LAKE ADNEY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT:

In the 1920s an African American man named George Gamble purchased the southern shore of Lake Adney in Crow Wing County, partitioned the land, and began selling it to other African American families. As a result, it became one of the few lakes in predominantly white northern Minnesota where African American vacationers felt welcome. This oral history project ran in tandem with a Minnesota Historical Society Museums Fellows project, which culminated in a traveling panel exhibit on Lake Adney.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Lake Adney Oral History Project. Oral History Interviews of the Lake Adney Oral History Project. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Location of Master Files:

Digital masters of the files are maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage servers and are managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.

Accession Information:

Accession number: AV2017.169

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 990088912730104294

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Biographical Information: Mary K. Murray Boyd was born in 1942. She grew up in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota, and she continued to live in Minnesota throughout her adult life. Boyd had a thirty-year career as an educator in St. Paul Public Schools, beginning as a teachers’ aid and retiring as an area superintendent. Boyd is active in the community as a volunteer, consultant, board member, and adjunct faculty. Her grandparents, L.L. and Callie Murray, built a cabin on Lake Adney in the 1940s, and she spent summers at the cabin as a child. Her family owns the cabin to this day, and they continue to vacation there. Boyd was previously interviewed for the Rondo Oral History Project. She is the sister of William Murray who was also interviewed for the project.

Location

OH 178.1

Oral history interview with Mary K. Murray Boyd, September 13, 2016. 1 master audio file: digital, WAV (1 hour, 23 minutes), 1 user audio file: digital, MP3, and 1 transcript (24 pages).

Topics discussed include family background, Rondo neighborhood, the Great Migration and her family, experiences at the University of Arizona, including racial discrimination on campus, car accident injury, career as an educator, Lake Adney (1940s - 2000s), origins of the family cabin on Lake Adney, description of the cabin, cabin renovations, Lake Adney as a “healing place”, activities at the lake, multiple generations at the lake, family memorial services at the lake, community at Lake Adney, shops in Crosslake and Nisswa, Minnesota, Lake Adney residents’ association, reflections on her deep connection to the cabin and the lake.

Interviewed by Mica Lee Anders in Roseville.

The transcript has been reviewed and edited by the interviewee.

Digital version

Digital version

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Biographical Information: Nathaniel “Nick” Khaliq was born in the 1940s and grew up in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood. His grandparents were some of the last residents forced from their homes when the construction of Interstate 94 cut through Rondo’s African American community. Khaliq and his wife, Victoria Davis, managed rental properties in St. Paul for three decades. Before that, Khaliq worked in construction and for the St. Paul Fire Department. He was also president of the St. Paul NAACP for fifteen years until he retired in 2011. Khaliq and his wife purchased property on Lake Adney in the 1980s on the recommendation of Mary K. Murray Boyd’s father. They still own the cabin today, and continue to go up to Lake Adney each summer. Khaliq was previously interviewed for the Rondo Oral History Project.

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OH 178.2

Oral history interview with Nathaniel Khaliq, January 5, 2017. 1 master audio file: digital, WAV (1 hour, 34 minutes), 1 user audio file: digital, MP3, and 1 transcript (27 pages).

Topics discussed include family background, Rondo neighborhood, impact of Interstate 94 on Rondo, joining the military, gentrification, racism, early career, managing rental property in St. Paul, Lake Adney, 1980s - 2010s, purchasing property on Lake Adney, description of the family cabin, cabin renovations, demographic changes around Lake Adney, typical weekend at the cabin, bringing visitors to the cabin, race on Lake Adney, meaning and impact of cabin culture in the African American community.

Interviewed by Mica Lee Anders in St. Paul.

The transcript has been reviewed and edited by the interviewee.

Digital version

Digital version

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Biographical Information: Paula Thomason Mitchell was born in the 1940s and grew up in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota. After graduating from St. Paul Central High School, she earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She worked as an elementary school teacher throughout her career. She married Marion Frederick “Fred” Mitchell soon after graduating from college. They lived for a time in Pennsylvania while he was in the armed services and then moved back to Minnesota where they raised their two children. Mitchell’s parents, Shirlee and Paul Thomason, honeymooned at Lake Adney in the 1940s and purchased property on the lake in 1972. They constructed several different cabins on the property over the years. Mitchell and her husband still own their cabin, and their children and grandchildren continue to visit Lake Adney today. Mitchell was previously interviewed for the Rondo Oral History Project as a member of the Three-Four Girls Club.

