Publisher's Note

Karen Tanaka Lucas (left) and Sally Sudo (right) spoke at the launch for Enmity and Empathy at Fort Snelling on May 31.

Historic Fort Snelling hosted the book launch for Enmity and Empathy: Japanese Americans in Minnesota during World War II for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Author Ka F. Wong discussed the ways that Japanese Americans resettled in Minnesota from the incarceration camps during the 1940s, including by enlisting and studying at the Military Intelligence Service Language School that was housed at Fort Snelling. Ka also engaged in conversation with two people featured in the book, Karen Tanaka Lucas and Sally Sudo. Dr. Lucas's father, Walter, studied at MISLS and served as an interpreter during the war, assisting in interrogations with captured Japanese soldiers, while the rest of his family remained imprisoned in Poston, Arizona. Originally from Seattle, Sally Sudo was incarcerated at age six with her family at the Minidoka concentration camp in Idaho. One of her brothers enlisted with MISLS while another enrolled at Dunwoody. She relocated to Minneapolis with her parents after the war.

David Mura, author of Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei, offers this praise for Enmity and Empathy: “This fascinating and superbly researched book demonstrates that our diversity is our strength, and that the tale of Minnesota is far more various than we have been told. Take the stories of the Military Intelligence Service Japanese Americans who studied Japanese at Fort Snelling; even while their families were imprisoned in incarceration camps, these soldiers helped shorten the war in the Pacific and saved hundreds of thousands of American lives.”

Linda Watanabe McFerrin, author of the novel Namako: Sea Cucumber, writes, “Allies are always important, especially in the face of war and racism. This book looks into dark days and demons, sharing the stories of victims and naming the heroes on both sides. Ka Wong offers us a significant contribution to an important and greatly underrepresented piece of US history.”

New Releases

In May we published two timely volumes that highlight lesser-known aspects of recent history. 

Enmity and Empathy: Japanese Americans in Minnesota during World War II 

Ka F. Wong
Drawing on personal interviews, archival sources, and historical literature, scholar and professor Ka F. Wong explores the courageous struggles of trailblazers who left the incarceration camps in the West and rebuilt their lives in the North Star State, overcoming hostility and hardship along the way.

“A powerful account of the wartime battle against both the Axis powers and racial prejudice, highlighting those in the forefront of that fight and the Minnesota allies who joined them in their struggle.”
—Andrew Aoki, M. Anita Gay Hawthorne Professor of Critical Race and Ethnicity Studies, Augsburg University

Rewind: Lessons from Fifty Years of Activism

T Williams with David Lawrence Grant
An accomplished activist’s valuable stories and insights on navigating crises, building networks, and maintaining a commitment to community—from the foment of the 1960s to today—remind us of our history and put contemporary events in context.

“T Williams brilliantly reveals the story of his life and accomplishments in this compelling autobiography. If you’re curious about the evolution of racial and social justice in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, if you’re curious about the organizations that moved us forward, there is no better read. Williams was at the heart of much that transpired, and he takes us inside the building of organizations and the work with corporate and political leaders. . . . This personal and intimate story is a historical masterpiece.” —Alexs D. Pate, author of Amistad

Book launch on June 15, 1:00 PM, Sumner Library, Minneapolis

Events

Twin Cities Metro

6/15/2025, 1:00 PM, T Williams with David Lawrence Grant, Rewind: Lessons from Fifty Years of Activism, Sumner Public Library, Minneapolis

6/28/2025, 1:00 PM, T Williams with David Lawrence Grant, Rewind: Lessons from Fifty Years of Activism, Black Garnet Books, St. Paul

Greater Minnesota

6/21/2025, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, Frank Bures, Pushing the River: An Epic Battle, a Lost History, a Near Death, and Other True Canoeing Stories, Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors

6/28/2025, 12:00 noon to 2:00 PM, Patrick Strait, Home Club: Up-and-Comers and Comebacks at Acme Comedy Company, the Bookstore at Fitgers, Duluth

In the Media

T Williams with David Lawrence Grant, Rewind: Lessons from Fifty Years of Activism, "Rewind and Reflect: Fifty Years of Activism Meets a New Generation of Change," The Conversation with Al McFarlane.

T Williams with David Lawrence Grant, Rewind: Lessons from Fifty Years of Activism, "Rewind and Reflect: A Bridge Between Eras of Activism," Insight News.

Ka F. Wong, Enmity and Empathy: Japanese Americans in Minnesota during World War II, "MN Shortlist," MPR News.

