The American Midwest

Pioneering the Upper Midwest:  Books From Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820-1910

American Memory, Library of Congress

This collection portrays the states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century through first-person accounts, biographies, promotional literature, local histories, ethnographic and antiquarian texts, colonial archival documents, and other works drawn from the Library of Congress's collections.  The collection's 138 volumes depict the land and its resources; the conflict between settlers and Native peoples; the experience of pioneers and missionaries, soldiers and immigrants and reformers; the growth of local communities and local cultural traditions; and the development of regional and national leadership in agriculture, business, medicine, politics, religion, law, journalism, education, and the role of women.