Minnesota Politics RAMSEY COUNTY and Irish Identity: Five Sons of Erin at the State Capitol HıstoryA Publication of the Ramsey County Historical Society John W. Milton —Page 3 Spring 2009 Volume 44, Number 1 Five Sons of Erin at the Minnesota State Capitol (clockwise from Minnesota Historical Society); Governor Andrew Ryan McGill, 1889 the upper right): Senator Nicholas D. Coleman (bronze bust by (oil portrait by Carl Gutherz; courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Paul T. Granlund, 1983; photo by Robert W. Larson, 2009); Ignatius Society); and General James Shields, about 1860 (oil portrait by Donnelly, 1891 (oil portrait by Nicholas Richard Brewer; courtesy Henry W. Carling; courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society). In of the Minnesota Historical Society); Archbishop John Ireland, the background is a postcard of the Minnesota State Capitol from about 1910 (pastel portrait by an anonymous artist; courtesy of the about 1907 (postcard courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society). RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY RAMSEY COUNTY Executive Director Priscilla Farnham Founding Editor (1964–2006) Virginia Brainard Kunz Editor Hıstory John M. Lindley Volume 44, Number 1 Spring 2009 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY the mission statement of the ramsey county historical society BOARD OF DIRECTORS adopted by the board of directors on December 20, 2007: J. Scott Hutton The Ramsey County Historical Society inspires current and future generations Past President Thomas H. Boyd to learn from and value their history by engaging in a diverse program President of presenting, publishing and preserving. Paul A. Verret First Vice President Joan Higinbotham Second Vice President C O N T E N T S Julie Brady Secretary 3 Minnesota Politics and Irish Identity Carolyn J. Brusseau Five Sons of Erin at the State Capitol Treasurer John W. Milton Norlin Boyum, Anne Cowie, Nancy Randall Dana, Cheryl Dickson, Charlton xx St. Paul Underground Dietz, Joanne A. Englund, William Frels, Howard Guthmann, John Holman, Elizabeth History and Geology at Carver’s Cave Kiernat, Judith Frost Lewis, Rev. Kevin M. Greg A. Brick McDonough, Laurie M. Murphy, Richard H. Nichol son, Marla Ordway, Marvin J. Pertzik, xx A 4-H Trailblazer Jay Pfaender, Ralph Thrane, Richard Wilhoit. Clara Oberg and Ramsey County 4-H Directors Emeriti W. Andrew Boss Harlan Stoehr and Helen Hammersten George A. Mairs Richard T. Murphy Sr. Publication of Ramsey County History is supported in part by a gift from EDITORIAL BOARD Clara M. Claussen and Frieda H. Claussen in memory of Henry H. Cowie Jr. Anne Cowie, chair, James B. Bell, and by a contribution from the late Reuel D. Harmon Thomas H. Boyd, John Diers, John Milton, Debra Mitts-Smith, Laurie M. Murphy, Paul D. Nelson, Richard H. Nicholson, Jay Please note that the following gifts were accidentally omitted from the 2008 Pfaender, David Riehle, G. Richard Slade, Donor Recognition Roll in the Winter 2009 issue of Ramsey County History. We Steve Trimble, Mary Lethert Wingerd. apologize for these mistakes and are grateful for the support they represent. HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD Tributes William Fallon, William Finney, Robert S. Mrs. Myrna J. Weyer in memory of Anne Sloan Jaglowski Hess, George Latimer, Joseph S. Micallef, Marvin J. Pertzik, James Reagan, Dr. James Wall in memory of Robert Mirick Rosalie E. Wahl. Julie Goldstein in honor of David L. Wood Daniel Lindley in honor of John Lindley RAMSEY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Jan Parker, chair Membership Commissioner Tony Bennett Commissioner Toni Carter Richard and Nancy Nicholson are Guarantor members of the Society. Commissioner Jim McDonough Commissioner Rafael Ortega Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt A Message from the Editorial Board Commissioner Janice Rettman his spring, we invite you to take an armchair walk with us to some familiar sites with a new perspec- Julie Kleinschmidt, manager, Ramsey County Ttive. John Milton illuminates the diversity of Irish heritage in St. Paul by depicting the stories of five prominent Ramsey County men who have been honored within the halls of the Minnesota Capitol. Ramsey County History is published quarterly Among them is former Senate Majority Leader Nick Coleman, whose son, Chris Coleman, serves as by the Ramsey County Historical Society, St. Paul’s current mayor. Another of Milton’s subjects, Ignatius Donnelly, is famous for dreaming up a 323 Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth Street, St. failed city, Nininger, in the 1850s, and later helping to establish the national People’s Party. In the sec- Paul, MN 55102 (651-222-0701). Printed in ond article, Greg Brick, a local geological expert who obtained permission to view Carver’s Cave, gives U.S.A. Copy right © 2009, Ram sey County us the real “inside story” of the cave, including historic and current maps and photographs. And the third His torical So ciety. ISSN Number 0485-9758. All rights