Noteworthy

Red Stained wins 2024 Foreword INDIES Silver Award

Foreword Reviews has bestowed the 2024 INDIES Silver Award for Performing Arts and Music / Adult Nonfiction to Red Stained: The Life of Hilda Simms by Jokeda "JoJo" Bell, published by MNHS Press last fall.

Emmy-winning journalist Robyne Robinson offered this praise for the book: “In this laser-sharp synopsis of the Black American experience, art curator and historian Jokeda Bell forgoes the scholarly diatribe on Black perseverance, defiance, and loss and presents the fascinating life of a Minneapolis woman with a starlet’s face and a pugilist’s soul. Bell traces Simms’s life and career, and how both prepared her for a scorecard of wins and losses against racism, Hollywood, and anti-Communist fears in the United States. Red Stained lays the groundwork for a tribute to courageous Black artists like Simms who put civil rights before cinema.”

Fall 2025 catalog and subject catalogs now available on Edelweiss

MNHS Press's fall catalog mails out this month. The cover features a photo of Wild Rice Stuffing from True North Cabin Cookbook: Volume Two: Seasonal Recipes from a Cozy Kitchen by Stephanie Hansen. Following her first volume, which focused on summer months, this book both complements it and stands alone by focusing on the other half of the year, highlighting stories and recipes that feature comfort food at its best. 

MNHS Press's many catalogs are featured on the digital platform Edelweiss, including Fall 2025 New Titles and such subject fields as our cookbooks, children's books, and Indigenous books and our bestselling backlist, among others. Booksellers, book buyers, teachers, librarians, reviewers—please check out our many offerings by clicking on these links to learn more.

New in MNopedia

Quatrefoil Library

Quatrefoil Library is a non-profit lending library and community center in Minneapolis that specializes in LGBTQIA+ material. Its circulating collections include books, DVDs, and CDs, but patrons can also access non-circulating periodicals, comics, zines, and Quatrefoil’s founder’s archives on site at 1220 East Lake Street. Open since 1986, it is the third-oldest library of its kind in the US.

Hazzard, Linda Burfield Perry (1867–1938)

In 1914 Linda Burfield Perry Hazzard’s unconventional healing methods landed her in prison in Washington State for manslaughter. Despite minimal medical training, she styled herself a physician and for more than thirty years promoted healing through fasting, killing as many as fifteen people. Most of her victims died in Washington, but this Minnesota native developed her craft, and took her first victim, in Minneapolis.

Forthcoming Releases

How to Draw a Tree 

Story by David LaRochelle, illustrations by Colleen Muske
Every tree is unique, and there are many different kinds. The pages of How to Draw a Tree show a wide array of species, with the name for each tucked into the illustrations, encouraging readers to slow down, appreciate, and learn.

Through direct questions and lively examples, award-winning children’s book author David LaRochelle invites readers to explore their natural surroundings. Colleen Muske’s whimsical, vibrant illustrations help readers see trees in a new light. Drawing a tree involves getting to know your subject before even picking up a pencil. The more you look, the more you see. Beyond an art or science lesson, this book encourages young artists to go outside and spend time in nature, exploring firsthand what they plan to draw.

Pub date: August 5, 2025; book launch, August 9, 10:30 AM, Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul

Martin Sabo: The Making of the Modern Legislature

Lori Sturdevant
Minnesota has long been acknowledged as the state that works. Its government has been celebrated, if occasionally contested, and has been emulated by other states for decades. But today’s modern, professional state legislature was not inevitable. In the late 1960s–early 1970s Minnesota took a giant step toward a state government that fairly represents all the state’s regions and populations, one that operates in public view. 

At the center of those changes was a modest young man from tiny Alkabo, North Dakota, Martin Olav Sabo. Sabo demonstrated an understanding of representative democracy and a quality of leadership that made him a highly effective catalyst for positive change. He spent his entire adult life in public service, but it was during his years as DFL minority leader and as speaker of the Minnesota House that he did his most transformative and enduring work—remaking legislatures for the better. 

Pub date: August 19, 2025; book launch, September 11, 6:00 PM, Hagfors Center, Augsburg University, Minneapolis

Did you know MNHS has a podcast?

Bestselling Backlist

Rings of Heartwood by Molly Beth Griffin, illustrations by Claudia McGehee	True North Cabin Cookbook by Stephanie Hansen	Queer Voices edited by Andrea Jenkins, John Medeiros, and Lisa Marie Brimmer