AMPERS
Minnesota's Community Radio Stations
In the 1930's and 1940's, when polio was rampant in the United States, the predominant treatment method was to immobilize the patient’s body in braces and splints. But Sister Elizabeth Kenny, an Australian nurse who resettled here in 1940, believed in a controversial alternative method. MN90 Producer Andi McDaniel learns how this Aussie-Minnesotan revolutionized polio care. [Read Transcript...]
Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978) is one of Minnesota’s most beloved and influential politicians. In the late 1940s, while he was Mayor of Minneapolis, Humphrey became vocal about his opposition to racial segregation, and in 1948, he made one of the most important speeches in political history. MN90 producer Marisa Helms reports that Humphrey’s passionate civil rights speech spurred the Democratic Party to adopt a civil rights plank into its platform. Years later, as a U.S. Senator, Humphrey was instrumental in helping to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
[Read Transcript...]
When enterprising Wilford Fawcett came home to Robbinsdale, MN, after World War I, he thought it would be good business to publish the dirty jokes he heard in the trenches overseas. He called his magazine "Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang" and it became a huge success. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us Fawcett made a small fortune off of his bawdy humor magazine and went on to build a publishing empire of hobby magazines and comic books, including Captain Marvel. [Read Transcript...]
August Wilson (1945-2005) is among America’s most critically-acclaimed playwrights. He penned several groundbreaking plays while living in St. Paul in the 1980s, including Pulitzer Prize winners "Fences" and "The Piano Lesson." They are both part of Wilson’s grand opus – a series of ten historical plays called "The Pittsburgh Cycle." In the series, each decade of the 20th century is represented through a play, exploring the cultural, spiritual, and daily lives of African Americans. MN90 producer Marisa Helms reports. [Read Transcript...]
