# Governor's Interracial Commission *A Minnesota state commission created in December 1943 by Governor Edward Thye.* The Governor's Interracial Commission was a [[Minnesota]] state body created in December 1943 by Governor Edward Thye. The video-text history published by the Minnesota [[Department of Human Rights]] gives fear of race riots as the reason for its creation.[^1] The record consists of two dated entries in that history. The first is the 1943 creation. The second is a 1946 expansion of the commission's work, when more than 2,000 surveys were sent to employers.[^1] The record does not establish the commission's legal authority, its members, its budget, or the content and results of the employer surveys. It also does not establish when or how the commission ended. The account of the commission comes from the State's own civil-rights agency.[^1] ## Who Edward Thye, as [[governor]] of Minnesota, created the commission in December 1943.[^1] The record names no other office-holder or member of the commission.[^1] ## What The commission's documented work is its 1946 expansion and the employer surveys sent that year.[^1] The record does not say what the surveys asked, how many employers answered, or what the commission did with the answers.[^1] ## Why The Department of Human Rights history ties the commission's creation in December 1943 to fear of race riots.[^1] That is the reason the State's own account gives. The record holds no founding order or statute that would state the commission's purpose in its own words.[^1] ## How many In 1946, more than 2,000 employer surveys were sent under the commission's expanded work.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### When - December 1943: Governor Edward Thye creates the Governor's Interracial Commission; the Department of Human Rights history gives fear of race riots as the reason.[^1] - 1946: The commission's work expands, and more than 2,000 employer surveys are sent.[^1] - 1961: The Department of Human Rights history page separately records that the State Commission Against Discrimination was expanded under Governor Andersen. The record does not establish a link between that body and the Interracial Commission.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *History videos: video text* (undated) — records Gov. Edward Thye's creation of the Governor's Interracial Commission in December 1943 amid fear of race riots, and the commission's 1946 expansion with more than 2,000 employer surveys sent. https://mn.gov/mdhr/news-community/videos/history-videos/mnhistory-videotext4.jsp [^2]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *History* (undated) — records the expansion of the State Commission Against Discrimination under Andersen in 1961. https://mn.gov/mdhr/about/history/index.jsp