Otto C. Manke
Otto Manke
Image courtesy of Michelle Manke and The Manke Family. Used with permission.
Occupation:
Ethnic group:
Union member
Otto Manke-The Man on the Top of the Minnesota Capitol Building
While there is an official cornerstone at the Minnesota State Capitol, workers also left their own time capsules to mark their work on the building. At the base of the gold-leafed finial ball and copper roof atop the dome on Spetmeber 19, 2012, 223 feet above the ground, restoration workmen discovered a mysterious and tantalizing message. While in the process of removing the roof and finial, Casey Kelley noticed that one of the copper cleats holdong the tiles in place had “O.C. Manke August 10, 1902” inscribed on the surface. O.C. Manke turned out to be Otto C. Manke (1870-1949), a roofer, sheet metal worker, and cornice maker who lived in Saint Paul with his family. The son of immigrants who fled their homeland of Pomerania, then part of Prussia, Manke lived at 613 Virginia Street in Saint Paul. As an employee of Capitol vendor Scribner Libbey, Manke worked on the roofing and skylights on the Capitol. He was active in the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers Union, Local 42 and was elected to serve as the union treasurer in 1901.
Later, Manke worked on the Saint Paul Cathedral and eventually opened his own roofing company in Saint Paul. Otto Manke passed away in 1949 at the age of 78.
The copper cleat with Otto Manke’s name was given to the Minnesota Historical Society.
Please click on the image titles to enlarge the image
Copper cleat Otto C. Manke etched with his name on August, 10, 1902. Discovered on roof at top of the State Capitol in 2011.
Photograph courtesy HGA Architects. Used with permission.
Location of copper cleat signed by Otto Manke in 1902. It was discovered in 2011 by restoration workers just below the finial atop the State Capitol.
Photograph courtesy HGA Architects. Used with permission.
Minnesota Capitol on August 2, 1902, a few days before Otto Manke etched his name on a cleat securing the copper roof just below the finial at the top of the building on August 10.
Photo by Haas & Wright, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society
August 2, 1902 close-up of the Capitol dome showing the ladder Otto Manke must have climbed to reach the copper roof where he etched his name on August 10.
Photo by Haas & Wright, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society
Otto Manke in his roofing shop
Photo courtesy Michelle Manke
Elmhurst Cemetery Board, 1930. Otto Manke, a sheet metal roofer who worked installing the cooper tiles on the Capitol finial is far right, front row. Otto is buried at the cemetery located at the corner of Dale Street and Larpenteur Ave. in St. Paul, MN.
Photo courtesy Elmherst Cemetery.
Otto Manke with Grandson Elmer Manke
Image courtesy of Michelle Manke and The Manke Family. Used with permission.
Otto Manke with his daughter Alice
Image courtesy of Michelle Manke and The Manke Family. Used with permission.
Otto Manke union dues record from 1901
Image courtesy of Randy Croce. Used with permission.
Otto Manke union dues record-closeup
Image courtesy of Sheet Metal Workers Local 10. Used with permission.