A group in St. Paul has created a fun new way to share the history of the Rondo, a historically Black St. Paul neighborhood decimated by the construction of Interstate 94 decades ago.
Benny Roberts, executive director of the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, already had a Monopoly-themed board game to tell the Rondo neighborhood’s story but wanted something different.
He connected with Macalester College history professor Walter Greason, who introduced him to Jolie Davis, a Macalester junior who had designed a board game for one of his classes. Davis and Roberts began brainstorming with the goal to reach young audiences. The result: a computer game to preserve and share the Rondo experience on Roblox, an online platform that lets users play games created by others, and to create and share their own.
Credit: Gloria Ngwa | Sahan Journal
“When you combine technology with art and music and history, you can get some extraordinary outcomes,” said Greason.
Rondo-Verse is an interactive game that brings the neighborhood’s history to life. The project uses digital storytelling to preserve the memories of Rondo residents while creating a new way for young people to learn about the community’s history and how it shaped Minnesota.
The neighborhood was split by the construction of I-94 between 1956 and 1968, fracturing many businesses and establishments.
Rondo-Verse takes that story and reinvents it digitally, showing that while the highway is still there, it no longer has to be a limitation.
“It’s not actually a scar in our community. It’s an opportunity for us to rebuild and reconnect,” Greason said.
Taking that sense of empowerment is what he says historians call “agency.”
“That ability to realize your power and to not feel like it has to be just a tragic story, that’s a tremendous gift that Enter the Rondo-Verse gives to the people who play it,” Greason said.
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Self-taught visionary
Growing up, Davis would often play games on Roblox. She was hesitant to create her own video game because she had never coded before. So she watched a few online tutorials.
Davis prefers hands-on learning over a traditional lecture format, which she said can make students lose focus over time. She says Roblox is an alternative way to keep students visually engaged, which is what she wanted to stress while sharing Rondo’s history.
“If you can have a history and educational component to it, that will stick to them better because they are able to play and learn from it,” Davis said.
The rise of digital technologies has created new opportunities to preserve historic communities through platforms people already use, Greason said. It is also helping students build skills in coding, graphic design and storytelling.
“‘Enter the Rondo-Verse’ fits within a large transformation that’s happening in education where really talented educators are using digital tools in a number of ways to help students learn more quickly,” Greason said.
Credit: Gloria Ngwa | Sahan Journal
A hub for storytelling
It’s impossible to tell the story of Rondo without the Hallie Q. Brown Center, Roberts said. Black members of several St. Paul fraternal lodges bought six lots in the Rondo neighborhood in 1908. The site eventually became the Hallie Q. Brown location addressing the needs of Black St. Paul.
“This story is too important to not be told, and I feel like Hallie Q. Brown is the expert of Rondo,” Roberts said.
To ensure that Rondo’s stories were told accurately, the team behind the game worked closely with community elders whose experiences helped shape the game’s landmarks, stories and historical details. They wanted to ensure their stories were reflected in the game so they could continue to live on.
The Rev. Peggy Pugh and her husband joined a Rondo-Verse focus group at Roberts’ invitation. Born and raised in Rondo, she was excited to learn more about its history. Pugh said she enjoyed hearing community members reminisce about everyday life in Rondo, from when a loaf of bread cost 25 cents to where neighborhood schools once stood. Because this was an initiative no one has seen or done before, she said it took a minute to understand what the outcome would be.
It wasn’t just a group of seniors getting together to talk “about the good old days,” Pugh said. “It was significantly more than that. And, it will significantly impact the history of Rondo.”
Pugh said communities like Rondo are often left out of redevelopment efforts and historical documentaries, so the game’s ability to combine many of Rondo’s institutions and elder voices made the project unique and important for her.
“It was such a unique opportunity that I would’ve said shame on me if I would not have participated, because I know how often people of color’s history does not get remembered,” Pugh said.
Making history
For Davis, creating Rondo-Verse and learning about St. Paul’s history of Black leaders showed her making history is possible at any age.
Young people don’t have to wait until they’re older to make a difference, she said. Having young passion and determination can keep Black history in St. Paul going for generations.
Roberts’ 11-year-old daughter Jayla was one of the early young players of the game, and said it was cool to see what was going on in the community through the game. She said she’s never seen a game that showcases real-life events.
“In the game you’re walking around, and as you’re walking around to different places, it tells you a story of the place. It tells you what’s happening right now, what happened in the past, and what they’re thinking about doing in the future,” Jayla said.
Many kids prefer learning through games because they can have fun while still learning, Jayla said. Rondo-Verse combines the entertainment of a game with an educational experience that traditional learning methods may not provide.
“Kids just want to play a game, but teachers still want you to learn,” Jayla said.
Greason said traditional primary sources like photos and letters can provide important pieces of history but may not always show the broader story. He said Rondo-Verse allows users to explore individual stories and details while also understanding how they connect to the larger history of the neighborhood, helping students learn and retain it better.
“The greatest [part of the] game is people feeling excited about learning again,” Greason said.
Although there hasn’t been official agreements yet, according to Roberts, principals from public schools have already expressed interest in using Rondo-Verse in history, humanities and social movement courses. He said there is still more to explore in how the game can be used as an educational tool, and local historical institutions, including the Minnesota Historical Society, have also expressed interest.
“There’s a lot of potential for what we can do with the game and how we can get it being utilized as an educational tool,” Roberts said.
Later this summer, Roberts said the team plans to meet with partners as it prepares the next major update to Rondo-Verse. He said the changes will make the game more interactive by adding clues and more intentional gameplay while replacing generic avatars with historical Rondo figures.
Pugh said she hopes younger generations take away the importance of remembering those who came before them and what Rondo looked like. She hopes they see themselves reflected in the elders and the game, and know they, too, can help shape the community’s story.
“I would challenge them to document their history and add it to this piece of history, so that their children will learn more about their parent’s community,” Pugh said. “It’s about keeping Rondo alive.”
