Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities
18 Unique Stations from Border to Border
18 Unique Stations from Border to Border
Peggy Mehen wants to make some changes in her life. She wants a new job. She wants to live independently. And her biggest dream is to be a supermodel. The fact that Peggy is a 40 year-old woman with Down syndrome has little impact on what she believes she can achieve. As a child growing up in the 1970s and ’80s, Peggy belongs to a first generation of children with Down syndrome to be mainstreamed into schools–paving the way for today’s generation of parents and people with Down syndrome who continue to push boundaries and demand greater inclusion and better social and medical supports in the community. Peggy’s Dreams: Living life with Down syndrome, was produced by Marisa Helms (marisahelms.com). Producer’s Note: The 1952 educational film heard in my story, In Our Care: Woodward State Hospital and School, is part of a 13-week series of documentaries about Iowa’s state institutions. The entire In our Care series is archived online at the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities website (mn.gov/mnddc).
The fastest-growing refugee community in Minnesota over the past few years is a population from Southeast Asia most Minnesotans have never heard of–the Karen (pronounced Kuh-RENN). The nearly 7,000 Karen living here, mostly on the east side of St. Paul, have kept a low profile since they first started arriving in 2000. Their journey to Minnesota has been long and difficult. The Karen are an oppressed ethnic minority from Burma, the country also known as Myanmar, and for more than 60 years, innocent Karen men, women and children have become displaced by violence and civil war. Like many refugees who come to Minnesota, the Karen are here because they want to be safe and free from persecution. Most importantly, they want to give their children a better life and a good education. As producer Marisa Helms reports in this MinneCulture audio documentary, the story of the Karen is about resilience and the survival of a community and culture. Here in Minnesota, the Karen have found refuge, and finally, hope for the future.
Minneapolis was a notorious anti-union town in the early 1900s. But a series of truckers’ strikes in 1934 turned the city into one of the most powerful union cities in the United States. MN90 producer Marisa Helms reports that the strikes were part of a wave of union actions across the country and spurred passage of the 1935 Wagner Act. The federal legislation legitimated and enforced the rights of workers and unions.
St. Paulite F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered one of America’s greatest authors. MN90 producer Marisa Helms speaks with Minnesota writer Patricia Hampl who says though Fitzgerald’s reputation was solidified in more glamorous places like New York and Europe, Fitzgerald always had a romance with the Midwest, and his Midwest was St. Paul.
Minnesotans elected Floyd B. Olson as the state’s first DFL governor in 1930, during the height of the Great Depression. During this tough time, thousands of people across the country were out of work, dealing with bread lines, and losing their farms to foreclosure. MN90 producer Marisa Helms introduces us to Floyd B. Olson, who became the hero Minnesotans were hoping for.
When Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, their daughter Marcia, and five others died in a plane crash on the Iron Range on October 25, 2002, then-Senator Wellstone was in a difficult race for re-election to a third term in the U.S. Senate. MN90 producer Marisa Helms takes a look at Wellstone before he was a famous politician, and what has become of his legacy.
Before Minnesotans had bathtubs, they had Harriet Island. Every summer, from 1900 to 1918, thousands of area residents would come to the Island’s shores to bathe in the Mississippi River. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us how one man’s obsession with cleanliness kept Saint Paulites fresh for nearly two decades.
One of Minnesota’s greatest athletes was Dan Patch, a harness horse from the turn of the 20th century who set the world record by pacing a mile in 1:55. When salesman Marion Savage (yes, the town Savage, MN is named after him) bought Dan Patch, he became very rich by turning his horse into a supreme pitchman for all kinds of products, including cars, watches and washing machines. MN90 producer Marisa Helms has the story.
Minneapolis native Prince Rogers Nelson, became mega musical star Prince. Along the way, he created the Minneapolis Sound, and won several Grammies, and an Oscar for his semi- autobiographical album and film, Purple Rain. He has also written, performed, and produced numerous hit records. In 2010, he received BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us that despite his success, Prince remains rooted in Minneapolis, and has become one of the state’s cultural icons.
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 the war broke out. Eager to prove Minnesota’s mettle, he promised 1,000 soldiers to the war effort. By the time the war ended in 1865, Minnesota had furnished 25-thousand soldiers to the Union Army, an extraordinary number for a state so young and sparsely populated. More than 2,500 Minnesota soldiers died fighting Civil War battles.