“Robbery & Murder!” screamed the headline of the Rice County Journal of Sept. 7, 1876. “Desperate Attempt to Rob the Bank! J.L. Heywood Shot Dead at

“No matter where you go in the United States, it has been said, you will find someone who knows that Jesse James raided a

With a menacing stare and a big ax, Smoke Shop proprietor Stanley “Tiny” Johnson stood beside two men locked into the “Jesse James Days

Two years after the Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote, Minnesotans had the chance to vote for the first woman ever to

“It’s here!” This note, with a big smiley face drawn on it, was in my mailbox at St. Olaf late in the first term

It is not surprising that Susan Garwood, executive director of the Rice County Historical Society, expresses a fondness for history. But it turns out

It isn’t often that Minneapolis’ major newspaper, the Associated Press and the CBS Morning News carry the results of a campaign for a college

The year 2016 marks the 125th anniversary of St. Olaf College’s first music organization, a group once led by F. Melius Christiansen. No, it

Today’s Carleton College students know the names Fred B. and Deborah Sayles Hill. That is to say, they know the names Sayles and Hill

“Anyone who thinks Northfield is not a good show town should have seen the hundreds of people who could not get into the opera

You may remember Prince’s song, “Party Like It’s 1999,” which was popular as the new millennium approached. Well, Northfielders were in the mood to

In 1856, only a year after the founding of Northfield, a Lyceum Association was established “to create a taste for literature and a thirst

In July of 2011 an open house was held at the Archer House River Inn to show off a $1.1 million renovation of the

Plans were made in December of 1855 for the family of John North to move south from St. Anthony to the Cannon River where

In September of 1868, a mere 13 years after Northfield was founded by John W. North, the young town decided to put on an

It’s been a good year for New York City artist Ward Sutton, St. Olaf Class of 1989. Four of his cartoons were published in the New

“Until Dec. 7, 1941, I thought I was a normal boy, a normal American. All of a sudden I was dirty. All of a

It’s not too likely that the University of Minnesota will book Carleton as an opponent at its new TCF Bank Stadium. But Carleton’s football

Northfield’s rich musical heritage can be traced back to Ann North, wife of Northfield’s founder, John North. When it came to a choice between

On April 26, 2015, Betty White received a lifetime achievement award at the 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. The 93-year-old actress has a career

Carleton and St. Olaf have had a hot basketball rivalry since 1910 when  construction of Sayles-Hill Gym spurred annual clashes. They have battled for an

The upset victory of tiny Appalachian State over mighty Michigan in football this season has reminded me of two David and Goliath-type games played

“Masquerade Ball! Easter Monday, April 7, 1890, at the Opera House. Tickets $1, gallery 50¢ with the privilege of dancing after 11 o’clock. Everybody

“What most typifies spring?” asked a writer in the Carletonian paper on April 6, 1965. “Is it the girls seductively sunning themselves on Myers Hill? Is

It all started with an extraordinary invitation by Minnesota Twins’ owner Cal Griffith 45 years ago. Sid Freeman, owner of a Northfield men’s store

On March 24 the Northfield Historical Society will open an exhibit, “Through the Camera Lens: Early Northfield Photography.” The exhibit will feature enlarged photographs

The opening game of the 1965-66 basketball season of the Northfield High School Raiders was to be played on the court of a new

Researching historic happenings can be time-consuming. It can also be as easy as “googling” a  topic on a computer. Occasionally, it is a matter of