Beautiful Alexandria, Minnesota, in the heart of lake country, offers something for everyone. Home to internationally recognized businesses, a bustling downtown, a thriving tourism industry, and a lively arts community, Alexandria is a city with a rich history and a bright future. On these pages, one will discover how the unique spirit of Alexandria grew out of its early days as a pioneer outpost. That spirit grew as men and women built the downtown still seen today, as tourists came to experience the pristine lakes and rolling hills, and as families set down roots. It is the same spirit of exploration, entrepreneurship, and enthusiasm that still stirs visitors and locals alike. Take a journey though the history of this special town and find out why there is a giant Viking statue on Broadway, why the Kensington Runestone continues to stir up controversy, and why the ghosts of Alexandria's past continue to whisper into her future.

On the occasion of Minnesota's 150th anniversary of statehood, more than a hundred historians and other writers assembled to discuss the subjects they had been studying, thinking, and writing about. This book presents the best of that work, including nineteen essays on topics as varied as baseball at Native American boarding schools, nineteenth-century predictions for Minnesota's future, Native American tourist goods, the Kensington rune stone, and a memoir of growing up in Marshall. Bringing together some of the most recent and best thinking about Minnesota's past and its people, The State We're In demonstrates the history of this place, in all its rich complexity, before and after statehood. Contributors include Melodie Andrews, Annette Atkins, Marge Barrett, Matt Callahan, Emily Ganzel, Linda LeGarde Grover, Louis Jenkins, David J. Laliberte, James Madison, J. Thomas Murphy, Nora Murphy, Traci M. Nathans-Kelly, Paula Nelson, Patrick Nunnally, Linda Schloff, Gregory Schroeder, Hamp Smith, Barbara W. Sommer, Tangi Villerbu, Howard J. Vogel, Steven Werle, Bill Wittenbreer, and Michael Zalar. Annette Atkins, author of Creating Minnesota, Harvest of Grief, and We Grew Up Together, teaches at Saint John's University/College of Saint Benedict. Deborah L. Miller, reference specialist at the Minnesota Historical Society and coauthor of Potluck Paradise, is an expert on Minnesota ethnicity and community cookbooks.

In The Centennial Cure, the second volume in the Studies in Atlantic Canada History series, Meaghan Elizabeth Beaton critically examines the intersection of state policy, cultural development, and commemoration in Nova Scotia during Canada’s centennial celebrations. Beaton’s engaging and insightful analysis of four case studies­– the establishment of the Cape Breton Miners’ Museum, the construction of Halifax’s Centennial Swimming Pool, the Community Improvement Program, and the 1967 Nova Scotia Highland Games and Folk Festival­–reveals the province’s attempts to reimagine and renew public spaces. Through these case studies Beaton illuminates the myriad ways in which Nova Scotians saw themselves, in the context of modernity and ethnic identity, during the post-war years. The successes and failures of these infrastructure and cultural projects, intended to foster and develop cultural capital, reflected the socio-economic realities and dreams of local communities. The Centennial Cure shifts our focus away from the dominant studies on Expo’67 to provide a nuanced and tension filled account of how Canada’s 1967 centennial celebrations were experienced in other parts of Canada.

Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, was incorporated in 1871 as the village of Detroit. The lush landscape of lakes and rivers created a natural vacation destination and tourism pioneers like John K. West began to market to the newly moneyed industrialists of the Gilded Age.