Minneapolis Civic & Commerce Association

The origins of the Minneapolis Civic & Commerce Association can be traced back to the organization of the Minneapolis Commercial Club in 1892. This club numbered more than 5000 businessmen and their firms among its membership, ranging from the influential Pillsbury and Dayton companies to neighborhood hardware stores. Many of the group's civic and industrial goals were similar to those followed today by any large city's chamber of commerce. In 1903, however, labor agitation led the Commercial Club to form the Citizens Alliance of Minneapolis, which managed to break every strike in the city from that time through the United States' entry into World War I.

In 1911 the Commercial Club merged with two minor civic groups to form the Minneapolis Civic & Commerce Association (MCCA). The Citizens Alliance faded into the background for a number of years as the MCCA refined its intelligence and paramilitary functions during World War I. Membership in the Citizens Alliance, which in later years became the better known anti-labor-union group, was derived almost exclusively from the ranks of the larger MCCA.

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