Aerial view of Schweitzer Flax Plant, 1947

Aerial view of Schweitzer Flax Plant

Aerial view of Schweitzer Flax Plant, Windom, 1947.

Flax Day picnic, 1947

Flax Day picnic

Flax Day picnic with Cedric Adams (front row, center), George Grams, and Gert Tibodeau (rear row, left to right), Windom, 1947. Photograph by Don Berg.

Flax Day Parade Royalty

Flax Day parade

Flax Queen and other royalty riding in a car in the Flax Day parade, Windom, 1947.

Flax Day

During the 1940s, Cottonwood County produced so many acres of flax that Windom, the county seat, came to be known as the “Flax Capital of the World.” Between 1948 and 1956, the city celebrated this distinction by hosting an annual event called Flax Day.

Alvin Karpis in St. Paul, 1936

Alvin Karpis in St. Paul

A captured Alvin Karpis is brought to St. Paul on May 3, 1936, in connection with the Hamm and Bremer kidnappings.

Alvin Karpis

Alvin Karpis

Alvin Karpis when he entered the federal prison on Alcatraz Island, ca. 1936.

J. Edgar Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI during Hamm and Bremer kidnappings, in 1940. Hoover guided the FBI’s attempts to rid the US of “public enemies” like the Barker‒Karpis gang.

Alcatraz Penitentiary

Alcatraz Penitentiary

Alvin Karpis and Doc Barker served time on Alcatraz in the Bay of San Francisco. Karpis became the penitentiary’s longest serving inmate.

Alvin “Creepy” Karpis in 1936.

Alvin “Creepy” Karpis in 1936.

Alvin “Creepy” Karpis in 1936.

The Barker cottage on Lake Weir

The Barker cottage on Lake Weir

Fred and Ma Barker used this cottage as their Florida hideout. Here, FBI officers engaged in the shootout that killed both Fred and Ma.

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