The project

As the 20th century approaches its end, we can count on the appearance of almost every imaginable best-of-the-century, biggest-of-the-millennium list. So, as the biggest newspaper in Minnesota, we thought it might be expected that we'd produce a Minnesota-fied list of influential people.

The first draft of a list of 100 influential Minnesotans of the century appears in the left window. We call it a first draft to acknowledge that no such list is final or definitive. The validity of such a list is in the eye of the beholder. We invite you to debate this list and give us your picks.

Star Tribune staff members brainstormed and came up with 207 nominees in 10 categories. Nominees were chosen based on the impact they had on the state, and not all were Minnesota natives. We invited a panel of 11 historians and retired journalists to add their own choices to the list of nominees and to vote for their favorites in each category. Because of ties, categories have from eight to 12 names. Many of the winners were write-in candidates offered by the experts, who then lobbied one another on behalf of their favorites.

The judges recognized that their selections were unscientific. There was a generally acknowledged bias toward figures who were active later in the century, and therefore more familiar to the judges. The effort to include names of women and those from a variety of ethnic groups led to some disagreements among the judges.

For example, the effort to celebrate diversity had something to do with restaurateur Leeann Chin beating out billionaire banker and Twins owner Carl Pohlad and mining magnate Chester Congdon of Duluth for a spot on the list of the most influential Minnesota business people of the century.

The member of the judging panel who had the most experience covering Minnesota politics - Frank Wright, who covered Minnesota politics and government for decades - was horrified that former state Sen. Gordon Rosenmeier of Little Falls could be absent from a list of influential Minnesota politicos of the century. Rosenmeier (1907-89) served in the Senate from 1941 to 1971 and was described in his obituary as the dominant legislator of his era. When he retired from the Senate, Gov. Harold LeVander commented: "I happen to be one of eight governors who served under him." Trouble is, most of the judges had never heard of Rosenmeier.

The long list of nominees of arts and entertainment figures led to grumbling by judges who felt there was no reasonable scale on which the influence of novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald could be weighed against that of the singing Andrews Sisters. Fitzgerald and the Andrews Sisters both made the cut, but those judges oriented toward the arts were aghast to discover that the list was so crowded with writers and singers that not a single visual artist had won a spot.

Because the judges openly worried that the list would make them look like fools, we have afforded them a chance to comment.