Books published by publisher Minnesota Historical Society Press

In 1985 the eyes of the world turned to the Hoosier State and the attempt by a thirteen-year-old Kokomo, Indiana, teenager to do what seemed to be a simple task join his fellow classmates at Western Middle School in Russiaville, the school to which his Kokomo neighborhood was assigned. The teenager, Ryan White, however, had been diagnosed with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome from contaminated blood-based products used to treat his hemophilia. It was my decision, White said, to live a normal life, go to school, be with friends, and enjoying day to day activities. It was not going to be easy. White's words were an understatement, to say the least. His wish to return to school was met with panic by parents and some school officials. The controversy about White and the quiet courage he and his mother, Jeanne, displayed in their battle to have him join his classmates is explored in the eleventh volume in the Indiana Historical Society Press s Youth Biography Series. A Quiet Hero is written by Nelson Price, who wrote about White s odyssey during his days as a reporter and columnist for the Indianapolis News. Price goes behind the scenes and brings to light stories and individuals who might have been lost in the media spotlight. After a nine-month court battle, White won the right to return to school, but with concessions. These were not enough for parents of twenty children, who responded by starting their own school. At school, White became the target of slurs and lies, and his locker was vandalized. Although the White family received support from citizens and celebrities around the world, particularly rock singer Elton John, the situation grew so controversial in Kokomo that they moved to Cicero, Indiana a community that greeted them much differently. In Price s book, White, who succumbed to his disease in 1990, comes across as a normal teenager who met an impossible situation with uncommon grace, courage, and wisdom. It was difficult at times, to handle; but I tried to ignore the injustice, because I knew the people were wrong, White said. My family and I held no hatred for those people because we realized they were victims of their own ignorance.

Three Coyote tales¿"Coyote Gets Lovesick," "Coyote and Raven," and "Coyote's Dry Meat Turns into Live Deer"¿are told and illustrated by members of the Salish Indian tribe. The tribe historically lived in the mountains and plains of Montana and now makes its home on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana. The Salish have long taught their youth through stories, including stories about Coyote the Trickster. Illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings, and written at a fourth grade reading level, these ancient Coyote stories are now available to a new generation of children everywhere.Co-published with Salish Kootenai College Press

In the 1850s, a young man from Ohio, ready to begin his career as a lawyer, pondered where to practice his new profession, considering Cincinnati, Chicago, and Indianapolis. The attorney, Benjamin Harrison, visited Indianapolis in March 1854 and decided to make the city home. The choice pleased his father, who wrote that the Harrison name would be enough to pave his way and the citizens would love him as they loved his grandfather, William Henry Harrison. In 1888 Harrison beat incumbent Grover Cleveland, becoming the twenty-third U.S. president. Although he served only one term, defeated for re-election by Cleveland in 1892, Harrison had some impressive achievements during his four years in the White House. His administration worked to have Congress pass the Sherman Antitrust Act to limit business monopolies, fought to protect voting rights for African American citizens in the South, preserved millions of acres for forest reserves and national parks, modernized the American navy, and negotiated several successful trade agreements with other countries in the Western Hemisphere. As First Lady, Caroline Harrison also added luster to the administration, fighting to improve a White House that had fallen into disrepair, advocating on behalf of fine arts, and serving as the first president-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution. After losing the White House, Harrison returned to Indianapolis, once again becoming one of the city s leading citizens. He died from pneumonia on March 13, 1901, in his home on North Delaware Street. Mr. President: A Life of Benjamin Harrison, is part of the multivolume Indiana Historical Society Press youth biography series.

"It was dawn before I fell asleep, and later in the morning I was only half-awake as I fed a fresh sheet of paper into the typewriter and began to copy the notes from the previous day out of my book. But I wasn't too weary to type the date line firmly as if I'd been writing date lines all my life:from the front at iwo jima march 5-- Then I remembered and added two words.under fire-- They looked great." In 1965, Wisconsin native Georgette "Dickey" Chapelle became the first female American war correspondent to be killed in action. Now, "Dickey Chapelle Under Fire" shares her remarkable story and offers readers the chance to experience Dickey's wide-ranging photography, including several photographs taken during her final patrol in Vietnam. Dickey Chapelle fought to be taken seriously as a war correspondent and broke down gender barriers for future generations of female journalists. She embedded herself with military units on front lines around the globe, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the Dominican Republic, and Vietnam. Dickey sometimes risked her life to tell the story--after smuggling aid to refugees fleeing Hungary, she spent almost two months in a Hungarian prison. For twenty-five years, Dickey's photographs graced the pages of "National Geographic," the "National Observer," "Life," and others. Her tenacity, courage, and compassion shine through in her work, highlighting the human impact of war while telling the bigger story beyond the battlefield. In "Dickey Chapelle Under Fire," the American public can see the world through Dickey's lens for the first time in almost fifty years, with a foreword by Jackie Spinner, former war correspondent for "The Washington Post."

Myths surrounding two Wild West legendsAlthough Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane spent only a few weeks in Deadwood at the same time, their fame and fate have become intertwined and their relationship legendary. James D. McLaird examines the contemporary accounts that turned these two Wild West wanderers into dime-novel and motion-picture stars.Contemporary novelists and journalists created an astonishingly strong legacy for both Calamity Jane and Wild Bill, accounting for much of their notoriety. Gun fights, scouting missions, and daring escapes from enemies filled stories about the dashing pair; even their day-to-day existence seems to have been fraught with danger and excitement, teetering on the brink between lawful and unlawful.McLaird traces the role that writers and the city of Deadwood itself played in the creation of the legacies of the famous couple. Fact and fiction have become so intertwined that a definitive picture of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill is almost impossible. Their brief friendship and subsequent burial next to each other in Mount Moriah Cemetery simply added to their legendary status and made them stalwarts of Wild West pop culture and Deadwood mythology.

People running from slavery made many hard journeys to find freedom—on steamboats and in carriages, across rivers and in hay-covered wagons. Some were shot at. Many were chased by slave catchers. Others hid in tunnels and secret rooms. But these troubles were worth it for the men, women, and children who eventually reached freedom. Freedom Train North tells the stories of fugitive slaves who found help in Wisconsin. Young readers (ages 7 to 12) will meet people like Joshua Glover, who was broken out of jail by a mob of freedom workers in Milwaukee, and Jacob Green, who escaped five times before he finally made it to freedom.This compelling book also introduces stories of the strangers who hid fugitive slaves and helped them on their way, brave men and women who broke the law to do what was right. As both a historian and a storyteller, author Julia Pferdehirt shares these exciting and important stories of a dangerous time in Wisconsin’s past. Using manuscripts, letters, and artifacts from the period, as well as stories passed down from one generation to another, Pferdehirt takes us deep into our state’s past, challenging and inspiring us with accounts of courage and survival.