page_title: Minneapolis
section_title: Corruption, bigotry, social movements, urban renewal
hierarchical_section_title: Minneapolis / History / Corruption, bigotry, social movements, urban renewal
context_page_description: Minneapolis is the largest and most populous city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the seat of Hennepin County, the state's most populous county. As of 2019, Minneapolis has an estimated population of 429,606, making it the 46th-largest city in the United States, the 8th-largest in the Midwestern United States, and the second-most densely populated large city in the region behind Chicago. Minneapolis and its neighbor Saint Paul make up the Twin Cities, with Minneapolis being the larger of the two. The Twin Cities metro and their surrounding suburbs contain about 3.64 million people, making it the third-largest economic and population center in the Midwest and the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States.
  Minneapolis lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital. The city is abundantly rich in water, with 13 lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls; many connected by parkways in the Chain of Lakes and the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway.
context_section_description: Known initially as a kindly physician, Doc Ames led the city into corruption during four terms as mayor just before 1900. The gangster Kid Cann was famous for bribery and intimidation during the 1930s and 1940s. The city made dramatic changes to rectify discrimination as early as 1886 when Martha Ripley founded Maternity Hospital for both married and unmarried mothers.
  Different forms of bigotry played roles during the first half of the 20th century. In 1910, a Minneapolis developer started writing restrictive covenants based on race and ethnicity into his deeds. Copied by other developers, the practice prevented minorities from owning or leasing such properties. Though such language was prohibited by state law in 1953 and by the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968, restrictive covenants against minorities remained in many Minneapolis deeds as recently as 2017. The Ku Klux Klan succeeded by entering family life, but effectively was a force in the city only from 1921 until 1923. After Minnesota passed a eugenics law in 1925, the proprietors of Eitel Hospital sterilized about one thousand people at the Faribault State Hospital.
  From the end of World War I until 1950, Minneapolis was a "particularly virulent" site of anti-semitism. A hate group known as the Silver Legion of America recruited members in the city and held meetings around 1936 to 1938. Answering bigotry against Jewish doctors, Mount Sinai Hospital opened in 1948 as the first hospital in the community to accept members of minority races and religions on its medical staff.
  When the country's fortunes turned during the Great Depression, the violent Teamsters Strike of 1934 resulted in laws acknowledging workers' rights. A lifelong civil rights activist and union supporter, mayor Hubert Humphrey helped the city establish fair employment practices and a human relations council that interceded on behalf of minorities by 1946. In the 1950s, about 1.6% of the population of Minneapolis was nonwhite. Minneapolis contended with white supremacy, participated in desegregation and the civil rights movement, and in 1968 was the birthplace of the American Indian Movement.
  During the 1950s and 1960s, as part of urban renewal, the city razed about 200 buildings across 25 city blocks (roughly 40% of downtown), destroying the Gateway District and many buildings with notable architecture, including the Metropolitan Building. Efforts to save the building failed but are credited with sparking interest in historic preservation in the state.
  On May 25, 2020, police officer Derek Chauvin was seen on tape kneeling on George Floyd's neck for 8 minutes, resulting in his death. This incident sparked national unrest, riots, and mass protests.
caption: Battle between striking teamsters and police, Minneapolis general strike of 1934
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