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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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.
