MPR’s Brandt Williams reports on the new Roy Wilkins Auditorium which is being discussed in the Minnesota house and senate. The new auditorium would feature trade shows and musical acts, as well as a new civil rights museum. Mayor of St. Paul Norm Coleman speaks in support of the new center. A 12 person Tribute Committee comprised of local civil rights activists, business leaders, and citizens spearheads the development of the new civil rights museum.
Roy Wilkins moved to Minnesota in 1905 and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1923. From 1955 to 1977 he led the NAACP- and it was during this time that he formed a working relationship with singer and activist Harry Belafonte. In this story Belafonte describes the working relationship he had with Wilkins.