Rondo Days is an annual festival held the 3rd Saturday in July in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that commemorates the Rondo neighborhood, an African-American community that was split in two by the construction of Interstate 94 in the mid-1960s. The festival has grown since its inception in 1983, by co-founders Floyd G. Smaller and Marvin R. Anderson, to become the largest African American sponsored festival in Minnesota. [1]
The construction of Highway 94 through St. Paul in the 1960s destroyed several neighborhoods including Rondo - the backbone of the black community in the Twin Cities. Every June, Rondo days celebrate that community via an annual multi-cultural reunion, started in 1983. [2] [3]
With officials scrapping the 2020 festival caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 37th was deferred to 2021.
The Rondo Days Grande Parade begins promptly at 10AM, on the 3rd Saturday of July, at St. Claver Church and ending near the MLK Rec Center Park. [4] There is live music and food, and a drill team contest with participants from around the region. [5] [6] Other activities have included pony rides, a bike clinic, and petting zoo. Community partners include churches, sports teams, schools and others. [7] [2] [3]
Saint Paul is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center of Minnesota's government. The Minnesota State Capitol and the state government offices all sit on a hill close to the city's downtown district. One of the oldest cities in Minnesota, Saint Paul has several historic neighborhoods and landmarks, such as the Summit Avenue Neighborhood, the James J. Hill House, and the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Like the adjacent city of Minneapolis, Saint Paul is known for its cold, snowy winters and humid summers.
The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Also known by its slogan, "The Great Minnesota Get-Together", it is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance and the second-largest state fair in the United States by total attendance, trailing only the State Fair of Texas, which generally runs twice as long as the Minnesota State Fair. The state fairgrounds, adjacent the Saint Paul campus of the University of Minnesota, are in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, midway between the state's capital city of Saint Paul and the adjacent city of Roseville, near the Como Park and Saint Anthony Park neighborhoods of Saint Paul. Residents of the state and region come to the fair to be entertained, exhibit their best livestock, show off their abilities in a variety of fields including art and cooking, learn about new products and services, and eat many different types of food—often on a stick. The Minnesota State Fair was named the best state fair in the United States in 2015 by readers of USA Today.
Circus Juventas is a youth performing arts circus school located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, serving youth throughout the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The organization was founded in 1994 by Dan and Betty Butler, and offers circus arts training to young people ranging from 3 to 21 years old.
Dale Street station is a light rail station along the Metro Green Line in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is located along University Avenue on both sides of the intersection with Dale Street. The station has split side platforms, with the westbound platform on the north side of the tracks west of Dale and the eastbound platform on the south side of the tracks east of Dale.
Johnson Senior High School is a comprehensive high school for grades 9 to 12 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Originally named Cleveland High School, the school was renamed after Minnesota governor John A. Johnson in 1911. Johnson is the second oldest high school in the Saint Paul Public Schools district and is only surpassed in age by Central High School. The school has operated in three different buildings since 1897, all located on the East Side of Saint Paul.
The Minnesota Fringe Festival is a performing arts festival held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, every summer, usually during the first two weeks in August. The eleven-day event, which features performing artists of many genres and disciplines, is one of many Fringe Festivals in North America. Minnesota Fringe is the largest nonjuried festival in the United States and the third-largest Fringe festival in North America. In 2013, Minnesota Fringe ran August 1–11 and featured 176 shows with a total of 895 performances in multiple venues around the city and distributed 50,007 tickets over the eleven-day event. In 2007, attendance and box office revenue were adversely affected by the collapse of the I-35W bridge the day before the festival opened.
Interstate 94 (I-94) in the US state of Minnesota runs 259 miles (417 km) east–west through the central portion of the state. The highway connects the cities of Moorhead, Fergus Falls, Alexandria, St. Cloud, Minneapolis, and Saint Paul. Authorized in 1956, it was mostly constructed in the 1960s. For its whole length, it runs concurrently with either US Highway 52 (US 52) or US 12.
Ayd Mill Road ( EYEDMILL is a road in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It runs diagonally through Saint Paul, connecting with Interstate 35E at its southeast terminus, and feeds into Selby Avenue at its northwest end. Indirect access to I-94 is possible via Selby and Snelling Avenues. Originally known as the Short Line Road, it was renamed in 1987 for John Ayd, a German settler who maintained a mill and residence in the area in the mid-to-late 19th century.
Saint Paul, Minnesota, consists of 17 officially defined city districts or neighborhoods.
Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) is the largest and most comprehensive independent nonprofit book arts center in the United States. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, MCBA is a nationally recognized leader in the celebration and preservation of traditional crafts, including hand papermaking, letterpress printing and hand bookbinding, as well as the use of these traditional techniques by contemporary artists in creating new artists' books and artwork.
Frogtown is a neighborhood in Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Built around University Avenue, the Thomas-Dale neighborhood is colloquially known as Frogtown. Historically, Frogtown was a subsection of the current Thomas-Dale neighborhood. It is bordered by University Avenue on the south, the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks to the north, Lexington Parkway on the west and Rice Street on the east.
Victoria Street station is a light rail stop on the Metro Green Line along University Avenue on both sides of the intersection with Victoria Street in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The station has split side platforms, with the westbound platform on the north side of the tracks west of Victoria and the eastbound platform on the south side of the tracks east of the intersection.
Summit-University is a neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that stretches roughly from University Avenue in the north, Lexington Parkway to the west, Summit Avenue to the south and to the east along John Ireland Boulevard, Kellogg Boulevard and Marion Street. Summit-University, Selby-Dale, St. Anthony Hill, Cathedral Hill, Woodland Park, Crocus Hill, Ramsey Hill, Hill District, Historic Hill District, Uni-Dale, North Quadrant, and Central Village all refer to parts of the neighborhood that is broadly known as Summit-University.
Selby Avenue is a street in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that runs east–west from Summit Avenue near downtown toward the Mississippi River. The street runs through the Summit-University and Union Park neighborhoods. The street, especially between Dale Street and Snelling Avenue, has been associated with Saint Paul's black community. The far eastern end of the street has historically been more densely developed and architecturally significant.
The Unidale Mall is a shopping mall located at the intersection of University Avenue and Dale Street in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The mall is in the Summit-University neighborhood just across from the Frogtown neighborhood. The Rondo Community Outreach Library is west across Dale Street. The Dale Street station on the Green Line is also at the intersection.
Union Park is a neighborhood in Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Created as a merger of several historic neighborhoods including Merriam Park, Snelling-Hamline, Parts of Midway, Desnoyer Park, and Lexington-Hamline, it is bordered by University Avenue on the north, Lexington Parkway on the east, Summit Avenue on the south, and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area on the west. Despite the merger, many of the historic neighborhoods hold onto their original identity, especially in Lexington-Hamline and Merriam Park.
Melvin Whitfield Carter III is an American politician who is the mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Elected to his first term in 2017 and reelected in 2021, Carter is the 55th mayor of St. Paul and its first African American mayor. His current term of office ends on January 1, 2026. Carter has supported raising the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour. He is one of 11 U.S. mayors who co-founded Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity, a coalition of municipal leaders dedicated to starting pilot reparations programs in their cities.
The Rondo neighborhood, or simply Rondo, is located within the officially designated Summit-University district in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The boundaries of the historically black neighborhood are sometimes referred to as Old Rondo. For much of the 20th century, Rondo was an important cultural and residential center of the black community in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan region. The core of Old Rondo was demolished between 1956 and 1968, to make way for the construction of the Interstate 94 freeway. At least 650 families were displaced from the neighborhood, as well as many businesses and community locations. The neighborhood, although scarred by highway construction, remained a notable area in Saint Paul with a strong sense of cultural identity. Popular media and historians have the explored the impacts of highway construction and gentrification on Rondo residents past and present. In the 2000s, residents and public officials have discussed ways to reconnect the former community.
Hallie Q. Brown Community Center is an African-American not-for-profit social service agency located in the Rondo neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota, US, founded in 1929. Its slogan is 'Lighthouse of the Community'. The Hallie Q. Brown Community Center (HQB) is one of the largest African American non-profit organizations in the state of Minnesota. The center is named for Hallie Quinn Brown (1849–1950) a famous Black educator, activist, orator and writer agitating for civil rights, and women's rights. She also called out the injustices of the convict lease system. The organization supports the community with a full range of services including early childhood education, before and after school care, basic needs, senior programming, historical archives, and anti-racism and equity programming. HQB administers the Martin Luther King Service Center which consists of a little over half of the building and houses other agencies and organizations providing programming in the arts, recreation and other social and civic issues, including the nationally recognized Penumbra Theater Company. The City of Saint Paul administers the Martin Luther King Recreation Center, which consists of the remaining part of the overall building.
Denzil Angus Carty was an Episcopal priest and civil rights leader. Carty advocated for fair housing and against discrimination and worked primarily in St. Paul, Minnesota.