Minnesota in the 70s - Tapa blanda

The 1970s were more than big hair, mirror balls, and leisure suits. These were the years that bridged the chasm between the anti-establishment tumult of the 1960s and the morning-in-America conservatism of the 1980s. In Minnesota, this evolution unfolded in ways that defied expectations. No longer was Minnesota merely a vague, snow-covered outpost in the American consciousness. It was a place of note and consequence—a state of presidential candidates, grassroots activism, civic engagement, environmental awareness, and Mary Tyler Moore. Its governor appeared on the cover of Time magazine. Its city skylines shot up with uncharacteristic immodesty. Its farmers enjoyed some of their best years ever. Minnesota forged an identity during the 1970s that would persist, rightly or wrongly, for decades to come.

This book tells the stories of people, places, and events that defined the state: colorful individuals, including Allan Spear, Arlene Lehto, Wendell Anderson, and Herb Brooks; significant groups like the Willmar 8, American Indian Movement, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, and Save the Met; and news-making events, including the first Earth Day, the Dayton’s bombing, school desegregation battles, and highway construction protests. Richly illustrated with evocative photos, cartoons, and ephemera, this book helps bring the 1970s back to life.

Dave Kenney is a freelance writer specializing in Minnesota history and a two-time Minnesota Book Award winner. Thomas Saylor is a professor of history at Concordia University in St. Paul and the author of two books on Minnesotans in World War II.

Thomas Saylor is an associate professor of history and director of the Faculty Scholarship Center at Concordia University in St. Paul. He is the author of two MHS Press books: Remembering the Good War, and The Long Road Home. Active in the field of oral history, Saylor contributed to Minnesota's WW II memorial; helped TPT with a documentary on WW II veterans (Honor Most Proud, 2008); worked with MHS on oral histories that appear in the MGG exhibit; received a Legacy Grant in 2010-11 for oral history interviews on 1970s themes; and wrote a MN History article on suburbanization that won an award in 2010.