Minnesota: Granary of the World

Description

In the center, riding upon a cart drawn by oxen and filled with wheat and corn, is a seated woman representing Minnesota. The right side of the lunette represents the role the state had as a preserver of the Union. Civil War soldiers hold battle flags in the foreground and a nurse with bandages along with the other figures are covered by the Spirit of Patriotism. The left side represents 1900 and extols Minnesota as a leader in agriculture and through our products a contributor to national prosperity. Flying above the figures is the Spirit of Agriculture.

Each group of figures also represents changes through time. On the right side, in the background are figures of aging Civil War veterans to provide a contrast to the young men in the foreground who served 40 years before in the Civil War. The seated male figure on the left corner of the mural, with hat in hand, is sitting on a turn-of-the-century tractor, which also shows the changes in agriculture from oxen pulled wagons to mechanization.