A Fiery Unrest: Why Plymouth Avenue Burned

During the summer of 1967, Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis went up in flames. This was during a period known as the Long, Hot Summer when frustrations about racial discrimination and a lack of opportunity for black Americans erupted on city streets across the U.S. In Minneapolis, those tensions came to a head on Plymouth Avenue. This was the commercial heart of a racially and ethnically mixed Near North neighborhood that was home to the city’s largest concentration of African-American residents as well as many Jewish-owned businesses. For some black Minnesotans, Plymouth Avenue was a brick and mortar reminder of racial inequality that could no longer be silently tolerated. There are people who remember July 19-21, 1967 as the Plymouth Avenue riots, while others describe these events as a revolution, uprising or rebellion.

Minneapolis Star & Tribune Negatives, July 1, 1967-August 31, 1967: Box 263. Minneapolis and St Paul Newspaper Negatives Collection. Minnesota Historical Society.