Racial Segregation at Fire Station 24 (1907-1941)
Built in 1907, 4501 Hiawatha Avenue was not only the Minneapolis Fire Department’s 24th Station, but a location of controversial debate. While portions of Hiawatha, Minnehaha, and Snelling Avenues were one of the few areas where African Americans could establish “long-term communities with a high rate of home-ownership” amidst restrictive housing covenants, some white local residents objected to the assignment of three African American firemen to the new fire station nearby. Not long after, the Minneapolis fire chief claimed in an official statement that the station would, in fact, be an “exclusively black company”. Some local residents supported the chief’s statement. However, some City Council members pointed out that these firemen, “credited as first-rate men”, should not be segregated from other companies at all, and should instead be assigned throughout the city.
A petition was eventually signed by 60 local residents, all white women, toward the appointment of the men to Station 24, and the chief’s plans went forward. The company was later moved to Station 21 on Minnehaha and Lake Street in 1941, after Station 24 was condemned. The building has since been renovated and is in commercial use, yet remains in its original location.
Learn more about the history of this South Minneapolis neighborhood in these reports: Snelling Avenue, Minneapolis: Research on the History of the African American Community and Historic Context Development and Cultural Resources Evaluation for the Minnehaha-Hiawatha Community Works Strategic Development Framework. And stop by the Special Collections pop-up at the Lake + Minnehaha Open Streets on July 21, 2019.
This post was researched and written by Laura Meier, 2019 Urban Scholar in the James K. Hosmer Special Collections. She is a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities with majors in Anthropology and French Studies. She will be returning in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in Heritage Studies and Public History.
