�Minnesota native and U.S. Ambassador, L. Bruce Laingen returned to Saint Paul to donate some of his most treasured possessions to the Minnesota History Center: including the grey sport jacket he had on during the kidnapping and during his hostage. Laingen was the senior American official held hostage at the embassy in Tehran during the Iranian hostage crisis from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981. Born on a farm in Odin, Minnesota, in 1922, Laingen earned his bachelors degree from St. Olaf College and went on to receive a M.A. in International Relations from the University of Minnesota before serving in the U.S. Navy and as a member of the U.S. Foreign Service from 1949 to 1987. Laingen donated numerous personal and professional items to the center.
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