reserved. No part of this publica- article draws on Ramsey County’s heritage as an agricultural community, which we honor at our own tion may be reprinted or otherwise repro- Gibbs Museum in Falcon Heights. Harlan Stoehr and Helen Hammersten tell the wonderful story of duced without written permission from the Clara Oberg, a strong woman who developed the Ramsey County 4-H program into a vital community publisher. The Society assumes no respon- resource from 1928 to 1953. Thanks to Oberg’s vigorous leadership, the 4-H sponsored such various sibility for state ments made by contributors. programs as Victory Gardens, athletic teams, and even community orchestras! Fax 651-223-8539; e-mail address: admin@ Anne Cowie, Chair, Editorial Board rchs.com; web site address: www.rchs.com 2 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Minnesota Politics and Irish Identity: Five Sons of Erin at the State Capitol John W. Milton tour of Minnesota’s Capitol often begins south of the building, in the Just five, and if visitors to the Capitol main driveway that is perched like a riverboat landing above the Mall were to blink as they passed them by, and St. Paul’s downtown. they’d more likely recall an ethnic mix A that is distinctly British, Germanic, and From the driveway, most visitors climb the forty broad steps cut from grey Scandinavian. Surely, not Irish. Minnesota granite, and enter the Capitol’s vestibule through one of the tall, One might wonder: why so few in the windowed brass doors. Tours begin where the vestibule opens up into the cen- middle of this “Irish town” that, during its 151 years as Minnesota’s capital city, tral rotunda, a crossroads for the steady stream of players and spectators in the remains one of the three or four principal complex game of government, especially when the Legislature is in session. centers of Irish heritage, culture, and po- Minnesota’s Capitol, designed by local architect Cass Gilbert in the popu- litical clout in the entire USA? Is it sim- lar beaux-arts classic style of his time, evokes the sixteenth-century Italian ply that the Irish influence, so imbedded Renaissance, and, on high, the dome of Michelangelo at St. Peter’s in Rome. It in St. Paul, the seat of government and rivals, even as it takes inspiration from, the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Minnesota’s second largest in population, does in fact vanish at the bridges that Throughout the building are paintings influenced the city so deeply that St. Paul cross westward over the Mississippi? and sculpture that reflect the ethnic ori- came to be known as an ‘Irish town.’ ”1 Who are these five sons of Erin, sur- gins of the major nationalities that settled Wingerd documents how “a combination rounded by rank after rank of Anglos, the state: British, German, Scandinavian, of social, political, and economic posi- Germans, Swedes, and Norwegians? Since French, and Irish. On the walls of the tioning gave a particular currency to Irish, there are so few, with such diverse life corridors on the first and ground floors Catholic, and Democratic affiliations in St. stories, it seems likely they were honored are portraits of all thirty-seven gover- Paul that disappeared when one crossed the for their accomplishments rather than for nors elected since statehood in 1858, river to Minneapolis.” In the realm of in- their ethnicity. and eleven large paintings that depict the dustry and commerce, the city’s Irish were early history of the state and the promi- favored by empire builder James J. Hill, The Senator: nent role of Minnesotans in major battles whose own roots were in Northern Ireland, Nicholas David Coleman (1925–1981) of the American Civil War. The Capitol’s and who married the Irish-Catholic Mary Born and bred in St. Paul, Nick Coleman alcoves are occupied by seventeen sculp- Mehegan. And, according to Wingerd, is honored for his service to Minnesota tured busts and statues of political lumi- the city’s “politics and patronage served by a bronze bust placed at the bottom of naries, war heroes, and other icons of the up abundant benefits for the Irish . they the grand staircase that leads up to the state’s history. were consistently over represented in civil Senate Chamber, where he became the Cass Gilbert’s masterpiece, com- service jobs, and the most typical avenue first Democrat in 114 years to be elected pleted in 1905, was the third capitol built for Irish advancement was through poli- Majority Leader.3 Coleman, marked as a since statehood, all of them in a city tics and the law.” That said, the politics of “comer” from his first session in 1963, that is renowned for its cultural and re- the capital city “differed from classic Irish served in the Senate for eighteen years. ligious origins in Ireland. As described political machines in that while the Irish His cadre of progressive first-termers also by Minnesota historian Mary Lethert were highly visible as party brokers, they included Wendell Anderson and Rudy Wingerd in Claiming the City, an exem- were not the dominant voting constitu- Perpich.