The other day, my friend Aimee texted “would I be willing to talk about Kinney to someone from public radio?” As a general rule, I try to never say “no” to Aimee when she asks for something, because honestly she rarely asks for something and she’s one of the best humans I know. Also, the story of Kinney is an absolute favorite and a tale I am honored to pass on to whomever will listen or read. Want the cliff notes version? Here’s the deal:
It was 1977 and the tiny town of Kinney, Minnesota was in trouble. Its water system was shot. And the little town of less than 1,000 people had no money to fix it. Not that city government officials hadn’t tried. They’d filled out all kinds of grant applications. Talked to any state, local, or federal officials who would listen. Filled out a lot of paperwork. But one way or another, every attempt to garner funding was met with some version of no.
It was exhausting.
The joke that it would probably be easier to “get foreign aid” as an independent country had been bandied about. On one hot July day though, the City Council approved a resolution to draft a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State declaring their intent to secede and become the Republic of Kinney.
In case you’re curious, Secretary of State Cyrus B. Vance never did respond to the letter. But eventually the story broke in the media seven months later, a scoop by Mesabi Daily News cub reporter Ginny Wennen with the headline “Move Over Monaco, Here Comes Kinney.” And with that came national and international news coverage, the creation of passports (like this one that I donated to the Minnesota Historical Society a few years back), and most importantly funding to fix the water system (courtesy of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board).
Now that’s the short story, care to listen to the slightly longer story? You can find my chat with Cathy Wurzer of Minnesota Public Radio here: Minnesota Now: Kinney, Minn. secedes from the U.S.: On this day in history
Now if you’re really hooked (and honestly, who wouldn’t be), I can’t recommend the research and writing of my friend Scott Kuzma enough. He’s the one who first told me about Kinney, even though I am indeed a native Iron Ranger and he was an import from Detroit during our time working together at the Iron Range Research Center.
- Minnesota History article “Rural Revolution: A Retrospective on the Kinney Session” (free PDF download)
- Book: The Republic of Kinney (copies held by 6 libraries in the Worldcat system, contact your local public librarian to see how you might be able to get your hands on one)