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Minnesotan Gordon Parks (1912-2006) became famous as the director of the 1971 hit film, Shaft. The blockbuster broke racial boundaries in the detective genre, featuring a Black actor in the lead. But Parks was more than a filmmaker. He had several careers. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us Parks was a self-made man and a self-taught musician, poet, and novelist. He was also the first African American photographer and essayist for Life Magazine, where he worked for nearly a quarter century. Photo: Gordon Parks, self-portrait, 1945, Courtesy The Gordon Parks Foundation. [Read Transcript...]

The Mayo Clinic treats more than half a million people each year in Rochester, Minnesota, and in facilities in Florida and Arizona. MN90 producer Marisa Helms reports that the Mayo family philosophy of team-based patient care was established early on, and continues to be a hallmark of the world-famous hospital. [Read Transcript...]

When the Civil War started in 1861, Minnesota’s governor Alexander Ramsey became the first Northern governor to officially promise troops to fight for the Union Army. At the time, Minnesota – the state — was just three years old. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us that Ramsey happened to be in Washington, DC, the day … [Read Transcript...]

In the 1850s, mail service on Minnesota’s North Shore was notoriously unreliable. That is, until John Beargrease and his team of sled dogs began running mail between Two Harbors and Grand Marais. MN90 Producer Andi McDaniel learns about the man who inspired the annual John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. (Image by Christine Zenino) [Read Transcript...]