-
Apr 7, 2008 8:02 am US/Central
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Finding Minnesota: Once-Hidden Stash Of Photos
(WCCO)
Brad Zellar was doing a story for City Pages back in 2003 when he unlocked a treasure trove of old Bloomington photos.
"It was pretty staggering to first stumble across them," he said, shaking his head.
What he found was a collection of 10,000 black and white images that chronicle the emerging suburb. The pictures were taken by Irwin Norling, who was a stringer for the Bloomington Sun during much of the 1950s, '60s and early '70s.
"Irv," as he was known, captured everything of importance for the newspaper, from parades and ribbon cuttings to the crime and catastrophe of this rapidly developing outer suburb.
Now, 50 years later, much of Norling's work is coming to light thanks to a new book by Zellar called
"Suburban World: The Norling Photos."As Zellar paged through the book he mused at the difficulty of selecting 130 images out of the more than 10,000 that were being stored at the Bloomington Historical Society.
"This is one of my favorites," Zellar said, noting a picture of a police officer. "Just because it could be in the south, like Mississippi, 'cause the cop is looking so severe, so serious."
When you drive to that same corner today, along Portland and Old Shakopee Road, it's lined with houses and alive with the rush of passing traffic.
Many of the photos in the book will impress you for how different everything looks today. One image in particular captures the changes to Interstate 35W. It's a shot of the ribbon cutting when the freeway was the first major thoroughfare connecting the Twin Cities with town to the south.
You will find images of Casey Jones and kids in parades. Several photographs show a new Metropolitan Stadium, where our Twins first played on grass. Today, it's been replaced by the nation's largest indoor shopping mall.
Think of it as a time capsule of the 1950s. That's one of the reasons Zellar's book, and the Norling photos, have been turned into a new exhibit at the Minnesota History Center.
"I think the images speak of a time that was very hopeful," said Earl Gutnik, director of the History Center.
While many of Norling's early photos of Bloomington captured its hope, as in those parades and pancake breakfasts. Others depict its horror in crime and crashes.
Zellar looked at one particularly gruesome shot of a bloody car wreck and said, "In those days there wasn't police tape, so some of the grizzliest photos show kids standing right there."
From out of a small, quaint town grew a sprawling suburb. Norling captured Bloomington the way it was so long ago. The rediscovery of his work lends new appreciation for what life was like for its early residents, and what their suburb has grown to become today.
The History Center exhibit of Norling's photographs is now open and will run through June 15.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)