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OH 178.3

Oral history interview with Paula Thomason Mitchell , November 8, 2016. 1 master audio file: digital, WAV (1 hour, 11 minutes), 1 user audio file: digital, MP3, and 1 transcript (29 pages).

Topics discussed include family background, Rondo neighborhood, childhood experiences of racism, education through college, marriage, life in Pennsylvania and Minnesota, Lake Adney (1970s - 2000s, her family’s purchase of Lake Adney property, cabin construction and renovations, demographics around Lake Adney, lake front property prices, son’s interest in the outdoors and cabin culture, multiple generations at Lake Adney, reflections on the personal meaning of Lake Adney, discussion of family photographs.

Interviewed by Mica Lee Anders in Shoreview.

The transcript has been reviewed and edited by the interviewee.

Paula Thomason Mitchell’s husband, Marion Frederick Mitchell, also comments in the interview.

Digital version

Digital version

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Biographical Information: Louis Jason Moore was born in Washington, DC, in 1941. He moved to Minnesota with his parents as a small child and grew up in St. Paul and Minneapolis. Over the course of his career, Moore worked in management and supervisory positions and served as a staffer with Congressman Martin Sabo’s local office for nineteen years. He is an avid road cycler and was one of the founding members of the Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Minneapolis, an African American cycling group. Moore started going to Lake Adney to fish with his father as a teenager in the 1950s, and he continued the tradition with his wife and children. The Moores stayed at Florine Wilcox’s resort, and Wilcox became a family friend. They continued to go to Lake Adney each year until Wilcox passed away in 1999.

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OH 178.4

Oral history interview with Louis Moore, September 22, 2016. 1 master audio file: digital, WAV (1 hour, 31 minutes), 1 user audio file: digital, MP3, and 1 transcript (29 pages).

Topics discussed include family background, childhood, his career, racial prejudice, Congressman Martin Sabo, trip to Tanzania, Lake Adney (1950s - 1990s, Florine Wilcox’s resort on Lake Adney, friends and community at the lake, fishing stories, maintenance and upkeep of lake property, family relationship with Florine Wilcox, racial dynamics at Lake Adney, impact of cabin life and outdoors experiences on his children, Major Taylor Bicycling Club origins and activities, importance of Lake Adney to African American history.

Interviewed by Mica Lee Anders in St. Paul.

The transcript has been reviewed and edited by the interviewee.

Digital version

Digital version

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Biographical Information: William “Bill” Murray was born in 1958. He grew up in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota. Murray worked in a number of different fields over the course of his career, including working as a musician and starting his own window cleaning business. Murray’s grandparents, L.L. and Callie Murray, built a cabin on Lake Adney in the 1940s, and he spent his summers at the cabin as a child. His family owns the cabin to this day, and they continue to go to the cabin frequently. He is the brother of Mary K. Murray Boyd who was also interviewed for the project.

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OH 178.5

Oral history interview with William Murray, January 20, 2017. 1 master audio file: digital, WAV (1 hour, 53 minutes), 1 user audio file: digital, MP3, and 1 transcript (23 pages).

Topics discussed include family background; childhood; origins of his love for music; education; career; his wife, children, and grandchildren; appreciation for his parents and grandparents; Lake Adney (1960s - 2010s; first memories of traveling to Lake Adney; the family cabin on Lake Adney; multiple generations at the cabin; cabin renovations; reflections on the general atmosphere of life at the cabin including peace and relaxation; reflections on the meaning of cabin culture.

Interviewed by Mica Lee Anders in St. Paul.

The transcript has been reviewed and edited by the interviewee.

