By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

In 1898 a group of black families known as the “First 85” moved from Kentucky to Otter Tail County and settled in Fergus Falls. They left the Jim Crow South and sought a better way of life in Minnesota.

This past month members of the Tate family boarded a bus in the Twin Cities and headed to Otter Tail County for a visit. Among them were Ron Tate and his sister, Marilyn Tate Johnson. They were among the few African Americans residing in Fergus Falls in the 1950s and 1960s.

Ron Tate’s daughter, Pam Tate-Draper, arranged much of the itinerary for the Tate family’s visit to Fergus Falls. They stopped at Stanton Avenue where several family members had resided, visited establishments in downtown Fergus Falls, spent time at Oak Grove Cemetery where some Tate family members have their final resting places and visited the Otter Tail County Historical Society (county museum).

On the bus that headed from the Twin Cities to Fergus Falls in early July were descendants of the “First 85” who arrived in Otter Tail County in 1898.

“The patriarchs of the families were Civil War veterans who had served in the United States Colored Troops,” said Missy Hermes, education coordinator for the Otter Tail County Historical Society. “Generations of the First 85 served in the military from the Civil War through Vietnam.”

In the front of the bus were Ron Tate, 83, who now lives in assisted living near his son, Ron, Jr., in North Carolina, and Marilyn Tate Johnson, 85, a resident of White Bear Lake near the Twin Cities. Behind them were children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews.

The Tate family spent close to two hours at the county museum in Fergus Falls where historical society employees Vicky Anderson and Kathy Evavold helped them do research in the county museum library. Displayed is a photo of Lorraine Tate, mother of Ron and Marilyn Tate who was the first black nurse at the Regional Treatment Center in Fergus Falls.

County museum employee LeAnn Neuleib scanned photos for them while some Tate family members toured the museum galleries or shared stories and photos. Hermes shared with them the program that was presented on Juneteenth, Black Veterans of Otter Tail County. 

Also displayed at the county museum is a photo of Charles “Chuck” Tate, Ron Tate’s brother who served in Vietnam. He enlisted in the Air Force with his cousin, Ray Webster.

Prior to World War II, many African American families resided in Fergus Falls.  Several of those families left during World War II, but members of the Tate family remained.

Ron Tate and close friend Mark Olson were members of the Fergus Falls High School Class of 1961 and remained lifelong friends. Tate was employed by AT&T in Chicago, New Jersey and Atlanta. Later he was employed by his college alma mater, Florida A&M. Olson worked in banking and was a member of the Federal Reserve Board with Alan Greenspan. Olson graciously accepted an invitation from Tate to speak to Florida A&M students.

Additional descendants of the First 85 will be visiting Fergus Falls later this month along with representatives of the Minnesota Historical Society. Many of them are descendants of Tom Anderson.