Advertisement placed by Edmund G. Walton in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune, January 12, 1919. A restriction banning Jewish tenants and tenants of color is highlighted.

Newspaper ad with racial covenant

Advertisement placed by Edmund G. Walton in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune, January 12, 1919. A restriction banning Jewish tenants and tenants of color is highlighted.

Fair housing protesters from the “Committee to End Discrimination against Fourth Class Whites," December 19, 1962, St. Paul Pioneer Press. Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negatives Collection, Minnesota Historical Society.

Men protesting fair housing in St. Paul

Members of the “Committee to End Discrimination against Fourth Class Whites" protesting fair housing in St. Paul on December 19, 1962, St. Paul Pioneer Press. Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negatives Collection, Minnesota Historical Society.

Racial Housing Covenants in the Twin Cities

Minneapolis real estate developers began writing racial covenants—race-based property ownership restrictions—into property deeds in 1910. They were banned by the Minnesota state legislature in 1953, but their use in the early twentieth century laid the foundation for contemporary racial disparities in Minnesota.

Nina Clifford’s brothel at 147 South Washington Avenue in St. Paul, down the street from Ida Dorsey’s brothel at 151 South Washington Avenue. Photograph by A. F. Raymond, 1937.

One of Nina Clifford's brothels

Nina Clifford’s brothel at 147 South Washington Street in St. Paul. Photograph by A. F. Raymond, 1937.

A street scene at the intersection of Second Street North and Second Avenue North, Minneapolis, around the time that Ida Dorsey operated a brothel on Second Avenue. Photographer unknown, ca. 1912.

Second Street North from Second Avenue North, Minneapolis

A street scene at the intersection of Second Street North and Second Avenue North, Minneapolis, around the time that Ida Dorsey operated a brothel on Second Avenue. Photographer unknown, ca. 1912.

Building at 220 Eleventh Avenue South, Minneapolis, close to Ida Dorsey’s Eleventh Avenue bordello. Photograph by Joseph Zalusky, ca. 1890s.

220 Eleventh Avenue South, Minneapolis

Building at 220 Eleventh Avenue South, Minneapolis, close to Ida Dorsey’s Eleventh Avenue bordello. Photograph by Joseph Zalusky, ca. 1890s.

A street scene of First Street South in Minneapolis, where the First Street Red Light District was. Photograph by C. J. Hibbard, ca. 1895.

First Street South looking west, Minneapolis

A street scene of First Street South in Minneapolis, where the First Street Red Light District was. Photograph by C. J. Hibbard, ca. 1895.

Image of Ida Dorsey’s bordello at 212 Eleventh Avenue South, Minneapolis. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user McGhiever, February 19, 2019. CC BY-SA 4.0

Ida Dorsey’s “sporting house”

Ida Dorsey’s bordello at 212 Eleventh Avenue South, Minneapolis. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user McGhiever, February 19, 2019. CC BY-SA 4.0

St. Paul: Gangster Haven

"St. Paul had a widespread - if inglorious - reputation as a criminal safe haven during the Gangster Era of the 1930s. In this episode, government records specialist Charles Rodgers shares several items from the Society's collection associated with that colorful age." Posted to YouTube by the Minnesota Historical Society, December 6, 2010.

Minnesota Stories: Remember Rondo

"Rondo, a thriving African American community in St. Paul, was virtually eliminated by construction of the I-94 freeway in the 1960s." Video posted to YouTube by the Minnesota Historical Society on July 12, 2013.

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