Minnesota's Immigrant Roots: Connecting Immigrant Histories to Contemporary Communities

Minnesota is a place of both “old” and “new” immigration. A century ago, immigrants from Germany, Norway, and Sweden were the most numerous in the state. Today’s immigrants come from Somalia, Mexico, China, and India. Join us to explore Minnesota’s immigrant roots past and present. Speakers for this event included Megan Marsnik, the granddaughter of Eastern European immigrants who settled in the Iron Range and the author of Under Ground, a historical novel set on the Iron Range during the tumultuous strike of 1916, told through the perspective of a strong young Slovenian immigrant woman and Peter Rachleff, Professor Emeritus, Macalester College and Executive Director of the East Side Freedom Library.

The following is a recording of this event:

This event was sponsored by Global Minnesota: Immigrants Past and Present, a year-long series of public programming funded by a $150,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant.