Black History in Otter Tail County

Missy Hermes, Education Coordinator for the Otter Tail County Historical Society, delves into the County’s unique and proud African America history that dates back to the first Black people to live in Minnesota, the Bonga family. The community of Fergus Falls actively recruited African Americans to live and work there in the 1890s. Pride in this history sometimes overlooks challenges of being Black in rural Minnesota.

This program is sponsored by Perham Area Public Library and Viking Library System, funded in part or in whole with monies from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Photo of the Honeycutt family courtesy of the Otter Tail County Historical Society.