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Rondo Days

African-American history in Minneapolis–Saint PaulCulture of Saint Paul, MinnesotaFestivals in MinnesotaTourist attractions in Saint Paul, Minnesota

Rondo Days is an annual festival held the 3rd Saturday in July in Saint Paul, Minnesota that commemorates the Rondo Neighborhood, an African-American community that was split in two by the construction of Interstate 94 in the mid-1960s. The festival has grown since its inception in 1983, by co-founders Floyd G. Smaller and Marvin R. Anderson, to become the largest African American sponsored festival in Minnesota.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Rondo Days (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Rondo Days
Saint Anthony Avenue, Saint Paul Summit - University

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N 44.952222222222 ° E -93.144444444444 °
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Saint Anthony Avenue 1099
55104 Saint Paul, Summit - University
Minnesota, United States
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S. Edward Hall House
S. Edward Hall House

The S. Edward Hall House in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, was the home of S. Edward Hall (1878-1975), an African American businessman and founder of the Saint Paul chapter of the NAACP. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places from 1991 to 2016.The house was listed on the National Register for its association with its owner, Stephen Edward Hall, who moved from Springfield, Illinois to St. Paul in 1900 to join his brother, Orrie C. Hall, as a barber. By 1906, S. Edward Hall had married and bought the house, and the two brothers established a barber shop in the Germania Bank Building (then known as the Pittsburgh Building). African Americans found good employment as barbers, because it was one of the few occupations where Blacks had been able to enter and dominate. During that time, one-fourth of barbers in St. Paul were Black men, and it ranked as the third-largest occupation for Blacks behind porters and waiters. In addition, Black barbers who catered to a White clientele could make economic gains, job connections, and influence for fellow Blacks.S. Edward Hall put these connections to work to aid fellow African Americans. When other African Americans were looking for work, Hall would inquire with his patrons about job openings. A weekly bulletin entitled The Helper referenced his shop, and this scheme became somewhat of a system, where other "tipsters" would inform "helpers" of job vacancies. The local African Methodist Episcopal church organized the Helper Movement and Hall served as its vice president. This employment referral system did not fully satisfy the job shortage among African Americans, though, and it wasn't effective for jobs outside the service sector. In 1923, Ed Hall became one of the founding members of the St. Paul branch of the National Urban League, which promised more support for job seekers and would be assisted by donations from the Community Chest. Hall remained active with the organization for many years, and at the time of his death in 1975, he was an honorary board member and President Emeritus. Hall also continued to provide employment connections through his barber shop, such as assisting with the Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant's agreement to hire a fair quota of Black employees in 1925.Although S. Edward Hall was first interested in expanding employment opportunities for African Americans, he was also interested in dealing with the need for adjustment and for social networking. In 1908, Hall joined with the Mars Lodge of the Oddfellows to organize Union Hall, which opened in 1914. Later, around 1928, the Colored branch of the YWCA on Central Avenue was closed after a series of events, and the Urban League identified the need for a community facility for educational, social welfare, and recreational activities. The Great Depression also was eroding the fragile economy for the African American population. Ed Hall arranged the transfer of the Central Avenue YMCA location to the Hallie Q. Brown Center, which became its own entity separate from the Urban League in 1930. By 1934, one-third of the residents of Ramsey County, Minnesota were on relief, and in the neighborhood around the center, at Kent Street and Aurora Avenue, nine out of ten people were on relief. Jobs for African Americans were sparse because railroads and packing plants had been laying off many employees. The Hallie Q. Brown Center provided nursery services for children whose mothers were seeking service jobs. S. Edward Hall was a lifelong member of the Center and was a President Emeritus at his death.The house was demolished by the City of Saint Paul in June 2011; an error at the Minnesota Historical Preservation Office failed to identify the house as a listed property on the National Register of Historic Places before its demolition. The property was de-listed in May 2016."National Register of Historic Places Evaluation/Return Sheet: Hall, S. Edward, House" (PDF). 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2017-12-29.

Lexington Park

Lexington Park was the name of a former minor league baseball park in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was the home of the St. Paul Saints from 1897 through 1956, when it was replaced by the first version of Midway Stadium. Lexington Park was commissioned by baseball owner Charlie Comiskey to serve as home for his St. Paul Saints Western League baseball franchise. In late 1899 the league changed its name to the American League in an ultimately successful bid to gain major league status. While the Saints were initially a member of that league, Comiskey moved his team to Chicago prior to Opening Day 1900 (where they still exist today as the Chicago White Sox). As such, the ballpark holds at least the technical distinction of being the original home to a current American League franchise—even if, admittedly, the league wasn't major at the time, and not a single major league game was ever played there. Comiskey continued to own the ballpark for another decade or so (leasing it out to a replacement American Association club), until finally selling it to local interests in 1909. It was on the block bounded by Lexington Parkway, University Avenue, Fuller and Dunlap. Home plate was originally in the southwest corner of the block. Following a fire in November, 1915, a steel and concrete grandstand was built with the plate repositioned to the northwest corner. Lights were installed in 1937. The first night game was played on July 15, with the Saints hosting the arch-rival Minneapolis Millers. The teams played again the next night, at Nicollet Park's first night game. The 6-decades-old ballpark did not quite go out in a wave of euphoria the way its Twin Cities cousin Nicollet Park did, but the Saints did manage to defeat the Minneapolis Millers in the final game. Although demolished in the 1950s, elements of the park remain in existence to this day. A significant segment of the southwestern foundation can still be seen by the knowledgeable observer, and as late as the 1990s a grocery store on the site (since demolished) preserved the location of Lexington's home plate with a distinctively-shaped commemorative floor tile. The area is currently being redeveloped. An Aldi grocery store is one of the most recent additions to the site. According to Stew Thornley's 2006 book, a plaque that had once been affixed to the grocery store is now reinstated, at the TCF Bank branch building.