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Aug 29, 2007 3:01 pm US/Central
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Wed. Is 150-Year Anniversary Of Minn. Constitution
Falcon Heights, Minn. (WCCO) ―
Ye Old Mill is celebrating its 94th year at the Minnesota State Fair, but as it turns out, it has nothing on the longevity of the Minnesota Constitution.
On Wednesday morning, lawmakers and volunteers dressed in prairie garb gathered at the Grandstand Plaza to announce plans for the celebration of Minnesota's sesquicentennial anniversary.
While fairgoers were handed Constitutions-on-a-stick, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie addressed the crowd.
"Next year will be a big year for politics -- elections, national conventions. We'll have a chance to stop and reflect on the blessings that we've been granted," said Ritchie.
While Minnesota's statehood was not ratified by the U.S. Government until 1858, the Constitutions were actually signed on Aug. 29, 1857, which means that it was 150 years ago this Wednesday that Minnesota's induction into the Union was set into motion.
The plural designation "Constitutions" is not a misprint, because when lawmakers were drafting the document, the state's deeply divided Republican and Democratic factions held separate conventions. It was only at the last minute that the groups teamed up.
"The Republicans and Democrats, they knew where they were supposed to meet. A Democrat and a Republican rushed to the podium to convene the convention," said Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson. "So, for one minute they were together."
Both versions of the Constitution were made available on either side of the Constitutions-on-a-stick.
Among the events announced to take place leading up to the 2008 sesquicentennial, on Oct. 6 a commemorative stamp will be unveiled in Winona, Minn., to be available for sale next year.
There will also be a festival and expo in May 2008 commemorating a number of the people and places that characterized Minnesota's one and a half centuries as a U.S. state.
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