Books published by publisher Minnesota Historical Society Press

2008 WILLA Literary Award Winner in the Scholarly Nonfiction Category—Women Writing the WestIndie Excellence Awards 2008 Winner in the Biography CategoryThis is "a fascinating and remarkable book that deserves a place on the shelf of every Laura fan."—The Homesteader"Pamela Smith Hill has [created] a work of considerable scholarship and insight. . . . She has dealt along the way with numerous issues raised by critics and by the general readership, together with other matters that few have previously thought to discuss. In all of this, her extensive research, her careful scholarship and her measured style, combined with her obvious enthusiasm for her subject, have produced a work which we believe adds in substantial measure to the critical literature involving Wilder and Lane."—The Little House Heritage TrustIn Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer’s Life, Pamela Smith Hill delves into the complex and often fascinating relationships Wilder formed throughout her life that led to the writing of her classic Little House series. Using Wilder’s stories, personal correspondence, an unpublished autobiography, and experiences in South Dakota, Hill has produced a historical-literary biography of the famous and much-loved author. Following the course of Wilder’s life, and her real family’s journey west, Hill provides a context, both familial and literary, for Wilder’s writing career. Laura Ingalls Wilder examines Wilder’s inspirations as a writer, particularly her tumultuous, but ultimately successful, professional and personal relationship with her daughter—the hidden editor—Rose Wilder Lane. Wilder produced her timeless classics with the help of, but not reliance upon, her daughter’s editorial insights. Over the course of more than thirty years, Lane and Wilder engaged in a dynamic working relationship, shifting between trust, distrust, and respect. Hill argues that they differed in their visions of the path Wilder’s career should follow, but eventually Lane’s editing brought out the best of her mother’s writing, and allowed her creativity, expression, and experiences to shine through.This book is the first in a new series of biographies highlighting South Dakota's most famous residents. Future volumes in the South Dakota Biography Series will focus on the lives of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock."This will most likely be the definitive published source for 'Pioneer Girl.'"—The Homesteader"In some ways, Laura fans have been waiting for the second half of this book since the 1994 publication of William Holtz's Ghost in the Little House."—The Homesteader"If you've ever wanted to peek behind the scenes of the "Little House" series and other vignettes, this is your book. . . . This biography is sometimes happy, sometimes sad, but always a page turner."—Roundup Magazine"Hill skillfully examines the complex relationship between Wilder and her daughter."—Kansas HistoryHill offers "fresh insights on open questions in Wilder and Little House studies, and are engaging, enjoyable reading."—Kansas History"Hill's dissecton of the personal and professional interactions between these two women, as mother and daughter and as collaborating (and rival) artists, is performed with delicacy and tact that, nevertheless, confirms Laura Ingalls Wilder's place in the canon of American writers."—Nebraska History

"Paul Maccabee's John Dillinger Slept Here is not just one of the best books ever written about Minneapolis-St. Paul, it is one of the best books of local history I have ever read -- about any city anywhere on Earth. While writing Public Enemies' I kept it on my desk at all times. I daresay one cannot call himself a real Minnesotan if you haven't read it. The book is just that darned good."--Bryan Burrough, author of Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and Birth of the FBI, 1933-34,the basis for Public Enemies, the movie starring Johnny DeppThis book is based on more than 100,000 pages of FBI files and wiretaps, prison and police records, and mob confessions. Interviews with 250 crime victims, policemen, gun molls, and family members of criminals bring these public enemies to life. Crime historian Paul Maccabee takes you inside the bank robberies, gangland assassinations, and police intrigue of St. Paul's 1920s and1930s gangster era. You'll also find Crooks' Tour maps and more than 130 rare FBI, police, and family photographs.

Life on Daisy Dell Farm can be worrying, and Mama is a world-class worrywart, earning the top prize at the Pickapeck County Fair. With summer's volatile weather to watch, Mama's attention is pulled in all directions. And then there's Baby Eli, always getting into some sort of mischief. Like the day he climbed up the silo just as a twisty wind blew through; it scooped him up and set him down—safely—in the cow pasture. Whew! Imagine when the river runs high or the heat pops the corn in the field: Baby Eli will somehow get tangled up in whatever Mother Nature has to offer.Mama channels her nervous energy into sewing and knitting and cooking, keeping all the family and livestock warm and well fed. Then, after yet another extended worrying session, Mama executes one more grand rescue of Baby Eli, and the predicament they find themselves in brings just what it should: not worry, but laughter. Lots and lots of laughter. Everything turns out fine, as it usually does, and what better way to celebrate than with all those well-dressed kin and critters, not to mention plates and plates of wonderfully tasty food? At some point, even Mama manages to say, "Why worry?"

In this food memoir, named for the manoomin or wild rice that also gives the Menominee tribe its name, tribal member Thomas Pecore Weso takes readers on a cook’s journey through Wisconsin’s northern woods. He connects each food—beaver, trout, blackberry, wild rice, maple sugar, partridge—with colorful individuals who taught him Indigenous values. Cooks will learn from his authentic recipes. Amateur and professional historians will appreciate firsthand stories about reservation life during the mid-twentieth century, when many elders, fluent in the Algonquian language, practiced the old ways.Weso’s grandfather Moon was considered a medicine man, and his morning prayers were the foundation for all the day’s meals. Weso’s grandmother Jennie "made fire" each morning in a wood-burning stove, and oversaw huge breakfasts of wild game, fish, and fruit pies. As Weso grew up, his uncles taught him to hunt bear, deer, squirrels, raccoons, and even skunks for the daily larder. He remembers foods served at the Menominee fair and the excitement of "sugar bush," maple sugar gatherings that included dances as well as hard work.Weso uses humor to tell his own story as a boy learning to thrive in a land of icy winters and summer swamps. With his rare perspective as a Native anthropologist and artist, he tells a poignant personal story in this unique book.

In this new edition of his classic book, award-winning author Jerry Apps shares a unique perspective on the great barns of rural Wisconsin. Digging deep as both an enthusiast and a farmer, Apps reaps a story of change: from the earliest pioneer structures to the low steel buildings of modern dairy farms, barns have adapted to meet the needs of each generation. They’ve housed wheat, tobacco, potatoes, and dairy cows, and they display the optimism, ingenuity, hard work, and practicality of the people who tend land and livestock. Featuring more than 100 stunning full-color photographs by Steve Apps, plus dozens of historic images, Barns of Wisconsin illuminates a vanishing way of life. The book explores myriad barn designs—from rectangular to round, from gable roof to gambrel, from fieldstone to wood—always with an eye to the history and craftsmanship of the Norwegians, Germans, Swiss, Finns, and others who built and used them. Barns of Wisconsin captures both the iconic and the unique, including historic and noteworthy barns, and discusses the disappearance of barns from our landscape and preservation efforts to save these important symbols of American agriculture.

On the night of October 8, 1871, a whirlwind of fire swept through northeastern Wisconsin, destroying the bustling frontier town of Peshtigo. Trees, buildings, and people burst into flames. Metal melted. Sand turned into glass. People thought the end of the world had come. When the “tornado of fire” was over, 2,500 people were dead, and Peshtigo was nothing but a smoking ruin. It was the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history.The Great Peshtigo Fire: Stories and Science from America’s Deadliest Firestorm explores the history, science, and legacy of the 1871 Peshtigo Fire at a fourth-grade reading level. Readers will learn about the history of settlement, agriculture, and forestry in 19th-century Wisconsin. This illuminating text covers a diverse range of topics that will enrich the reader’s understanding of the Peshtigo Fire, including the building and land-use practices of the time that made the area ripe for such a fire, the weather patterns that fostered widespread fires throughout the upper Midwest in the summer and fall of 1871, and exciting first-person accounts that vividly bring the `victims’ stories to life. Connections made between the Peshtigo Fire and the history of fire prevention in the United States encourage critical thinking about issues that remain controversial to this day, such as planned burns and housing development restrictions near forested areas. The Great Peshtigo Fire: Stories and Science from America’s Deadliest Firestorm will inform and captivate its readers as it journeys through the horrifying history of the Peshtigo Fire.

Each year, more than ten thousand of the Midwest's brightest take to the stage in cap and gown, armed with the knowledge, relationships, and lasting memories that could only come from an education at the University of Minnesota. Each of these graduates has been shaped by—and all have shaped—a rich collective history reaching back more than 150 years. In Gopher Gold, students, families, alumni, faculty, and staff are invited to experience their history firsthand through stories of the glorious moments and awe-inspiring missteps that have made the U of M.First-year medical student Ruth Boynton, struck with influenza in the 1918 pandemic, is treated at the brand-new Student Health Service that would later bear her name. Fred Davies, a graduate in mining, discovers oil in Saudi Arabia, and global politics is forever changed. President Folwell, defending the front gates of his home from a campus prank, is charged with assault and battery when a student is shot. An underdog football team wages a rousing battle to beat the famous Red Grange and the Illini in the inaugural game at Memorial Stadium.Author Tim Brady delves into little-known corners of the university's past to showcase the wealth of talent and ability that this landmark institution has and has given back to the world.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to attend a one-room school, to be in the same classroom as your older brother or younger sister, or to have your teacher live with your family for part of the school year?In One Room Schools, Susan Apps-Bodilly chronicles life in Wisconsin’s early country schools, detailing the experiences of the students, the role of the teacher, and examples of the curriculum, including the importance of Wisconsin School of the Air radio programs. She describes the duties children had at school besides their schoolwork, from cleaning the erasers and sweeping cobwebs out of the outhouse to carrying in wood for the stove. She also tells what led to the closing of the one room schools, which were more than just centers of learning: they also served as the gathering place for the community. Susan Apps-Bodilly drew from the research compiled by her father Jerry Apps for his book, One-Room Country Schools: History and Recollections. Apps-Bodilly has geared her book toward young readers who will learn what students and their teacher did on cold mornings before the wood stove warmed them up. They also will find out how to play recess games like Fox and Geese and Anti-I-Over and will learn the locations of 10 former one room schools that can be toured. Apps-Bodilly also encourages readers to ask themselves what lessons can be learned from these early schools that have application for today’s schools?One Room Schools will transport young readers back in time and make their grandparents and others of that generation nostalgic—perhaps even prompting them to share memories of their school days.

