From 2015 to 2021, the University of Minnesota's Center for Integrative Leadership, in partnership with Patrick Coleman of the Minnesota Historical Society and Center for Integrative Leadership Executive Leadership Fellow, facilitated first-person, substantive oral histories of Minnesota gubernatorial administrations. Under Coleman's mentorship, an interdisciplinary group of University of Minnesota graduate students researched and conducted the interviews. Interviewees included Governor Mark Dayton (served 2011-2019). Governor Tim Pawlenty (served 2003-2011), Governor Jesse Ventura (1999-2003), Governor Arne Carlson (1991-1999), and Lieutenant Governor Marlene Johnson (1983-1991). Additionally, this collection includes an oral history of Reatha Clark King, a former university president and business leader active in Minnesota from 1977-2003.
Watch the following video to learn more about the project, and visit the University of Minnesota Libraries Digital Conservancy to read and download the oral histories.
Special thanks to Patrick Coleman, Kate Conners, Vanessa Laird, Elizabeth Sopdie, Caleb Murphy, and Meaghan McSorley, for their teamwork to create this video.