On this day in Duluth in 1888, Emily Victoria Schupp was born to William and Amelia Victoria (Kugler) Schupp, who would become a pioneer of interpretive dance. From 1907 to 1910 she traveled throughout Europe, studying the folk dances of Russia, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Sweden, Norway, and Germany. In January of 1911 she returned to…

On this day in Duluth in 1912, the Nopeming Asylum opened for the first time. The day before a caravan of horse-drawn carriages carried nearly 50 very sick Duluthians from downtown to the new facility, built ten miles southwest of the Zenith City in the middle of the woods. (In Ojibwe, Nopeming means “out in…

On this day in Duluth in 1925, the Hotel Duluth kicked off a two-day celebration of the hotel’s grand opening. The building’s organizers scheduled a lavish celebration, inviting 400 couples that included delegations from the Iron Range, Twin Cities, Milwaukee, and Chicago. The Duluth Symphony Orchestra, directed by Fred G. Bradbury, played in the lobby…

On this day in Duluth in 1969, Duluth celebrated “Margaret Culkin Banning Day” in celebration of the author, a Duluth native and resident. The celebration coincided with the release of her newest book, Mesabi (published by Harper & Row, it was Banning’s 30th title). The Duluth News Tribune’s editorial page gushed over her, saying that…

On this day in Duluth in 1940, dignitaries broke ground for the Duluth Municipal All-Sports Stadium, south of 2nd Street at 35th Avenue West, nearby the dilapidated 1903 Athletic Park on a site called the “old circus grounds.” The project was overseen by the Work Projects Administration. Officials included advisory committee member Rueben Johnson, committee…

On this day in Duluth in 1927, a brand new fire hall opened at 1106 Commonwealth Avenue in New Duluth. The first engine house #10 was a two-story wood-frame building located at 311 Commonwealth Avenue when New Duluth was its own township. Built in the early 1890s, the building served both as a community meeting…

On this day in the Village of Duluth in 1883, trustees appointed Colonel Charles H. Graves as mayor for the second time. Graves, a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, received his military title fighting for the 40th New York Volunteers and was severely wounded at Gettysburg. He first came to Duluth in 1869 and established C.…

On this day in 1988 Roger Caldwell, the notorious second husband of Marjorie Congdon LeRoy Caldwell Hagen, committed suicide in his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, by slashing his wrists with a steak knife. Caldwell had been convicted of the 1977 slayings of Elisabeth Congdon and Velma Pietila at the Glensheen estate. After Marjorie was acquitted,…

On this day in 1949 Father William Powers, pastor of the Sacred Hearth Cathedral at 201 West Fourth Street, passed away. A powerful man and former athlete, Powers was well-liked and considered a great orator. On June 15, 1920, Powers saw the unruly mob that attacked police headquarters and abducted three young black men falsely…

On this day in 2007 Duluth songwriter and radio show host Ira Cook Ira died in California at the age of ninety. Cook was born in Duluth in 1916 and in 1934 graduated Duluth Central High School, where he had been active with the yearbook, the school newspaper, and the class play; he also ran…