Roller skating was a popular past-time in the 1880s and Minneapolis had many roller rinks the best of which was advertised to be the Washington Avenue Roller Rink.
Minneapolis Police officers often took part in contests – sometimes for prizes and sometimes for charity – at the Washington Avenue Roller Rink.
On February 2, 1946, the 1,425 Minneapolis schoolchildren who comprised the School Traffic Patrol were honored by the head of the patrol, MPD Officer Lyle B. Riordan with the following words:
“Never a death or a serious accident at a patrol-guarded intersection in the 16 years since the patrols were organized. This tells the story of a job well done for a long time, in fair weather and foul.”
From the Minneapolis Daily Times of February 2, 1946
We have had this photograph in our collection for many years but have not known the names of these members of the Minneapolis Police Baseball Team (circa 1914).
Recently, we were able to identify these players and would like to share this information with you.
The players are as follows:
Top row from right to left, Captain Getchell, Manager; C.L. Glarum, Pitcher; O.C. Martinson, Centerfield; J.J. Finn, Shortstop; J.J. Cook, Third Base; G.A. Hammerod, Left Field; S. Johnson, Manager. Bottom row: “Spike” Anderson, Second Base; A.C. Jenson, Centerfield; L. Larson, Right Field; H. McGraw, First Base.
Photograph from the Collection of the Minneapolis Police Museum
After returning from a visit to police departments on the East Coast, Detective D.H. Derrick was interviewed by the Minneapolis Tribune. Here are his remarks from June 11, 1910:
Photograph of Detective D.H. Derrick courtesy of Hennepin County Library Special Collections
Here is a recent MPD History Presentation from the Minneapolis Police Museum. We hope that it will provide you insight into some significant innovations through the decades.
On March 11, 1911 inmate Jerry McCarthy, aided by trustee Peter Juhl, escaped from Stillwater Prison. Throughout the Spring and Summer of 1911, the two men were on the run committing robberies around the Twin Cities. On July 15, while planning a robbery of the vault at the Central State Bank at Twenty-fourth Street and Central Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis, McCarthy was apprehended by Minneapolis Police Officer Joseph Ollinger. A close-range gun battle between Officer Ollinger and McCarthy ensued killing both.Peter Juhl remained at large until August 12 when he was captured on the crowded Selby Avenue-Lake Street streetcar after mortally wounding St. Paul Detective Frank Fraser. Juhl was sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing of Detective Fraser.
The Minneapolis Police Museum is proud to announce that yesterday, in honor of Peace Officers Memorial Day, we published Retired Officer Ronald Ottoson’s book on this subject “To Protect With Courage: Volumes One and Two”.
In Volume One, Ron has brought together the key newspaper articles and additional supporting documents to tell the story of the line of duty deaths of Officer Joseph Ollinger and Detective Frank Fraser. Volume Two contains additional supporting information including census data and biographical details of all persons involved in the Ollinger and Fraser cases.
We are grateful to Ron for his vital contributions to furthering the awareness of the history of the Minneapolis Police Department. Ron has donated the proceeds from To Protect With Courage to the Minneapolis Police Museum and we appreciate his kind and generous support. Every penny of the royalties from the two volumes will go directly to support the initiatives of the Minneapolis Police Museum.
Here are links to the books on Amazon:
To Protect With Courage: Volume One: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094TJKFT1/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ronald+ottoson&qid=1621200643&sr=8-1
To Protect With Courage: Volume Two: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094T5Z2QG/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=ronald+ottoson&qid=1621200788&sr=8-3
Thank you for your support!
Mrs M. Hawley was the Janitress of the Minneapolis Police Department’s 5th Precinct in 1901. At that time, the 5th Precinct was located at 215 East Lake Street.
Photograph of Mrs M. Hawley courtesy of Retired MPD Officer Ron Ottoson
On April 6, 1921 Police Suspenders were on sale at The Old Kaiserhof Bargain Store at 244 Nicollet Avenue.
The sale price was 49 cents per pair reduced from $1.00 per pair or, adjusted to today’s prices, $6.58 on sale regularly $13.43.
Advertisement from the Minneapolis StarTribune on April 6, 1921
In May of 1975, Captain Bruce Lindberg of the Model Cities 6th Precinct, and his wife Ruth, attended a meeting of the Minnesota Press Club where Uri Geller was the featured speaker.
Mr. Geller was known for using the powers of his mind to bend spoons and restore clocks, amongst other things.
The Lindbergs each brought with them a non-working timepiece in the hopes that Mr. Geller would be able to revive them.
One of these items, a small green clock, had not worked for more than 15 years and the second item, a watch, had not worked for 5 years.
When Mr. Geller asked the audience if there were any timepieces needing attention, the Lindbergs raised their hands.
Ms. Lindberg kept the small green clock in her purse while Captain Lindberg put the watch on the table. Mr. Geller looked at the watch and ten minutes later it began running. Ms. Lindberg pulled the small green clock from her purse to find it running also.
Two hours later, the two timepieces were still running.
From an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune of May 23, 1975
Photograph from the museum collection courtesy of Cara Rule McGrath
Pictured from left to right are: Jerry McFarlane; Roger Schmidt; Greg Smith; Rod Homstad; Riley Gilchrist; Bruce Lindberg; Luke Koerner; Chuck Donaldson; and Jim Howell.
Click here to watch Episode Seven of the Minneapolis Police Museum video podcast series featuring Retired Officer Robert Huber: https://mplspolicemuseum.org/podcasts/