Minnesota

A chronological compendium of remarkable and curious events in the history of the North Star State

A grand tour of the North Star State's geographical, political, and human history, including travelers' guides to historic destinations.

Only in Minnesota is a pictorial tribute to all that makes the state unique. Combining the natural, historical, and cultural facets of life in Minnesota, it showcases the people and what they do for fun (the Uptown Art Fair, ice fishing), where they live (from the cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Rochester to smaller towns and rural regions in between), their favorite places (Mille Lacs, Split Rock Lighthouse), and more. More than 160 dazzling, four-color photographs, showing a variety of subjects--from farms and churches to tourist destinations and state parks; from nature scenes to city festivals and cultural events--are the focus of Only in Minnesota. These photographs are accented by lively captions and fun facts. The result is a homage to the Gopher state from a local author and photographer whose love for Minnesota comes through on every page. Roxanne Kjarum is a freelance photographer who shoots advertising for money and the natural world for love. Her first published work was in Sierra Club magazine in 1988; since then her photography has appeared in numerous publications, including MPLS.ST.PAUL Magazine, Lake Superior Magazine, and Metropolitan Home.

This playful yet practical guide-outlining skills from building a campfire to identifying urban wildlife to carving a duck decoy-will fully prepare Minnesota natives and newcomers alike for life in the North Star State.

This guide is an essential tool for all genealogists researching Minnesota family, local, and state history. Highlighting the many holdings of the society, this unique handbook features a lengthy, annotated listing of resources in subject areas such as: biographical, census, naturalization, cemetery, school, religious, business, court, government, legal, military, and veterans' records; official state-wide death records and index, 1908-96; photographs, personal papers, oral histories, ethnic resources, and local and county histories; family histories, newspapers, directories, passenger ship lists, and publications of genealogical organizations; maps, atlases, and other geographical resources.

"The first comprehensive and in-depth assessment of Minnesota's breeding birds in nearly a century, The Breeding Birds of Minnesota offers an unprecedented, extraordinarily detailed, finely illustrated account of 250 of those birds, including their historical and present breeding distribution, habitat, population abundance, and prospects for the future"--

Winner of a Spur Award, presented by the Western Writers of America (WWA), for the Best Western Nonfiction Historical Book. Renowned historian Annette Atkins presents a fresh understanding of how a complex and modern Minnesota came into being in Creating Minnesota. Each chapter of this innovative state history focuses on a telling detail, a revealing incident, or a meaningful issue that illuminates a larger event, social trends, or politics during a period in our past. A three-act play about Minnesota's statehood vividly depicts the competing interests of Natives, traders, and politicians who lived in the same territory but moved in different worlds. Oranges are the focal point of a chapter about railroads and transportation: how did a St. Paul family manage to celebrate their 1898 Christmas with fruit that grew no closer than 1,500 miles from their home? A photo essay brings to life three communities of the 1920s, seen through the lenses of local and itinerant photographers. The much-sought state fish helps to explain the new Minnesota, where pan-fried walleye and walleye quesadillas coexist on the same north woods menu. In Creating Minnesota Atkins invites readers to experience the texture of people's lives through the decades, offering a fascinating and unparalleled approach to the history of our state.