History Play Series
Not in Our Neighborhood
October 2 & 3 at 7 pm & October 4 at 2 pm | 2025
In 1924 St. Paul, Nellie and William Francis, prominent African American leaders, confront violent opposition after moving into an all-white neighborhood. Cross burnings, threats, and intimidation cannot shake their resolve. With the NAACP’s backing and eventual city action, they challenged the neighborhood’s segregated barriers. This powerful play retraces their courage and lasting fight for justice.
A play by Eric Wood and Tom Fabel. Directed by Chad Snyder.
Missed the production? Check out this SPNN recording of Not in Our Neighborhood:
Landmark Center’s History Play performance series is a theater program designed to bring to life many of the trials, court decisions, legal ramifications, and other related events that were relevant to Landmark Center when it was the Federal Courts Building. Noted Twin Cities judges, legal practitioners, and academics often trade robes for costumes to bring the events to life.
Little Rock, 1942
October 3 & 4 at 7 pm & October 5 at 2 pm | 2024
With an all-star cast of Twin Cities lawyers and judges, 2024’s History Play was the true story of a civil rights lawsuit that brought Thurgood Marshall to St. Paul, and led to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Watch 2024’s History Play in its entirety, recorded Thursday, October 3, 7pm.
In 1942, Sue Cowan Williams, formerly known as Susie Morris, head of the Dunbar Junior College English Department and a member of the Little Rock Classroom Teachers Association, sued the school district for equal pay for black teachers. With the assistance of Thurgood Marshall, an attorney from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Williams won her case in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Landmark Center’s History Play performance series is a theater program designed to bring to life many of the trials, court decisions, legal ramifications, and other related events that were relevant to Landmark Center when it was the Federal Courts Building.
A play by Terrance C. Newby and James Lundy. Directed by Chad Snyder
War, Resistance, and Protest: The Trial of the “Minnesota 8”
October 5th & 6th – 7 pm | October 7th – 2 pm, 2023
Watch 2023’s History Play in its entirety, recorded Saturday, October 7, 2 pm.
Where are they now? Discussion with six members of the “Minnesota 8”
With an all-star cast of Twin Cities lawyers and judges, 2023’s History Play takes place in 1970, the year the anti-war movement intensified among college students who were protesting President Richard M. Nixon’s military efforts in Vietnam. On trial was the Minnesota 8, students with connections to the University of Minnesota, arrested for breaking into draft offices throughout the state in attempt to destroy draft records.
Landmark Center’s History Play performance series is a theater program designed to bring to life many of the trials, court decisions, legal ramifications, and other related events that were relevant to Landmark Center when it was the Federal Courts Building. Noted Twin Cities judges, legal practitioners, and academics often trade robes for costumes to bring the events to life.
History Plays are produced by Landmark Center and recorded by SPNN. Want to see past History Plays and Trial Reenactments? Visit Landmark Center’s YouTube channel – Trial Reenactment playlist.