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ENEWS: Honoring Minnesota women

ENEWS: Honoring Minnesota women

Date Published: 03/10/2022

Author: Erin Wilson

Women’s History Month — honoring MN women!

Happy Women’s History Month (and a belated International Women’s Day)! In honor of this, we’re spotlighting women from Minnesota’s history— thank you to the MN Historical Society for these resources! All information below comes from their website and the Votes for Women online exhibit. Below you can find information on some of the incredible Minnesotan women from the Votes for Women exhibit (with links)— make sure to go the MNHS site to read more of their stories!

Ione Wood Gibbs (1871-1923) was a journalist and the editor of Our Women and Children magazine. She was the first president of the Minnesota Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, which formed as a result of the Minnesota Federation of Women’s Clubs banning Black women from joining. Under Gibbs’ leadership, the MFCWC protected Black Minnesotans’ civil rights and centered "anti-lynching issues, child welfare, housing, homemaking, and social services," her bio reads.
Emily Goodridge Grey (1834-1916) was one of the first Black residents of territorial St. Anthony. She was involved in antislavery advocacy and “shaped the culture of the Twin Cities and helped establish a strong Black community,” MNHS says. She played a key role in St. Anthony’s community of abolitionists and in 1960 won the lawsuit to free Eliza Winston, an enslaved woman who arrived in St. Anthony from Mississippi.
Emily Peake (1920-1995) was an active public servant in the Twin Cities. Her family was from White Earth Nation, and she and her sister formed the Na-gu-aub (Rainbow) Club, which was a space for Ojibwe women arriving in the Twin Cities looking for work. She enlisted in the Women’s Coast Guard Reserve during World War II, worked for the U.S. State Department in Austria, and was involved in organizations like American Youth for Democracy, the Minnesota Student League for Democracy, and Young Progressives of America. She opened up her home as a space for Native people during the 1950s when Indigenous sovereignty was under attack by federal relocation and termination policies. The Upper Midwest American Indian Center opened in 1961 as a result of her work.
Katie McWatt (1931-2010) lobbied at the Minnesota State Legislature and “was relentless in defending the Black community in St. Paul against housing and employment discrimination,” the exhibit reads. She organized significant protests and worked to improve schools for Black students. She was the coordinator of Central High School’s Minority Education Program in St. Paul, president of the St. Paul NAACP, and director of the St. Paul Urban League, and also served on the boards of the League of Women Voters Minnesota and Hallie Q. Brown Community Center. She was the first Black candidate to run for St. Paul City Council.
Ruth Tanbara (1907-2008) and her husband were the first Japanese-Americans to settle in St. Paul after President Roosevelt’s executive order “authorizing the forced removal of residents of Japanese descent from their homes along the West Coast, regardless of their citizenship status,” MNHS’s exhibit says. She and her husband were active leaders in St. Paul’s Japanese community and, through their roles on the St. Paul Resettlement Committee, helped many newly resettled Japanese residents find work and housing. Tanbara and her husband were also a part of the Japanese American Citizens League, which advocated for repealing the federal law banning Japanese immigrants from becoming citizens and from voting.
Amanda Lyles (1850-1937) was one of Minnesota’s first Black woman entrepreneurs as the owner of the Hair Bazaar salon. She was involved in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Minnesota Women’s Loyal Union, and the National Woman’s Party. She also founded the National John Brown Memorial Association, which fundraised to create a monument honoring abolitionist John Brown.
Marie Bottineau Baldwin (1863-1952) was a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa who worked for her father’s law firm in the Twin Cities that handled cases for Ojibwe people in Minnesota and North Dakota. She later moved to Washington, D.C. to advocate for treaty rights for Native people. She was the first Indigenous woman to graduate from Washington College of Law and “helped establish national alliances and networks of Native people as an officer in the Society of American Indians,” the exhibit says.

Democracy, Voter Rights & Suppression, and Redistricting

The Brennan Center for Justice made a great roundup of voting laws from the month of February, documenting all pieces of restrictive or suppressive voting legislation created since the beginning of legislative sessions across the country.

“As of January 14, legislators in at least 27 states have introduced, pre-filed, or carried over 250 bills with restrictive provisions, compared to 75 such bills in 24 states on January 14, 2021,” their article says.

On the flip side, they noted that “legislators in at least 32 states have introduced, pre-filed, or carried over 399 bills that expand voting access.” The Brennan Center also discusses how these voting restrictions disproportionately affect voters from marginalized communities. Read more about these bills and their details at the link at the top of this section.

Reflecting on G & J’s influential publications: Widening Inequality in Minnesota: A county-by county analysis (2015)

In honor of our 20th anniversary celebration this spring, we’re putting together a timeline of the most influential Growth & Justice policy publications over the years. In each week’s e-news, we’ll feature a notable past publication for your review and reflection. This week will focus on Widening Inequality in Minnesota: A county-by county analysis (2015).

Widening Inequality in Minnesota: A county-by county analysis (2015) expanded on the preceding 2013 report Widening Inequality in Minnesota, which comprehensively analyzed inequality trends in the state and across the country and was also featured in last week’s newsletter. This 2015 report examined how inequality varies across Minnesota counties. It challenged the understanding that Minnesota’s inequalities largely occur between the Twin Cities metro area and Greater Minnesota, and instead concluded that the divide was between the “relatively prosperous” suburban ring and everywhere else excluded from it.

“While it’s well-known that Twin Cities area income levels are higher than in Greater Minnesota, this report shows that poverty and inequality are highest in the two urban core counties of Hennepin and Ramsey, and in the most rural counties of northern and southern Minnesota. In contrast, many outer suburban and exurban counties enjoy high income levels, low rates of poverty and relatively low measures of inequality,” the report says.

Ticket reminder— attend our 20th anniversary celebration!

Tickets are available now for our 20th anniversary celebration on April 11! You can read about the event and register on this Eventbrite page. The event is free and virtual. Donations in honor of our anniversary are welcome at https://www.growthandjustice.org/support. More speakers and details will be announced soon.

Westminster Town Hall Forum Spring 2022 season: Climate Science & Solutions

Westminster Town Hall Forum’s spring season will focus on climate change— and its speaker lineup will be all women. The speakers are women on the forefront of climate science & policy: Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Dr. Danielle Wood, Dr. Lisa Schulte Moore, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Colette Pinchon-Battle. The next program will be tomorrow, March 11, and features Dr. Danielle Wood of M.I.T., who will discuss using space technology to improve life. Check out the Forum’s website to learn more about the speakers and program details— and shoutout to our G & J Board Vice Chair Tane Danger, who is director of the Forum, for this great season lineup!

Quote:

“Everything was trial and error and the villain was race prejudice, fear, war hysteria, intolerance, and discrimination.” — Ruth Tanbara, from “The Evacuation Experience,” in Reflections: Memoirs of Japanese American Women in Minnesota, 1995

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Economic Development · Economic Justice · Education · Government · Greater Minnesota · Social Justice · Income inequality · Racial Equity · E-News · By Growth & Justice