Radical, feminist, writer, suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage changed the course of history. She fought for equal rights not dependent on sex, race, class, or creed. Yet her name has faded into obscurity. She is forgotten when her comrades, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, are celebrated. To explain, Angelica Shirley Carpenter explores Gage s life, including her rise and fall within the movement she helped build.

In this food memoir, named for the manoomin or wild rice that also gives the Menominee tribe its name, tribal member Thomas Pecore Weso takes readers on a cook’s journey through Wisconsin’s northern woods. He connects each food—beaver, trout, blackberry, wild rice, maple sugar, partridge—with colorful individuals who taught him Indigenous values. Cooks will learn from his authentic recipes. Amateur and professional historians will appreciate firsthand stories about reservation life during the mid-twentieth century, when many elders, fluent in the Algonquian language, practiced the old ways.Weso’s grandfather Moon was considered a medicine man, and his morning prayers were the foundation for all the day’s meals. Weso’s grandmother Jennie "made fire" each morning in a wood-burning stove, and oversaw huge breakfasts of wild game, fish, and fruit pies. As Weso grew up, his uncles taught him to hunt bear, deer, squirrels, raccoons, and even skunks for the daily larder. He remembers foods served at the Menominee fair and the excitement of "sugar bush," maple sugar gatherings that included dances as well as hard work.Weso uses humor to tell his own story as a boy learning to thrive in a land of icy winters and summer swamps. With his rare perspective as a Native anthropologist and artist, he tells a poignant personal story in this unique book.

The past comes alive through craft projects celebrating Minnesota's history and people. Imagine soldiers on the Civil War battlefield as you assemble a "housewife" sewing kit like those made by wives and mothers. Re-create the drama of a midwestern tornado when you build an automaton that actually spins, and celebrate the invention of water-skiing with a boat and skier that really glide.Step-by-step instructions carefully guide you to make your own marionette, but it's up to you to stage the puppet show. The playful miniature scene of a Day of the Dead nicho offers a way to honor a loved one. A woodland hike will provide the twigs and leaves to make a troll. A walking stick in the tradition of folk artist Maurice Carlton inspires you to create art out of what you can find.These projects and more generate hours of fun, not to mention useful pieces you'll want to share with your family and friends.

A schoolteacher, principal, amateur historian, and avid lover of the Mississippi River, Ruth Ferris (1897-1993) was a singular steward of St. Louis’s maritime heritage. Her lifelong love of the Mississippi and its riverboat culture spanned over seventy years, encompassing research, photography, excavating sunken vessels, collecting artifacts, and forming friendships with other river enthusiasts. Although too few people know her name, Ferris was deeply involved with multiple venues dedicated to telling the story of St. Louis’s inextricable link to this great river: the now-defunct Midship Museum, which was housed aboard a restored steamboat; the Pott Inland Waterways Library at the Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri–St. Louis; and the Missouri Historical Society’s River Room.​Ruth’s River Dreams tells the story of Ferris’s childhood, when she first became captivated by the Mississippi River, its riverboats, and the stories told about and aboard those boats. Along with her curatorial accomplishments, Ferris was also an accomplished artist, and Ruth’s River Dreams weaves a number of her woodcuts and drawings into its narrative of a young girl with big dreams. Appropriately, this book is geared toward early readers (from preschool to third grade), filling a crucial gap in literature about the Mississippi written for children who are not quite ready for Mark Twain. Elizabeth A. Pickard’s lively book promises to inspire a new generation of young readers, sparking in them the same love of St. Louis’s colorful waterways that guided Ruth Ferris throughout her life.