Almanac: At the Capitol

Jane Freeman (02/04/08)

Long before she was introducing Obama at his Target Center event, Jane Freeman made a gracious governor's wife.

This great silent film footage of Governor Orville Freeman was shot back in January of 1955. The Governor in tails ... Jane Freeman in a lovely gown ... daughter Connie wearing white gloves ... and son Mike (now Hennepin County Attorney) in a spiffy plaid sports jacket. This inaugural and State of the State footage comes to you courtesy of the KSTP-TV archives.

Winter Carnival #2 (01/14/08)

Here's some more vintage Winter Carnival footage from the middle of the last century. Notice again the State Capitol as a backdrop for the parade. Note too the great images of the African-American cooks and waiters from the Great Northern Railway ... a marching group that was long a fixture of Winter Carnival parades.

Harold LeVander (12/22/07)

Yes ... LeVander spelled backwards is red navel. Knowing that helped some Minnesotans to spell his name properly. Harold LeVander was our state's 32nd Governor. The sales tax originated under his watch — and over his veto — but he should also be remembered for creating the State Human Rights Department and the Met Council. Here's LeVander in an old piece of film talking about his heartfelt belief in the citizen-politician.

Harold Stassen Was an Original (12/10/07)

Our state's youngest-ever county attorney ... and the nation's youngest-ever governor ... barely forty when he almost won the Republican Party's nomination for president ... the last-surviving signer of the United Nation's Charter ... Stassen lived a full life. In 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UN, Harold appeared on Almanac and told a great story about the role his wife Esther played in breaking a diplomatic stalemate back in 1945.

Floyd B. Olson (11/26/07)

Unless you can prove us wrong, this is the oldest film clip of a Minnesota Governor. Floyd B. Olson was born of Scandinavian parents and if you don't believe it just look at his middle name: Bjornstjerne. Olson was a firebrand and was moving on to a national stage in 1936 when he died of cancer at age 44. In this film clip Olson is calling on government to fix the problems of agriculture.

Classic Campaign Commercials (11/07/07)

Here's your chance to enter a time tunnel and revisit campaign ads for Governor from 1994 and 1998. Included in the mix is John Marty's "That Darned Arne" spot and two famous Jesse Ventura ads. And yes, Ventura's famed "The Thinker" spot is included in the clips.

Elmer Benson (10/25/07)

Elmer Benson was a radical. There's no other way to put it. Benson was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1935 by his long-time mentor Floyd B. Olson. In 1936 he jumped from the U.S. Senate to the Minnesota Governor's office when Olson made a run for the Senate. Benson was a Farmer-Laborite with a heavy dose of radical populism. As governor for one term, Benson proposed higher taxes on the wealthy and called out the National Guard on behalf of striking workers. Benson lost re-election in 1938 and lived almost another half century. In the early 80s Benson was featured on the KTCA program "Nighttimes." In the excerpt from this show, Benson talks about — among other things — his strong dislike of J. Edgar Hoover.

Ventura's Guests (10/09/07)

There was never a dull moment when Jesse Ventura was governor, in part because of the company he kept. We have dug out of the vault some highlights of Ventura interacting with Donald Trump, Willie Nelson, Harry Belafonte and Eartha Kitt. Take a look.

8 Governors (09/20/07)

EIGHT living former governors. That's what Minnesota had back in 1986. And in May of that year all eight were in one place at one time at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. We had a camera there and recorded the historic event. Yeah, only seven of the governors are featured talking in this clip. C. Elmer Anderson was always a bit shy.

Dave Moore's Capitol (09/10/07)

The late, great newscaster Dave Moore narrates this 1960's era exterior tour of the capitol. This is part of an hour-long film produced by WTCN (Channel 11) for use by the state of Minnesota. While at first blush one might wonder why WCCO's Moore is narrating a film made by his competitor, you should keep in mind that Moore did a lot of commercial voice work through the years.