On this day, January 20 in 1969 President Johnson awards the Medal of Freedom to civil rights activist Roy Wilkins. Wilkins graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1923.

This photograph from 1959 shows Roy Wilkins (center) with Martin Luther King and Thurgood Marshall at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the NAACP.

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A man bemoaning his fate after his shovel broke during a heavy snowfall, March 18, 1951.

This image forms part of our Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negative collection. Additional photographs in this series may be available in the library, please view the finding aid here.

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Two multicolored signs advertising “Burma-Shave” shaving cream, used by Burma-Vita Company, 1951-1952. These signs are housed in a concave dark wooden support used at the juncture of a wall and ceiling in a streetcar to display advertisements. The signs read, “WHEN SUPER-SHAVED / REMEMBER, PARD, YOU’LL STILL GET SLAPPED / BUT NOT SO HARD!” and “SAID ONE WHISKER TO ANOTHER / CAN’T GET TOUGH WITH THIS STUFF BROTHER.

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An airfield crew turning over a Navy Beechcraft JRB-4 airplane that flipped in the snow on March 23, 1951.

This image forms part of our Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negative collection. Additional photographs in this series may be available in the library, please view the finding aid here.

For more information or to purchase a photograph of this item, view this photograph in our collections database.

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A youngster gets some air while sledding in Minneapolis on February 22, 1950.

This image forms part of our Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negative collection. Additional photographs in this series may be available in the library, please view the finding aid here.

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Harry “The Horse” Gallatin of the NY Knicks with the ball during Game 1 (or 2) of the 1953 NBA Finals against the Minneapolis Lakers.

This image forms part of our Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negative collection. Additional photographs in this series may be available in the library, please view the finding aid here.

For more information or to purchase a photograph of this item, view this photograph in our collections database.

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King Boreas XVIII keychain from the 1954 Winter Carnival Coronation program. Plastic holder containing a photo of Walter Dorle in uniform and his title “Boreas Rex XVIII”.

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A helicopter delivers Santa to Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota on December 5, 1952.

This image forms part of our Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negative collection. Additional photographs in this series may be available in the library, please view the finding aid here.

For more information or to purchase a photograph of this item, view this photograph in our collections database.

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A tin windup toy version of the police squad car seen in the Dick Tracy comic strip. Lithographed images of Dick Tracy and other police officers decorate the car’s windows. Of the four wheels, three appear to have been made of wood, and one of rubber (the friction/traction wheel). The front grille, lights, and bumper are made from a separate piece of pressed tin. Manufactured by the Louis F. Marx Company between 1949 and 1960.

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A photograph of Hubert Humphrey and Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit during a visit to the Twin Cities in 1950. Pandit was an Indian diplomat and politician from the Nehru family, many of whose members served as Prime Minister.

This image forms part of our Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negative collection. Additional photographs in this series may be available in the library, please view the finding aid here.

For more information or to purchase a photograph of this item, view this photograph in our collections database.

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