Recently, the City Minneapolis’ conducted a study of the history of the Homewood neighborhood in North Minneapolis focused primarily on the architecture of the homes and the structures within the designated area. The study, however, lacked detailed information about the community members who stabilized and maintained this neighborhood. This is a community of people who have made significant contributions, not only to Minneapolis culture but to the world, and deserve to be included in any analysis of the neighborhood. These are people who chose to settle a community in flux in the late 1960’s after the riots on Plymouth Ave. These are the people who acted as the stewards of the neighborhood and housing stock for decades--the very housing stock that merited inquiry by the City of Minneapolis.
This oral history project, conducted in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA), contains interviews of longtime residents of Homewood concerning the 50-year history of the neighborhood and the work to sustain and build the thriving community that exists there today.
Interviews were completed by:
- Malaika Hankins
- Amina Smaller
- Savanna Thomas
- Jacoby Andrews
- Yisela Ortega
For more information about the history of Homewood, check out Cornerstones: A History of North Minneapolis created by Twin Cities PBS, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota's Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center.
In their neighborhood revitalization efforts, many residents worked with the Willard-Homewood organization. Interested in more history of that organization?
