By Scott Carlson

A community’s interest in local history

Kristin Anderson, professor emerita of Art & Design at Augsburg University, planned this past month to give her final free St. Anthony Park neighborhood history talk.

Anderson’s talk in May marked her 28th presentation over the past three years. “We’ve also had eight different walking tours” during that time, she also noted.

Perhaps then to no surprise, Kristin announced at her May talk: She will hold another nine months of history talks starting in September.

“Regular attendees asked about whether there would be more talks,” Anderson told me in an email. “In fact, one audience member said that I should do these talks ‘forever.’ When I announced the 2025–26 season last night (May 13), the in-house audience applauded—so I guess that there is community interest.”

For Anderson, the local architecture history talks are a labor of love. “I am also always uncovering new information that I suspect would be interesting to other folks,” she told me. “Continuing the series allows me to dig into these topics and issues.”

And plenty of people like to dig into local history with Kristin.

Her in-person audience ranges from 45 to 75 people per session. Add in live online participants and YouTube viewers and her total audience sometimes surpasses 300 people, she said.

St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church has been host to Anderson’s in-person talks.

Asked whether she has been surprised by the enthusiastic response to her history series, Anderson said, “No. We live, work, and/or grew up in a very interesting spot. People are committed to the neighborhood and its people.

“This (history talks) is just one option to help bring the community together, and in a way that includes long-time residents and newer arrivals,” Anderson said. “I think we owe a debt of gratitude to the people who came before us, and we honor their work and commitment by paying attention to our neighborhood’s past and present.”

Kristin added, “It’s fun to be able to help people see things for the first time, or with fresh eyes, and to develop their skills of looking at, questioning and analyzing the spaces around us. I always hope that this will spark curiosity, and that it will help develop the connections and commitment that make the neighborhood thrive.”

Some of Kristin’s most popular past talks include presentations about University Grove and the University of Minnesota-St. Paul campus.

In the year ahead, Kristin’s history topics will include neighborhood grocery stores, the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, local seminaries and neighborhood alleys.

For more information about Anderson and other presentations, please check out her website at kristinanderson.org.

Reminder about readership survey

Have you filled out our Bugle readership survey yet?

We featured it in the May Bugle and are repeating it again to make sure we hear back from as many readers as possible.

Look for the survey on page 13, or you can fill out our survey from the Bugle website (and you are free to respond to some, many or all of the questions).

As an added incentive to participate, all survey responders are eligible to compete in a prize drawing for a $50 gift card from Bolé Ethiopian Cuisine.

We look forward to receiving your helpful feedback as we strive to make the Bugle your community newspaper that informs and serves you. 

Scott Carlson is the managing editor of the Bugle.

Photo credit: Kristine Anderson. Submitted photo.