Jordan Area Community Council Records

Collection

Identifier: M/A 0397

Staff Only

Description of Contents

The records include board of directors material, committee memos and minutes, administrative and financial documents, event and meeting files, correspondence, pamphlets and promotional material, project and subject files, print photographs, and publications created or compiled by the JACC from its founding in 1964 to 1997.

The collection documents JACC’s projects and programming, with topics including home and neighborhood improvement, new development, work with the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP), community meetings and celebrations.

Materials are divided into five series. The largest of these series are the General Series, which contains the meeting materials from the JACC’s community meetings from 1964 to 1988, and the Projects and Subject Files series. Newsletters (contained in the General Series) and Executive Meeting Materials (found in the Board of Directors Meeting Materials Series) are easy access points to the collection. Housing development and improvement work done under contract with the Minneapolis Community Development Agency (MCDA) is especially well documented. Other topics of note include the inception, sale, and controversy surrounding the Northsider Newspaper, operations of the Tangletown sub-committee, and the construction and maintenance of Jordan Park. The bulk of the materials date from the 1970s-1980s.

Additional descriptive information is included at the beginning of each series.

Dates

Creation: 1964 - 1997

Creator

Jordan Area Community Council (Minneapolis, Minn.) (Organization)

Access Restrictions

The collection is available for use in Special Collections at Minneapolis Central Library during the department's open hours.

History

The Jordan Area Community Council (JACC) is a neighborhood organization founded in 1964 by the residents and Parent Teacher Association of the Jordan Area. Beginning as the Jordan Area Action Committee, the JACC first came together as an organization to prevent the closure of the North Branch Public Library in 1964. Funded by private donations, private and government grants, the JACC is led by an executive board of directors and a president. It is the official neighborhood organization for the Jordan Area, and was the administrator of funding received through Minneapolis’ Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP), the McKnight-Neighborhood Self-Help Improvement Program (MNSHIP), the Minneapolis Community Development Agency (MCDA), and other donors.

Located in North Minneapolis, the JACC jurisdiction spans from the Mississippi River to the east and Xerxes Avenue to the west, and from Dowling Avenue to the north to Golden Valley Road and West Broadway to the south. In the years contained in this collection, the JACC held both general and executive meetings at various members’ homes and church facilities, but for the overwhelming majority, all meetings took place at St. Olaf Lutheran Church on Emerson Ave, North. Much of the JACC’s early work addressed neighborhood revitalization, renters’ rights, home improvement, and the strengthening of community through public meetings, communication with government representatives, and social activities. To better cohere their community, the JACC put out a number of community publications (the Jordan Neighbor, the JACC Says, and the Northsider Newspaper) and often held community celebrations.

Main housing and development projects included work with the Citywide Advisory Committee on Home Improvement (CACHIE), work alongside the MCDA regarding the construction of 18 2-bedroom townhomes on land previously owned by the Lowell School, and working with the Hawthorne Area Community Council on the development of single family homes on land previously owned by the Schweigert Plant.

Extent

3.36 Linear Feet (8 boxes, 1 oversized folder, negatives)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Custodial History

Files were originally organized by J. S. Futcher.

Donor Information

This collection was donated by the Jordan Area Community Council in 2021 as accession 2022.14.

Related Materials in Hennepin County Library Special Collections

Northsider Newspaper 1984-1985 in Special Collection Periodicals

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Michael Valdez in June 2022. Processing was financed in part with funds provided by the State of Minnesota from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the Minnesota Historical Society.