An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Established in 1849 by the territorial legislature, the Minnesota Historical Society is older than the state of Minnesota itself, which was not admitted to the Union until 1859. Today, the society is one of the largest in the United States, operating 31 historic sites and museums, including the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, MN.
One of the Minnesota Historical Society's ongoing exhibits is the "playfully interactive" Open House: If These Walls Could Talk. Open House brings to life the adage "if these walls could talk" by using a single, existing house in the "Railroad Island" neighborhood on St. Paul's East Side as a window into the daily lives of people of the past. Visitors become detectives, piecing together the lives of the families who lived at 470 Hopkins Street. Stories of families—from the first German immigrants through the Italians, African Americans, and Hmong who succeeded them—are told through rooms representing different eras of the house.
To learn more about Open House: If These Walls Could Talk, visit the Minnesota Historical Society at the site below.
The Minnesota Historical Society's exhibit Open House: If These Walls Could Talk uses census data to help visitors better understand the families that lived in the house and its neighborhood.
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.
Share
Some content on this site is available in several different electronic formats. Some of the files may require a plug-in or additional software to view.
The content on this page includes a link to a non-government website. Our linking to these sites does not constitute an endorsement of any products, services or the information found on them. Once you link to another site you are subject to the policies of the new site.
Top