A Religious History of Minnesota to 1965
Authored by Michael D. McNally (assistance by Iris Steiner-Manning & Dawson Ericksen)
Dakota Pipestone Quarriers
Quarriers pull pipestone from the earth in Pipestone, MN. This stone is sacred to the Dakota people.
St. Cornelia's Episcopal Church, Morton
This church, in the Lower Sioux Indian Community, was built in 1889 for Dakota people returning to Minnesota after their exile in the aftermath of the Dakota War of 1862. Credit: Minnesota Historical Society.
Immigrants taking oath of citizenship
Immigrants taking an oath of citizenship at the Minneapolis Council of Americanization, 1925. Immigration to Minnesota has, over time, been shaped by religion in many different ways. Credit: Minnesota Historical Society.
Billy Graham Preaching in Downtown Minneapolis
The Twin Cities were the base of much of world-famous preacher Billy Graham's evangelistic "crusades." Credit: Minnesota Historical Society.
Minnesota has always been home to a diverse array of religious traditions, but any significant embrace of that diversity has been a long, halting process. This essay explores moments in Minnesota’s religious history that speak to this long, halting process, tailored to provide historical context to the more contemporary materials gathered in ReligionsMN. It covers this history to 1965 because beginning in that year, the federal government rewrote immigration, and later refugee, law in ways that led to waves of immigrant and refugee communities in Minnesota in the 1970s, 1980s, and on today. A companion essay, Waves of Change in the Land of 10,000 Lakes (coming soon) will focus on the last 50 years of Minnesota religious history.
