"Minnesota forged an identity during the 1970s that would persist, rightly or wrongly, for decades to come. It was a place of note and consequence--a state of presidential candidates, grassroots activ
"On October 28, 1919, members of the U.S. Senate took the final step in making Prohibition the law of the land. The nation was going completely dry--and the soda shops were ready. When Prohibition sh
Among the most dangerous criminals of the public enemies era was a man who has long hidden in history’s shadows: Tom Brown. In the early 1930s, while he was police chief of St. Paul, Minnesota, Brown
Life is a circle, just like the seasons, from youth through old age. The circle of the year brings seasonal rituals: a winter of preparation followed by a summer of powwows.Sharyl and Windy Downwind a
"Leaving Rollingstone is the story of how a Twin Cities advertising writer and novelist reclaimed the enduring values and surprising vitality of his small-town Minnesota boyhood" --
The Weyerhaeuser name looms large in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, and Arkansas, attached to paper mills, cabinet factories, and vast tracts of land, both forested and cut over. Frederick Weyerhae
There’s an old Yiddish saying: two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead. But two living people could keep a secret—as long as one of them was Augie.Augie Ratner, the proprietor of Augie’s T
Maple syrup is a genuine product of the north, made only in the northeastern quarter of the United States and adjoining Canadian provinces. The Ojibwe and Dakota used it as a seasoning and also cooked
In April 1863—after the Dakota War of 1862, after the hanging of thirty-eight Dakota men in the largest mass execution in U.S. history— some 270 Dakota men were moved from Mankato, Minnesota, to a pri
For tens of thousands of Minnesotans who walk and bike and paddle around Minneapolis’s beautiful Chain of Lakes every year, the lovely homes that surround these fine city parks are as intriguing as th
Much of the focus on the Dakota people in Minnesota rests on the tragic events of the 1862 U.S.–Dakota War and the resulting exile that sent the majority of the Dakota to prisons and reservations beyo
The Minnesota Historical Society Press has returned this book to print; it was originally published in 1978. The book's treatment of Indian affairs under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln has stood th
The first Finnish immigrants arrived in R ed Wing in 1864, the vanguard of thousands who eventually and resolutely placed Minnesota second among the states in terms of Finnish population. Today we may
A tiny pair of beaded deerskin moccasins, given to a baby in 1913, provides the starting point for this thoughtful examination of the work of Dakota women. Mary Eastman Faribault, born in Minnesota, m
Farmers in Laos, U.S. allies during the Vietnam War, refugees in Thailand, citizens of the Western world—the stories of the Hmong who now live in America have been told in detail through books and art
“. . . the memory of my mother came to me like a drifting scent in the breeze, swirling through the branches of a nearby cedar tree. I was drawn back [35 years] to the day I learned she had passed on.
Many know rhubarb thanks to a shockingly tart introduction in childhood, likely countered by dipping the stalk in sugar, or as simply “the pie plant,” a worthy component of custard or mixed-fruit past
When the senatorial election of 2008 between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman stretched on for a contentious six months, people throughout the country wondered about Minnesota’s offbeat
Near the end of her life, Mina Anderson penned a lively memoir that helped Swedish novelist Vilhelm Moberg create "Kristina," the central female character of his beloved emigrant novels, a woman who c
Perhaps your museum’s archives have run out of space, or its public programs have outgrown their facility. Perhaps a generous donor or an energetic campaign has provided the funding for a renovation,
To early American immigrants, nineteenth-century newcomers from the Scandinavian peninsula likely seemed all of a type. to immigrants hailing from Norway and Sweden, however, differences in language,
Recognized as one of the twin cities’ best drink makers, Johnny Michaels is the cocktail connoisseur’s answer to a gourmet chef. His home base is the James Beard award–winning La Belle Vie, but he’s d
The social and political forces that swirled through the turbulent 1960s crested in 1968. That year saw the peak of the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, ri
From flavorful artisanal cheeses to the year-round plenty of farmers markets to the first wild ramps of spring, options for eating well in Minnesota and Wisconsin abound. Brett Laidlaw has taken advan
“Far greater even than the loss of land, or the relentless coercion to surrender cultural traditions, the deaths of over six hundred children by the spring of 1864 were an unbearable tragedy. Nearly o
On June 27, 1868, Hole in the Day (Bagonegiizhig) the Younger left Crow Wing, Minnesota, for Washington, DC, to fight the planned removal of the Mississippi Ojibwe to a reservation at White Earth. Sev
"The writings of fur trader George Nelson are wonderfully rich, vivid, and personal. Laura Peers and Theresa Schenck have rendered great service in bringing these writings forward, editing and annotat
From cozy structures near small-town parks to impressive buildings in metropolitan downtowns, public libraries stand at the center of community and learning in Minnesota’s landscape. Librari
The history of Norwegian settlement in the United States has often been told through the eyes of prominent men, while the women are imagined in the form of O. E. Rolvaag’s fictionalized heroine Beret
Jazz first churned its way into the Twin Cities on the Mississippi river excursion boats, which brought the likes of Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong to listeners on the levee—and it never left.
At a time when polite society wouldn’t dream of hanging women’s and men’s underwear on the same clothesline, a Minnesota manufacturer dared to advertise the unmentionable
The Four Hills of Life tells the wise and beautiful Ojibwe story about the path we walk through the seasons of life, from the springtime of youth through the winter of old age. The hills we climb alon
In a celebration of the wild and wonderful world of cartooning, twenty-three contemporary artists step out from behind their drawing boards and take a bow alongside their art.
Peg Meier’s candid interpretation of the joys and pains of childhood through the decades—at home, at school, at play—reminds us that we were all children once, too.
Acclaimed photographer Wing Young Huie explores the complex cultural and socioeconomic diversity of the St. Paul neighborhoods along University Avenue. This urban corridor connects a burgeoning condo
On the occasion of Minnesota’s 150th anniversary of statehood, more than a hundred historians and other writers assembled to discuss the subjects they had been studying, thinking, and writing a
Acclaimed photographer Wing Young Huie explores the complex cultural and socioeconomic diversity of the St. Paul neighborhoods along University Avenue. This urban corridor connects a burgeoning condo
Why was Minnesota, a land known for its stoic farmers, reasonable politics, and comfortable casseroles, a hotbed of the wacky and wild world of professional wrestling? And how did that old-school wre
Thoroughly researched, meticulously written,and featuring more than125 architectural structures of wide-ranging styles, this guidebook will enhance your enjoyment and understanding of the built
