Black Pioneers of Washington County with Brent Peterson

WCHS Executive Director Brent Peterson will be presenting stories about Black pioneers in the St. Croix Valley and the early trails that they blazed in a multitude of social and entrepreneurial arenas. Among these stories is a man named Charles Jackson, a newly freed slave turned businessman who followed the Minnesota Regiment to Stillwater after the Civil War concluded. Jackson began his career at the Sawyer House and eventually opened his own barbershop on Main Street. Another man who followed the Regiment to Minnesota was Jim Carter, who became a custodian and one of Stillwater’s most beloved residents. When Jim passed away, his funeral was the most well attended service anyone in town had ever seen. Caroline Lindsey was another early notable citizen. She and her sisters were artists who displayed their pieces at the Louisville Fair in 1897. Caroline was Stillwater High School’s first Black graduate, finishing her studies in 1898.