Jeff Thompson   Atlanta (for now) -- 2000-05-05

Does anyone know why Lake Calhoun was named after a pro-slavery, sessessionist Southern U.S. Congressman? It seems so incongruous with the fact that Minnesota lost so many soldiers to the Civil War which Calhoun helped to start, and the general progressiveness that Minnesota has long been known for.

Gilbert Mros   Columbia Heights -- 2003-10-20

In answer to Jeff Thompson's question on 2000-05-05:
John C. Calhoun was the Vice-President of the United States under Presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. He also was the Secretary of War From 1817 to 1825, and as such, he sent surveyors to map the western part of the country. They, in turn, renamed lake Mde Ma-ka-ska ("Lake of the White Earth") "Lake Calhoun" in his honor.
He died in 1850, eleven years before the Civil War started in 1861.

Jim   Houston -- 2008-05-09

This monument survived a lightning strike with heavy damage. Early fifties: An annual remembrance ceremony, primarily for Navy and Marines was always held here on Memorial Day. A sailor would at one point toll the bell. Also, there would be a scattering of paper poppies on the water by a helicopter. The monument at right is to local naval war casualties.
With reference to Mr. Calhoun - I appreciate the clarification offered. Calhoun's staunch support of slavery may not stand well with modern sentiments. Nonetheless, he was a great American leader revered by his constituents and peers for his vision, which included a sense of urgency about consolidation and securing of the western frontier. He was honored not only by his southern colleagues, but also his alma mater, Yale. His name attaches to places in at least three states. Calhoun's political writings guided the formation of American political thought and are still an object of scholarly thinking and critical review.
I grew up in Minneapolis and attended Calhoun Grade School. We learned Calhoun was as much a part of our Minnesota heritage as Pike, Snelling, Sibley, Stevens, Hill & so on. Doesn't sit well to be quickly dismissive of a man of such achievements, or label him with emotionally charged epithets; still, times being what they are...