General History
The Field Regina Northrop Neighborhood Group has its initial roots in
the creation
in April 1965 of the Field Neighborhood Group (FNG), which quickly evolved
into the Field Regina Neighborhood Group (FRNG) later
that year. FRNG's
mission was to promote racial harmony and to maintain quality housing in
the neighborhood. As the first continuous neighborhood
association in
Minneapolis, FRNG paved the way for other groups and joined in founding
the umbrella Council of Community
Councils.
From
the 1960s through the early 1980s, FRNG pioneered efforts to improve urban
life through: establishing mid-block residential lighting; working with
a national effort that helped end red-lining practices of banks and realtors
in Minneapolis; organizing the removal of a porn theater from the community;
protecting Minnehaha Creek and Parkway from poorly planned redesign efforts;
opening the first branch bank in a Minneapolis neighborhood; and fighting
for safety fencing on freeway overpasses to protect our children going
to school.
Around
the issue of education, FRNG encouraged parents to be actively involved
with the Minneapolis School's desegregation efforts since our neighborhoods
and Field Elementary School had a higher number of children of color than
communities to the south, east and west. As a solution, neighborhood residents
organized from 1969-71 to have the Field Elementary School paired with
the nearby Hale School (in a higher income neighborhood)- to the benefit
of the schools, the children and the neighborhoods.
In
1983, FRNG expanded to include the Northrop neighborhood and the Field
Regina Northrop Neighborhood Group (FRNNG) was incorporated.