Digital version

Digital version

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Biographical Information: Patrick “Pat” Patton was born in North Minneapolis in the 1930s, the son of a Jewish immigrant mother and an African American father. In the 1940s his parents, Patrick Patton Sr. and Bertha Weiss Patton, purchased property on Goggle Lake, about half a mile south of Lake Adney. There they built Patton’s Resort, which they continued to operate until the 1990s. For decades, the resort was a summertime destination for African American families from throughout the Midwest and as far away as Florida. Patrick Patton Sr. and his son stayed at Lake Adney while initially building their resort, and interactions between cabin owners and resort owners on the two lakes continued over the years. After his parents passed away, Patton and his wife, Vivienne Patton, closed the resort and built their own cabin on the property. At the time of the interview, he had retired from his career as a salesman.

The interview was conducted in two parts due to a recorder malfunction during the first interview.

Location

OH 178.6

Oral history interview with Patrick Patton, September 29 and November 10, 2016. 2 master audio files: digital, WAV (1 hour, 47 minutes), 2 user audio files: digital, MP3, and 1 transcript (38 pages).

September 29, 2016: Topics discussed include family background, childhood, hunting and fishing, business trips as a salesman, Lake Adney and Goggle Lake (1940s - 2000s), building a new family cabin on the resort property, mechanical hobbies, children’s experiences at the lake, building Patton’s Resort on Goggle Lake, changes at Lake Adney and Goggle Lake, community around Lake Adney, meaning of cabin culture, demographics of Lake Adney and Goggle Lake vacationers. November 10, 2016: Topics discussed include growing up in a biracial family in the 1940s, his parents, origins of his family’s resort on Goggle Lake, resort publicity through word of mouth, demographics of Lake Adney and Goggle Lake vacationers, childhood memories of Lake Adney, childhood jobs at his family’s resort, resort amenities, community around Lake Adney and Goggle Lake, fishing, new family cabin on Goggle Lake, meaning of cabin culture, descriptions of photos, reflections on family history.

Interviewed by Mica Lee Anders in Minneapolis.

The transcript has been reviewed and edited by the interviewee.

Patrick Patton’s wife, Vivienne Patton, also comments in the interview.

Digital version

Digital version

Digital version

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Biographical Information: Mary Ellis Peterson was born in the 1940s in Minnesota, and she grew up in North Minneapolis. After graduating from Patrick Henry High School, she went to college at the University of Minnesota and graduated with a degree in education. Peterson had a thirty-year career as an estate-planning paralegal, and then became a philanthropic advisor and planned giving officer. In the early 1960s, her parents and a group of their friends purchased property and built cabins on the north side of Lake Adney. Peterson and her family still own the cabin today, and her children and grandchildren enjoy summers at Lake Adney.

Location

OH 178.7

Oral history interview with Mary Ellis Peterson, September 23, 2016. 1 master audio file: digital, WAV (45 minutes), 1 user audio file: digital, MP3, and 1 transcript (22 pages).

Topics discussed include family background, her career, Lake Adney (1960s - 2010s), her family’s purchase of property on Lake Adney, description of “rustic” cabins, the drive from the Twin Cities to Lake Adney, friends and community at the lake, Pathfinder Village resort, seasons at the lake, comparison between Lake Adney and other nearby lakes, activities at the lake, multiple generations at the lake, importance of the outdoors for children, involvement in the Girl Scouts, cabin culture.

Interviewed by Mica Lee Anders in St. Paul.

The transcript has been reviewed and edited by the interviewee.

Digital version

Digital version

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

African Americans -- Minnesota -- History.

Families -- Anecdotes.

Family recreation -- Minnesota.

Outdoor recreation.

Racism -- Minnesota.

Resorts -- Minnesota.

Vacation homes -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Anders, Mica Lee, interviewer.

Boyd, Mary Kalleen Murray, 1942- , interviewee.

Khaliq, Nathaniel Abdul, interviewee.

Mitchell, Paula Thomason, interviewee.

Moore, Louis, 1941- , interviewee.

Murray, William, 1958- , interviewee.

Patton, Patrick, interviewee.

Peterson, Mary Ellis, interviewee.

Places:

Goggle, Lake (Crow Wing County, Minn.)

Adney Lake (Crow Wing County, Minn.)

Rondo (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Document Types:

Interviews.

Oral histories (document genres).

Sound recordings.

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