Back Then with Tracy Briggs

The Prospect House Museum at 403 Lake Avenue North in Battle Lake, Minnesota is almost easy to miss. Just off the main drag, it's tucked away on a residential street like any other in lakes country.

But when owner Jay Johnson greets you, it's pretty clear you're about to have an adventure. Clad in overalls and a Civil War Union cap, Johnson ushers you inside the Georgian-style mansion, not for a leisurely stroll down memory lane, but a deep dive into one Minnesota family's past 140 years. And Minnesota's premiere Civil War Museum just happens to be in the basement.

After being diagnosed with scarlet fever as a nine-year-old, Donald Person was sent away — off to the Fargo City Detention Hospital, nicknamed the "Pest House."

"I was scared to death. I think I was the only patient there," Person says.

So what was this mysterious brick building at the corner of Elm Street and 11th Avenue North, what went on in there — and what ever became of the "Pest House"?

Find this story here: http://www.inforum.com/lifestyle/what-was-it-like-to-live-in-fargos-pest-house

On Memorial Day every year, we remember those who have died in service to our country. Sadly, some people face a greater burden than others. What happens to a family when they lose more than one soldier to war? How does it affect the parents and surviving children and the trajectory of the entire family?

This is a story about the Schellhas family of Minnesota who faced the unthinkable during World War II, but managed to survive, thrive and now remember years after trying to forget.

Perhaps it's unavoidable as a parent — when your child hurts, you hurt. When they're sick, you'd rather be sick for them. But it doesn't work that way, right? Still, the empathy we feel for them never goes away.

Ask any parent of a child who graduated either from high school or college these past three years. The classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022 have certainly had a different school experience than their parents did. The pandemic made sure of that with its whole new world of online learning, masked-up, social-distanced events and all-out cancellations.

When you only have 3 or 4 stations, you tend to hear the same commercials over and over again, and boy do we remember them. "Back Then" columnist Tracy Briggs wants to know your favorites.

These young women in Grand Forks Central's 1936 yearbook didn't just earn school letters by eating breakfast, but that was a big part of the drill.

Meet "The Outing Club."

For Memorial Day, an American military cemetery in Cambridge wants to honor the Americans (including North Dakotans and Minnesotans) who are buried there with photos beside their grave markers. Maybe you know one of these men.

I've mentioned before how I love that my job at The Forum allows me to spend countless hours deep in the archives of the newsroom. Most of the time, I'm scrolling through the microfilm and digging for specific news stories, but occasionally I'm surprised by unexpected news nuggets that make me smile.

One photo I found is an example of that. It's from the April 20, 1966, edition of The Forum and shows two young men on a teeter-totter. Fourteen high school boys in Grand Forks set out to break a world record in teeter-tottering — and they did it in the snow and cold.

I admit it, much of what I know about the '50s came from watching "Happy Days." Just like most of my Korean War knowledge came from M*A*S*H. But now we can fill in the blanks that The Fonz and Hawkeye Pierce couldn't.

After 72 years locked away for privacy sake, the National Archives and Records Administration has now officially released the 1950 U.S. Federal Census.

Read more: www.inforum.com/lifestyle/what-fonzie-didnt-tell-you-about-life-in-the-50s

When pollsters ask Americans to name their favorite candy (so much more fun than naming your favorite politician) the most common answers are usually Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and M&M's. It's pretty clear why those two candies have been around so long.

Read more: www.inforum.com/lifestyle/8-retro-candies-you