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About the series
Minnesota is home to a rich history of notable music. Making Music History is a video series by MNHS that takes an aspect of music–a song, a concert, an artist–and uses it to get curious about history by partnering with community members, storytellers and researchers. Episodes are released quarterly, and celebrate historical connections between community, music, and notable locations throughout the state of Minnesota.
Episodes
Episode two: Queen Bernie, Mother of the Minneapolis Sound
What could bring a dozen luminaries of the Minneapolis Sound back to North Minneapolis for a day of celebration? Find out how Bernadette Anderson, lovingly known as “Queen Bernie,” helped guide a community, led organizations like the Urban League, KMOJ and the YWCA and nurtured a generation of artists the world would come to adore—including music icons Prince and her own son, André Cymone. With a stretch of Russell Ave now renamed Bernadette Anderson Way, Bernadette's legacy continues within the North Side community and beyond.
Music Making History is funded by a grant from the Manitou Fund.
Episode one: How a Song Saved a Theater
Can a song save a building? Find out how a prohibition-era audio recording that was an unlikely inclusion on the most important folk music compilations of all time, combined with community action saved the building that was once known as the Victoria Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Now reborn as 825 Arts, the building is providing a much-needed community art and gathering space.
Learn more by visiting the companion StoryMap.
Music Making History is funded by a grant from the Manitou Fund.