Minnesota History Magazine Winter 2021–22 (67:8)

Articles

Minnesota’s Acid Rain Story: A Legacy of Leadership
Gregory C. Pratt

In 1982 the Minnesota State Legislature passed the Minnesota Acid Deposition Control Act, as the state forged ahead of the rest of the nation with the first acid rain regulation in the United States. This article describes the history of Minnesota’s groundbreaking environmental regulation, explores the coalitions and circumstances that helped make it happen, and contextualizes the struggle within the political scene of the era.

Letters to Hilda: “Swede Girls,” Domestic Service, and Life as a Newcomer in Minneapolis, 1913–1914
Leanna Swanson

In the early twentieth century, many young, female immigrants from Sweden—“Swede girls”—were hired to work as domestic servants in Minnesota homes. Researcher Leanna Swanson combed through letters received by her great-grandmother Hilda Nyberg Sandstrom in 1913 and 1914 to examine the life of a typical Swede girl and reveal a largely untold story of the Swedish immigrant experience.

From the Archives: The Rise of Organized Labor in Minnesota
George B. Engberg

In this narrative pulled from the pages of Minnesota History magazine in 1940, historian George Engberg traces the early years of labor unions in Minnesota during the nineteenth century. The article explores the different motivations for workers to organize and chronicles the bumpy road that helped to build Minnesota’s strong union legacy.

Departments

Editor’s Note

Curator’s Choice
Luis Fitch and UNO Branding
Hannah Novillo Erickson

EyeWitness
Ray-Bell Films, Inc.
Linda James

LandMarks
Minnesota Boat Club Boathouse, St. Paul
Ginny Way

Take Three, News & Notes, Our Back Pages

Preserving > Sharing > Connecting
Krista O’Malley: Connecting and Sharing through MNHS Collections