Minnesota Voices of Medical Alley Oral History project

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Voices of Medical Alley Oral History Project seeks to better our collective understanding of the innovative spirit of “Medical Alley”—Minnesota’s world-leading medical device industry. The rich history of Medical Alley has been one of The Bakken Museum’s focuses of research for many decades, and it began collecting oral histories in the 1990s to document the lived experience of major innovators and entrepreneurs in Medical Alley. 

With this latest oral history project, we want to give voices to underrepresented and marginalized trailblazers and innovators working in the medical field in Minnesota. Taken together, these powerful interviews point towards a broadening of our understanding of innovation within “Medical Alley.” 

This publication is a first step in making The Bakken Museum’s Oral Histories accessible to a wider public. We will continue to add more historic interviews from our archives to this publication over time.  

Below you will find the recorded videos and transcripts to see the entire conversations.

Ihotu Ali, MPH

Founder and Director of the Oshun Center for Intercultural Healing; Co-Founder of the Minnesota Healing Justice Network 

Link to interview transcript

This project was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.