The odd ways that old stamps can illuminate current issues is again the theme for today’s #stampoftheday, the 5-cent Swedish Pioneer Centennial stamp, which was issued on June 4, 1948. The stamp , which commemorates the 100th anniversary of Swedish pioneers traveling to the Midwest, pictures a Swedish pioneer’s covered wagon traveling westward. On either side of the wagon are 12 stars, representing the 12 Midwestern states (including Minnesota) where many Swedish immigrants settled.

The stamp and its connection to Minnesota made me wonder about how the demographics of Minnesota and the Twin Cities have changed since that stamp was issued and what those changes might tell me about today’s state of affairs.

Of course, I knew that they are less white than they once were but some of the changes are fairly dramatic. Consider the following: In 1940, according to the Census, 99 percent of the state’s 2.8 million residents were white. Slightly more than 10 percent were foreign-born and of these, 55 percent came from one of three countries: Sweden (23 percent), Norway (18 percent) and Germany (14 percent). The figures were roughly similar for Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, the location of Minneapolis and St. Paul respectively. Thirty years later, in 1970, the state was still more than 90 percent non-Hispanic white as were both Minneapolis and St. Paul.

But then things began to change. According to the most recent 5-year American Community Survey (from 2018), about 5.5 million people now live in the state. Eighty percent of them are non-Hispanic whites, 6 percent are non-Hispanic blacks, 5 percent are Hispanic, and the rest are Asian/other. In the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, which is home to 3.4 million people, 75 of the residents are non-Hispanic whites, 8 percent are non-Hispanic blacks, and 6 percent are Hispanic. However, in the Twin Cities, which together were home to 718,000 people, 56 percent of the people are non-Hispanic whites, 18 percent are non-Hispanic blacks, 10 percent are Hispanic, and 10 percent are Asian. (The share of Asians is somewhat higher in St. Paul and the share of whites is a bit lower.)

The share of the population that is foreign born rises from 8 percent for the state to 11 percent for the metro, to 17 percent for the twin cities (again a bit more in St. Paul). But Northern and Western Europe as a whole now only account for about 4 percent of all foreign-born people in the state and the metro and under 3 percent of those in the twin cities. Instead, the bulk of immigrants come from Central and Latin America (24 and 17 percent respectively in the twin cities, where, as in the state, many are from Mexico), East Africa (24 percent in the Twin Cities, with a much larger share in Minneapolis), and Southeast Asia (27 percent in the Twin Cities as a whole, primarily in St. Paul which is home to large numbers of people from Laos and Thailand).

Going back to the stamp, I am struck by the ways that it glorifies the difficult journey undertaken by the early settlers of Minnesota and other midwestern states. And I wonder if we’ll ever reach a point where we’ll issue stamps that glorify the often harrowing journeys taken by the settlers who have followed in their footsteps.

Stay safe, be well, work for justice and strive for peace.