producer Britt Aamodt.

Central Police Station, St. Paul

Central Police Station, St. Paul

St. Paul’s Central Police Station, 1900. Harris Martin died there in 1903 after having a heart attack on St. Peter Street.

Sixth Street, St. Paul

Sixth Street, St. Paul

Sixth Street in St. Paul, 1900. Boxing champion Harris Martin bested opponents in the back room of a saloon on this street in the late 1880s.

Drawing of Harris Martin

Drawing of Harris Martin

Drawing of Harris Martin that appeared on page five of the St. Paul Daily Globe on May 24, 1890.

Harris Martin

Harris Martin

Print based on a photograph of Harris Martin, 1887. Original caption: “Harris Martin, the Black Pearl, a Famous Boxer of St. Paul, Minnesota.” Police Gazette (New York), June 4, 1887, page 13.

Harris Martin

Harris Martin

Harris Martin in Minneapolis, 1887. The photograph appeared on page two of the St. Paul Globe on April 27, 1903.

Martin, Harris (1865–1903)

Harris Martin, also known as George Harris, was a middleweight boxer who went by the moniker “the Black Pearl.” In 1887 he became the first Colored Middleweight Champion of the World in a fight staged on the banks of the Mississippi, making him one of the most famous boxers of the period.

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