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In the 1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, the federal government put thousands of unemployed writers to work in the Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Out of their efforts came the American Guide series, the first comprehensive guidebooks to the people, resources, and traditions of each state in the union.<br /><br />The WPA Guide to Minnesota is a lively and detailed introduction to the state and its people. Much has changed since the book&#39;s first publication in 1938 when, as the authors noted, some Minnesotans could &quot;clearly recall . . . the sight of browsing buffalo herds, and the creaking of thong-tied Red River carts.&quot; But the book vividly recaptures the era when annual fishing licenses cost fifty cents, farmers ran barn dances for motoring townfolk, Duluth was the headquarters of the Hay Fever Club of America, and the nearly new Foshay Tower loomed on the Minneapolis skyline.<br /><br />The guide has much more than nostalgia to offer today&#39;s readers. Twenty auto tours and six special city tours tell the stories of the state&#39;s people and places and offer a fascinating alternative to freeway travel. Essays on major themes such as native peoples, history, arts, transportation, and sports provide an authentic self-portrait of 1930s Minnesota in humorous, loving, and literary prose.<br /><br />This time-travelers&#39; guide to Minnesota is an evocative reminder of the state&#39;s past and a challenge to contemporary readers who seek to find how that past lives on today.<br /><br />Special features include 20 road trips, 6 city tours, 15 boundary waters canoe trips, 12 maps, 22 drawings, an introduction by the renowned Midwestern writer Frederick Manfred, a chronology, and a revised bibliography.

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First published in 1941 as part of the American Guide Series, this lively book describes Minnesota&#39;s popular northern region. Special features include fifteen canoe trips; five maps; thirty-seven photographs; forty-seven city, town, and village profiles; four road tours; a chronology; a glossary; and a bibliography with updated suggestions for further reading in fiction and nonfiction about the region.

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At the height of the Depression, the government put thousands of writers to work for the Works Progress Administration. Out of their efforts came the American Guide series, the first comprehensive guidebooks to the people, resources, and traditions of each state in the nation.<br /><br />The WPA Guide to Wisconsin offers a lively tour of yesterday&#39;s Badger State. More than a nostalgic snapshot of 1930s Wisconsin, this book contains essays on the state&#39;s history and architecture, folklore and geology, arts and industry. The city tours and auto trips take you to places still familiar today&mdash;perfect for those who want to slow down, turn off the main road, and journey back in time.

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Rolling prairie grasslands in the east, surreal Badlands and lush Black Hills in the west: South Dakota is a state of vivid contrasts. In this classic and now-rare guide to Depression-era South Dakota, you can discover the historic byways and back roads of this beautiful state. Originally part of the American Guide Series, this book was written both to chronicle the physical and cultural landscape of the Mount Rushmore State and to employ out-of-work writers. The result is a snapshot of South Dakota as our grandparents knew it.

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