News Archives - 2011

Lecturer reveals Minnesota's forgotten history

Minnesota history buffs won't want to miss the upcoming Chrislock lecture with author and historian Mary Lethert Wingerd. According to Aidan Nancarrow, a senior history and Medieval studies major, Wingerd's newest release is "an extremely important book about Minnesota history."

Wingerd's book, Minnesota's Forgotten History: How it was Hidden and Why it Matters, examines the years before Minnesota's statehood. She will speak at Augsburg on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Marshall Room, Christensen Center. This lecture is free and open to the public.

Nancarrow says Wingerd opens the book with a reflection from her childhood, going "out West" with her grandmother and seeing Native Americans. She didn't identify Native people with Minnesota because she thought the state's history began when the whites arrives. Nancarrow says this book examines the complexities of Minnesota's hidden history related to Native Americans, women, and African Americans and identifies some "stains of the record of some of Minnesota's most known historical figures."

This is a part of our history that has been somewhat suppressed," Nancarrow says. "There are some very important aspects of our history that have been swept under the rug, and she has shed light on them."

"If you are a Minnesotan, this is very important," Nancarrow says. "These kinds of books help open discussions, and knowing how things went wrong in the past can shed light on how to do things right in the present."

The Carl H. Chrislock Memorial History Lecture, sponsored by the Augsburg History Club, honors the memory of Carl H. Chrislock, former professor of history at Augsburg College.