Put together a few months ago a public domain historical folk song (which I still haven't yet memorized, however) about Hibbing and Minneapolis's pre-1961 hidden history, that contains the following lyrics:
(verses 1 and 2)
In Hibbing, Minnesota
Guess who owned a furniture store?
And guess whose grandfather
Owned the town theaters?
Rich whites owned its iron mine
And Greyhound's Jim Crow bus lines
In Hibbing and Minneapolis
The racist bells did chime.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota
Pillsbury owned the City
And owned with Lumber and Milling Trusts
The University.
Rich whites controlled its politics
Its banks, mills and factories
In Hibbing and Minneapolis
Guess who lived in poverty?
(refrain)
Some people create myths
Or sell us fantasies
Others still fight for Freedom
And protest against Society.
(verses 3 and 4)
In Minneapolis, Minnesota
A Citizens Alliance tried
To bust the Teamsters Union
And break the drivers' strike.
To keep an "open shop"
While keeping closed social clubs
In Hibbing and Minneapolis
That's how things were done.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota
Some could not rent or own
A home in any neighborhood
Except in its Northern zone.
And the jobless in Gateway District
Were bulldozed from Downtown
In Hibbing and Minneapolis
They didn't want the poor around.
(refrain)
Some people create myths
Or sell us fantasies
Others still fight for Freedom
And protest against Society.
(verses 5 and 6)
In Minneapolis, Minnesota
No firm did hire you
If you grew up on the North Side
Or lived on Snelling Avenue.
And professors Weinberg and Wiggins
Got fired for their politics
In Hibbing and Minneapolis
You couldn't be too leftist.
In Hibbing and Minneapolis
Most whites just sang of love
And musicians showed off their skills
And competed for jobs in clubs.
And those who were ambitious
Got big wealth in New York
Yet in Hibbing and Minneapolis
People still are out of work.
(refrain)
Some people create myths
Or sell us fantasies
Others still fight for Freedom
And protest against Society.
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