The Uniting Cultures Who We Are, How We Got Here: Collecting Stories oral history collection shares stories collected from residents of St. James, Minnesota between 2017-2024. During this time, the St. James community became more culturally and economically diverse. People wanted to share and hear each other's stories of identity and belonging. Uniting Cultures, an organization committed to nurturing cross-cultural connections, collected a first set of interviews that were summarized in a book distributed in the community. This book was very well received, and community members wanted more opportunities to hear and tell stories. Next, in partnership with Convivencia Hispana, Odell Wood Farm Community Fund, the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment, Otto Bremer Trust, Mayo Clinic Health System, the Southwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership of UMN Extension, and UMN Morris’ Center for Small Towns, the organization worked to collect, transcribe, translate, code, and share additional stories. This collection includes the original book of summarized stories and more recent transcriptions as well. The collection is a companion to a traveling exhibit in St. James that addresses the six common themes found among the stories: movement, place, encounters, traditions, and changes. These transcripts have been redacted to protect the identities of the storytellers. Uniting Cultures members and their community partners, with input from the storytellers, made this choice to encourage community members to feel safe sharing their stories.
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ID126 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Woman born in Mexico. Immigrated to and lived in Iowa for many years with her children before moving to St. James. Had some negative and racist experiences in Iowa but really appreciates the welcoming community she experienced in St. James. She has worked hard to provide for her children and to build a better life for them.
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ID127 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Man born in the late 1990s in Guatemala. The youngest son of seven children and has only been living in the U.S. for two years at the time of the interview. Some family members came before him to the U.S. He continues to live and work in St. James.
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ID129 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Woman born in the early 40s. She is from Tamaulipas, Mexico. She got her name from her grandfather. She came to the United States in 1994 with her passport to come live with her son, however her husband stayed in Mexico. She likes St. James.
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ID130 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Woman born in the early 80’s from Mexico. She has 6 siblings. When they were growing up her father lived in the United States to be able to provide for their family. When she was 17, they decided to join her dad and one of her brothers in St. James. She is still in St. James. She is now married to a man who is from El Salvador and they have children in college.
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ID200 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
3rd generation woman of Swedish descent. Grew up in Illinois, and moved to St. James when she married her husband from St. James. Worked as an art teacher in St. James, on the farm with her husband, and as a homemaker raising her children
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ID201 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Male of 3rd generation from Danish descent. Born and raised in Nicollet, his family moved to St. James around the age of 10 and 11 years old. Worked as an Agricultural teacher and farmer.
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ID202 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
A female of 2nd generation Welsh descent. Growing up on a farm in Le Sueur, she had saved money while working at Green Giant to go to school in Saint Paul where she would meet her husband through acquainted friends and went back to Mankato for a job. After marrying her husband, he got drafted into the Korean War and moved around the United States and eventually had their first child born in Alaska. They moved back to St. James on the family farm.
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ID203 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
2nd generation of Swedish and German descent. Born and raised in St. James, where he met his wife from Butterfield, Minnesota and had two children together. He joined the National Guard, worked in the elevator for a few years, drove trucks, and then began farming in 1980. He continues to live in St. James today
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ID204 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Of Scandinavian (English, German, Swedish) descent. Grew up around the Trimont area on her parents farm, before getting married and raising her kids on the farm. She and her husband moved to Odin to be closer to their son and remained there until she moved to St. James to live in a co-op after her husband passed away in 2000. She worked as a part-time substitute teacher after graduating Gustavus at the age of 44 with an English degree.
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ID205 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
6th generation of Norwegian descent. She grew up on the family farm about 9 miles from Westbrook. She worked at a law firm in the cities until she married her husband in 1965, where they built a house close by St. James.
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ID206 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Female of 3rd generation of Mexican descent. Born in Petersburg, Virginia but raised in Laredo, Texas next to the Mexican border living in a home with three generations. Up until COVID (around 2020), she and her husband with their two children have lived in Houston, Texas before moving to St. James, Minnesota. She works in the hospital setting while pursuing her associates degree in Mankato, Minnesota
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ID207 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Female of 5th generation having lived in Minnesota with ancestors from Norway, Sweden, and Ireland. Lived on the farm with both parents, with five siblings, making it six children. Worked at a bank after graduating, then moved to California for a few years with her sister before moving back to Minnesota. Moved to St. James after her husband passed away.
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ID208 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Woman adopted from Lebanon by Norwegian and Swedish parents while they were living in Saudi Arabia. Grew up in Saudi Arabia until moving to Houston, Texas, and then Balaton, Minnesota. She married a Norwegian man, and together they live on a farm. She’s always been fascinated by different cultures, and the ways they are similar and different.
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ID209 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Lutheran pastor descended from Norwegian immigrants. He was born in Starbuck, Minnesota and moved to St. James when he became the pastor at the Lutheran church.
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ID210 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Recollections of a childhood and a Swedish family history in rural communities and St. Paul, Minnesota.
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ID211 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Third generation male of German descent tells the story of his grandfather’s immigration to Watonwan County.
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ID212 Oral History
Uniting Cultures
Family several generations back were immigrants of Austrian, German, Norwegian, and Irish descent. Born and raised in St. James, the 6th of 15 children. Her grandfather co-founded Schmidt’s Bakery, a well-known family business in St. James.