Publisher's Note

Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl chats with audience members after a recent reading at Mill City Museum.

Mark your calendars! If you have been hoping for a one-stop online location where you could find listings for Minnesota Historical Society Press events, we have good news for you! We are pleased to debut MNHS Press Events as part of our offerings on mnhs.org. Now you won't miss out on the next chance to visit with the author of The Essential Dear Dara and sample rhubarb pudding cake, as attendees at Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl's reading at Mill City Museum did at a rhubarb-themed event last month.  In addition to our newsletter, the events page will help you keep track of upcoming bookstore readings, library visits, and author signings. Periodic updates will help you plan ahead so you can find your favorite author and pick up a signed book!

New Releases

Now available!

It Took Courage: Eliza Winston's Quest for Freedom

Christopher P. Lehman
On August 22, 1860, an enslaved woman from Mississippi named Eliza Winston petitioned for her freedom before a judge in Minnesota—and she won. After she left the state for Canada, the abolitionists who had helped her told and retold the story, emphasizing their own actions; their detractors claimed they had used Winston as a pawn. For more than 150 years, historians' accounts have emphasized the mobs who battled in the streets after the ruling, focusing on the implications of the events for Minnesota politics rather than Winston's own story. With It Took Courage, Christopher P. Lehman helps set the record straight.

Last Entry Point: Stories of Danger and Death in the Boundary Waters

Joe Friedrichs
Hypothermia, lightning strikes, high winds, medical emergencies, miscalculations—the dangers are real in canoe country. Last Entry Point shares true stories of the Boundary Waters while offering guidance on how to avoid worst-case scenarios. Being ready for anything can mean the difference between a memorable trip and a traumatic event. In Last Entry Point, experienced paddler and longtime regional journalist Joe Friedrichs gathers tales that involve tragedy or near-misses, interviewing people who confronted danger and walked away, as well as those whose loved ones died in the wilderness. 

How the Birds Got Their Songs

Story by Travis Zimmerman, illustrations by Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik
This treasured story, handed down through author Travis Zimmerman's family, features traditional knowledge from the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Grand Portage descendant Sam Zimmerman's vibrant illustrations showcase his stylized artistry and deep appreciation for feathered creatures. Marcus Ammesmaki's retelling in Ojibwemowin brings the story full circle, encouraging language learners to explore this age-old depiction of our natural world. How the Birds Got Their Songs invites all readers to cherish the gift of birdsong.

Events

Twin Cities Metro

5/18/2024, 10:30 AM, Travis Zimmerman, How the Birds Got Their Songs, Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul

6/1/2024, 10:30 AM, Laura Purdie Salas & Kayla Harren, Oskar's Voyage, Valley Booksellers Storytime Trolley, Stillwater

6/7/2024, 7:00 PM, Noah Barth, "Going Out, Diving In: Uncovering Queer History in Minneapolis," Minnesota History magazine, with Aiden Bettine, Tretter Collection curator, "Theater of Public Policy: Queer Spaces, Twin Cities Places," Mill City Museum, Minneapolis

6/12/2024, 6:00 PM, Joe Friedrichs, Last Entry Point, Next Chapter Booksellers, St. Paul

Greater Minnesota

5/20/2024,  6:00 PM, Patty Wetterling & Joy Baker, Dear Jacob, Owatonna Public Library, Owatonna

5/21/2024, 7:00 PM, Travis Zimmerman & Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik, How the Birds Got Their Songs, Zenith Bookstore, Duluth

5/23/2024, 6:30 PM, Travis Zimmerman & Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik, How the Birds Got Their Songs, Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors

5/25/2024, 1:00 to 3:00 PM, Joe Friedrichs, Last Entry Point, Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors

5/30/2024, 6:00 PM, Patty Wetterling & Joy Baker, Dear Jacob, Watonwan County Library, St. James

5/31/2024, 7:00 PM, Annette S. Lee & Travis Novitsky, Spirits Dancing, Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post, Onamia

6/1/2024, 1:30 to 3:30 PM, Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik, Following My Spirit Home & How the Birds Got Their Songs, Lake Superior Writers Annual Meeting, St. Louis County Depot, Duluth

6/8/2024, 12:00 to 2:00 PM, Joe Friedrichs, Last Entry Point, The Bookstore at Fitger's, Duluth

6/8/2024, 6:00 PM, Travis Zimmerman & Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik, How the Birds Got Their Songs, Drury Lane, Grand Marais

6/12/2024, 4:00 PM, Laura Purdie Salas & Kayla Harren, Oskar's Voyage, The Bookstore at Fitger's, Duluth

In the Media

Oskar’s Voyage, Laura Purdie Salas and Kayla Harren, “Oskar's Voyage Anchors Here!” Beyond LiteracyLink, April 26, 2024 

Josie Dances, Denise Lajimodiere, “Inspired by her daughter, N.D. poet laureate shares story of a young girl preparing for her first powwow,” InForum, April 26, 2024

Last Entry Point, Joe Friedrichs on TPT Almanac, April 26, 2024 

“Local author Joe Friedrichs’ Last Entry Point: Stories of Danger and Death in the Boundary Waters,” WTIP North Shore Community Radio, May 1, 2024 

Last Entry Point, Joe Friedrichs, “Telling the tragic tales of the BWCAW,” Hometown Focus, May 3, 2024 

Interview with Travis Zimmerman about Spirits Dancing by Travis Novitsky, “In Focus: Traveling Exhibit Explores Night Sky and Connection to Indigenous People," Lakeland PBS, May 4, 2024 

Noteworthy

Hognander Award Goes to Pete Kero at Minnesota Book Awards

At the annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony on May 7 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, author Pete Kero received the Hognander Minnesota History Award for his book Minescapes: Reclaiming Minnesota's Mined Lands. This biennial award, administered by the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library and supported by the Hognander Family Foundation, recognizes and celebrates outstanding scholarly work published in the previous two years on a topic of Minnesota history. 

Rose McGee Wins Social Change Award from Planting People Growing Justice

Congratulations to Can't Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like Our Mama! by Rose McGee, with illustrations by Christopheraaron Deanes, for winning the Social Change Award from Planting People Growing Justice.  On May 18 at 3:00 PM, at the Rondo Community Library in St. Paul, McGee and other winners will be honored.

McGee recently read to a crowd of sixty children and adults at the Wabasha Public Library. Library staffers served sweet potato pie after!

New in MNopedia

Pilgrim Baptist Church, St. Paul

Pilgrim Baptist Church in St. Paul was the first African American Baptist church established in Minnesota. The congregation was founded during the Civil War, in 1863, by enslaved people who had escaped from Missouri, including pastor Robert Thomas Hickman. The church’s third building (732 West Central Ave.) was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues, Bemidji

Originally conceived as a gimmick to promote tourism during the city’s 1937 Winter Carnival, the Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues in Bemidji became the second-most-photographed sculptures in the country in the 1940s. The prototypical “roadside colossus” inspired dozens of other Minnesota and Midwest cities to create similar works in the decades that followed.

Bestselling Backlist