As you well know, Minnesota, too, is a mosaic of many ethnic groups and one of them is Slovenian. At this time, Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar, the daughter of popular journalist and author of over twenty books Jim Klobuchar, is the best known Slovenian Minnesota politician, following Congressmen John Blatnik and James Oberstar and U.S. Civil Service Commissioner Ludwig Andolsek. Yet, who knows that from 1866 to 1896, a Slovenian immigrant Jernej Pirc or Bartholomew Pirz (the nephew of the prominent missionary Francis X. Pierz, after whom a Minnesota town is named) built roads, bridges and schools west of St. Cloud in Stearns County, serving as mayor of Eden Lake, Justice of Peace, superintendent of schools, state representative and county commissioner.
About Author: Edward Gobetz, Ph.D., 92 years young Professor Emeritus, KSU, Ohio; and Director of Slovenian American Research Center; author or editor of 17 books; Outstanding Educator of America, 1971; elected member of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1984