Finding out more about Bill's old neighborhood

Bill Sackter spent his early childhood in a mostly Jewish neighborhood just
north of downtown Mineapolis. His family lived in a two story wood-frame building on Aldrich Avenue North (not far from where Olson Highway passes by today). The Sackters lived upstairs; their grocery store was downstairs.

The Sackter market was one of dozens of small markets owned by Jewish families in Minneapolis. In fact, there were Jewish grocers in communities all over the Midwest, from Duluth, Minnesota to Aberdeen, South Dakota and from Sioux City, Iowa to Grand Forks, North Dakota.

If you visit Bill's old neighborhood today, you would have a hard time finding any trace of what was once there. Successive waves of redevelopment and an interstate highway have transformed the area and obliterated its past. The latest wave of redevelopment even changed the streets. The grid pattern of streets often associated with cities has been placed with curved streets in a development of apartments and townhouses.

There are places, though, where you can see pictures of Bill's neighborhood as it existed in the early 20th century. One place is in the book "Unlikely Celebrity." Written by retired UI professor Tom Walz, the book tells Bill's life story and includes a number of pictures of Bill's neighborhood. Copies are for sale at Uptown Bill's in Iowa City and through independent bookstores around the Midwest.

You can also see some photos of the old neighborhood in a book called "And Prairie Dogs Weren't Kosher," a history of Jewish communities in the Upper Midwest. Written by Linda Mack Schloff, it includes not only Minneapolis but also communities all over Minnesota and the Dakotas. Published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, it can be found in many libraries.

Another place you can see some pictures of the north Minneapolis neighborhood where Bill Sackter lived is an online exhibit created by the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest. Called "Unpacking on the prairie: Jewish women in the upper Midwest," it includes dozens of photos and stories about families like Bill's. It's at this website: www.jewishwomen.exhibit.org