Presentations

Local historian and President of the Shakopee Heritage Society Dave Schleper gives free presentations on various Shakopee history topics. Most of his presentations take place at the Shakopee Community Center or the Shakopee Public Library. Such presentations include:

 Shakopee was once known as “Little Chicago” and was hopping during the Prohibition Era. This presentation discusses what life was like during the Prohibition and beyond in Shakopee.

From the bank shooting in 1929 to murders in 1890; from robbing the dead in 1883 to infanticide in 1869; from the man who had two wives in 1879, to the man killed at the water tower in 1985; from the 30 infants and children killed during a whooping cough epidemic to the brothel in Shakopee…this presentation by David R. Schleper focuses on some of the murder, mayhem, and mystery in early Shakopee. 

 Ten women in early Shakopee will be discussed, including Wakan Yaŋke Wiŋ, Maḣpiya-ḣota Wiŋ, Cordelia Eggleston Pond, Jane Lamont Titus, Mahala Conklin Shumway, Florence Cortney Melton, Mary Brown Griffin, Catherine Neafsey O’Conner, Elizabeth Gerdesmeier Lenzmeier, and Minnie Josephine Otherday Weldon.

Discover the stories of 17 African-Americans who lived and worked during the 1800s in Shakopee: including, an African American who was enslaved and escaped from Shakopee; an orderly in the Civil War; a carpenter; an African-American man who headed to Montana territory with Thomas A. Holmes; and a servant whose spirits still lingers in downtown Shakopee.

The barbershop that collapsed, the rats that invaded downtown, and the Japanese American young adults from the Gila River War Relocation project who arrived at the Shakopee NYA Center, along with  visitors who came to Shakopee, including the presidents, the famous flyer Charles Lindbergh, and the father of Red Wing Pottery, and more are discussed.