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Rondo: Before the Highway

Primary Source Set
by Katie Frye and Linda Cobb, Rondo Center of Diverse Expression

People of Minnesota Social Issues Transportation

***RCODE would like to acknowledge the Dakota people as the original inhabitants of the Rondo area, who were forcibly exiled by aggressive and persistent settler colonialism. Despite this painful history, the Dakota people still flourish today.***

In the mid to late 1800s, Joseph and Josephine Rondeau left Fort Snelling after experiencing racial discrimination due to Josephine’s mixed white and indigenous heritage. The Rondeaus moved to an area close to downtown St. Paul, and the land took on an Anglicized version of their name: Rondo. The Rondo neighborhood was bordered by Selby Avenue to the south, University Avenue to the north, Lexington Parkway to the west, and Rice Street to the east. Though Joseph and Josephine moved away after four years, scores of immigrants continued to settle the Rondo area. French Canadian immigrants came in the nineteenth century, and later, German, Russian, Irish, Jewish, and Greek families made their home there.

As Rondo’s European immigrant community became economically successful, many left the neighborhood. During the Great Migration (1910-1970), six million African Americans moved from the Deep South to the North to escape racial violence and pursue educational and financial opportunity. Unlike the explicit violence and intense prejudice of the Jim Crow South, racism in St. Paul took on more implicit forms through redlining, racial covenants, & housing discrimination, employment & financial lending discrimination, and social norms. Rondo became one of the few areas where an increasing number of African American migrants could live in the Twin Cities.

By the 1930s, Rondo was the heart of St. Paul’s African American community, with Rondo Street at its center. Journalist Roy Wilkins wrote of the main thoroughfare, “If New York has its Lenox Avenue, Chicago its State Street and Memphis its Beale Street, just as surely has St. Paul a riot of warmth, and color, and feeling and sound in Rondo Street.” Residents were Pullman Porters and maids, doctors and lawyers, skilled tradesmen and laborers, civil rights leaders and business-owners. A wide variety of social and economic groups were included in the Rondo neighborhood.

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 Church. Other notable institutions include the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center & Penumbra Theatre, the Sterling Club, the Credjawfawn Social Club, the St. Paul chapter of the Urban League, and the Minnesota chapter of the NAACP. Residents enjoyed three newspapers, the Appeal, the Northwestern Bulletin, and the St. Paul Recorder, 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. By 1950, 80% of St. Paul’s African American residents lived in Rondo.

See Rondo: During & After the Highway for a continuation of the Rondo story.

Discussion Questions & Activities

  1. Why did African Americans move to the Rondo neighborhood?
  2. Understanding the explicit violence of the Jim Crow South, give examples of how implicit racism in St. Paul affected African American migrants.
  3. Look at the photo of McKinley Elementary. Think back to when you were in elementary school. What similarities & differences do you notice?
  4. Read through residents’ favorite Rondo memories. What do residents remember from their time in Rondo? What themes stick out to you?
  5. Look through the photos of Regalettes and Credjawfawn Social Club members. Social clubs offered safe spaces where young Rondolites could socialize and build community. The Credjafawn Social Club sponsored a co-operative grocery store, youth events, picnics, dances, concert recitals, and a credit union. Why do you think social clubs like the Regalettes and Credjafawn Social Club were important for young people in the Rondo community?
  6. Think about all of the ways that the Rondo community came together, including social clubs, churches, and festivals. Are there any similar traditions, groups, or festivals that exist in your community?
  7. See the picture of Jim’s Place, which existed at 560 St. Anthony Avenue from 1924 - 1958. This bar, and several other locations in Rondo were featured in the “Green Book,” a travel guide identifying safe businesses for African-American travelers. The book was published annually from 1936 - 1966. Why do you think the Green Book was important? (See Reference 9 in the section titled “Additional Resources for Research).

eLibrary Minnesota Resources (for Minnesota residents)

"African Americans." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by William A. Darity, Jr., 2nd ed., vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2008, pp. 34-37. Gale In Context: High School. Accessed 12 July 2024. 

Baker, Keith, and Glenn Isaac Smith. "After highways split Black communities, we're reconnecting." USA Today, 26 Feb. 2024, p. 07A. Gale In Context: High School. Accessed 12 July 2024. 

Fox, Jeremy C. "Urban Renewal." Human Geography: People and the Environment, edited by K. Lee Lerner, et al., vol. 2, Gale, 2013, pp. 653-656. Gale In Context: High School. Accessed 12 July 2024.

Jacobson, Louis, and PolitiFact. "Roads Paved by Racism: Pete Buttigieg's Statement About the History of Highway Planning and its Devastating Effect on Underrepresented Communities Does Stand Up." Tampa Bay Times, 2021 Apr 23, 2021/04/23, pp. 20. ProQuest. Accessed 12 July 2024.

Additional Resources for Research

Alam, Ehsan. “Before it was cut in half by I-94, St. Paul’s Rondo was a thriving African-American cultural center.” MinnPost, 19 June 2017. Accessed 12 July 2024.

Burnside, Tina. “African Americans in Minnesota.” MNopedia, 26 July 2017. Accessed 6 July 2024.

Davitt-Liu, Indigo, & Landi, Jacy. Rooted in Rondo. Sounds Powerful Productions, 2022. 

Douglas, Leeta M. “Votes for Everywoman: Nellie Griswold Francis, the Women of Rondo, and Their Suffrage Crusade.” Ramsey County History, vol. 55, no. 2, 2020, pp. 1-11. Ramsey County History, Accessed 7 July 2024.

Fairbanks, Evelyn. The Days of Rondo. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1990.

Hand in Hand Productions. “Rondo Oral History Project.” Hand in Hand Productions. Accessed 7 July 2024.

Kennon, Marion Jones. "“We Learn What We Live and Live What We Learn:” Growing Up at 1022 Rondo Avenue.” Ramsey County History, vol. 56, no. 4, 2022, pp. 13-20. Ramsey County History. Accessed 7 July 2024.

PBS. “Interstate 94: A History and Its Impact.” PBS, 1 April 2017,  Accessed 12 July 2024.

Presley, Nieeta L. “Traveling Without Aggravation: How Victor H. Green Changed Travel for Black Americans: Green Book Locations in the Historic Rondo Community (1940-1956).” Ramsey County History, vol. 57, no. 2, 2022, pp. 1-13. Accessed 7 July 2024.

Rabb, Jonathan, & Williams, Brandt. Untangled Roots. MPR, 2022.

Rhodes, Bianca & Fort, Georgia. Rondo: Beyond the Pavement. Sounds Powerful Productions, 2018-2019. 

Rondo Oral History Project. Voices of Rondo: Oral Histories of Saint Paul's Historic Black Community. University of Minnesota Press, 2017.

Sebesta, Susanne, and Jennifer Kleinjung. “Overview - Rondo Neighborhood & I-94.” LibGuides at Minnesota Historical Society Library, 20 December 2023. Accessed 12 July 2024.

White, Frank M. “Remembering One of Our Community Legends – Jimmy Lee.” Ramsey County History, vol. 53, no. 4, 2019, pp. 1-10. Ramsey County History. Accessed 7 July 2024.

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Observe a Primary Source Item and Record Your Thoughts

  • What is happening in the photograph or letter, diary, etc.? What just happened, or what is about to happen?
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