Quick Summary
Learn about the history of St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood before and after the construction of Interstate Highway 94 with two new Primary Source Sets from the Minnesota Digital Library.
Article written by Katie Frye and Linda Cobb from the Rondo Center of Diverse Expression
The Old Rondo neighborhood is located in St. Paul, in what is now considered Summit-University. Originally settled by French Canadian, European, Russian, and Jewish residents, the neighborhood received scores of African American migrants during the Great Migration (1910-1970). By 1950, Rondo was the heart of St. Paul’s African American community and home to 80% of the city’s Black population.
The tight-knit community was served by a number of churches, social clubs, and political organizations, including the oldest African American church in Minnesota, Pilgrim Baptist. Rondo bred national political leaders including Roy Wilkins, the head of the NAACP, and Whitney Young, the Director of the National Urban League. Residents enjoyed three newspapers, which often advocated for civil rights advancements. Music and theater flourished, public schools were integrated, and it was not uncommon to engage in intercultural and interracial relationships.
In the 1930s and 40s, St. Paul city residents and officials called for a highway linking St. Paul and Minneapolis. The Federal Highway Act of 1956 provided the necessary funding. Though the highway route was debated, I-94 was ultimately constructed right through Rondo’s main thoroughfare. The Rondo community was devastated. Seven hundred homes were lost and three hundred businesses were forced to shut down.
Learn more about Rondo’s past and present with the Minnesota Digital Library’s latest Primary Source Sets: 1) Rondo: Before the Highway and 2) Rondo: During & After the Highway.
Image credit: Credjafawn Social Club, page 46 of the 1983 "Remember Rondo Days" photo album. Rondo Center of Diverse Expression collection, https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/p16022coll646:98
