A personal journey made on one of America's most historic and defining routes-Highway 61-by one of Hollywood's finest, most gifted talents--Jessica Lange. "These photographs are a chronicle of what remains and what has disappeared. It has a long memory, Highway 61." - Jessica Lange Renowned actress and photographer Jessica Lange was raised in Northern Minnesota and has travelled the length of Highway 61 countless times since her childhood and throughout her life. This storied route originates at the Canadian border in Minnesota and runs along the great Mississippi river through the American Midwest and South, rolling through eight states, down to New Orleans. With more than 80 stunning tritone photographs, Lange's Highway 61 reveals her deep connection to this iconic route, and presents that which she has long held dear along its way. This is a tale of our shared national heritage as seen by one of the most talented artists of her generation.
In this companion book to a new Twin Cities Public Television documentary also called "Tales of the Road" (airing in November 2008), Wurzer unearths stories about Highway 61, spotlighting famous and fascinating locations, many of them little remembered today.
Driving on Highway 61 through Minnesota provides a rare opportunity for one to see virtually every type of landscape in the North Star State. Along the highway's path are pastoral farms and towering bluffs, as well as the largest of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior. There are picturesque small towns and populous cities, yet stretches of the highway have been abandoned. Despite Highway 61's east-west counterpart Route 66 getting more attention, the north-south byway is arguably the most fascinating stretch of road in the country. Throughout the highway's history, music lovers, foodies, and thrill seekers alike have discovered its fun and uniqueness. The 1,400-mile highway signals where the West begins and has a fabulous history that can be traced from the civil rights movement to the development of various genres of music, including jazz, blues, and alternative rock. Famous Americans such as Mark Twain, Bob Dylan, Jessica Lange, and even Kermit the Frog keep the highway in the national psyche.
A father and son take a road trip along Highway 61--the legendary road of the blues--and through some of the most musically fertile and diverse landscapes in America. 10 photos.
On Highway 61 explores the historical context of the significant social dissent that was central to the cultural genesis of the sixties. The book is going to search for the deeper roots of American cultural and musical evolution for the past 150 years by studying what the Western European culture learned from African American culture in a historical progression that reaches from the minstrel era to Bob Dylan. The book begins with America's first great social critic, Henry David Thoreau, and his fundamental source of social philosophy:–––his profound commitment to freedom, to abolitionism and to African–American culture. Continuing with Mark Twain, through whom we can observe the rise of minstrelsy, which he embraced, and his subversive satirical masterpiece Huckleberry Finn. While familiar, the book places them into a newly articulated historical reference that shines new light and reveals a progression that is much greater than the sum of its individual parts. As the first post–Civil War generation of black Americans came of age, they introduced into the national culture a trio of musical forms—ragtime, blues, and jazz— that would, with their derivations, dominate popular music to this day. Ragtime introduced syncopation and become the cutting edge of the modern 20th century with popular dances. The blues would combine with syncopation and improvisation and create jazz. Maturing at the hands of Louis Armstrong, it would soon attract a cluster of young white musicians who came to be known as the Austin High Gang, who fell in love with black music and were inspired to play it themselves. In the process, they developed a liberating respect for the diversity of their city and country, which they did not see as exotic, but rather as art. It was not long before these young white rebels were the masters of American pop music – big band Swing. As Bop succeeded Swing, and Rhythm and Blues followed, each had white followers like the Beat writers and the first young rock and rollers. Even popular white genres like the country music of Jimmy Rodgers and the Carter Family reflected significant black influence. In fact, the theoretical separation of American music by race is not accurate. This biracial fusion achieved an apotheosis in the early work of Bob Dylan, born and raised at the northern end of the same Mississippi River and Highway 61 that had been the birthplace of much of the black music he would study. As the book reveals, the connection that began with Thoreau and continued for over 100 years was a cultural evolution where, at first individuals, and then larger portions of society, absorbed the culture of those at the absolute bottom of the power structure, the slaves and their descendants, and realized that they themselves were not free.
The story of a once vibrant, now vanished off-reservation Ojibwe village—and a vital chapter of the history of the North Shore “We do this because telling where you are from is just as important as your name. It helps tie us together and gives us a strong and solid place to speak from. It is my hope that the stories of Chippewa City will be heard, shared, and remembered, and that the story of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Chippewa will continue to grow. By being a part of the living narrative, Bimaadizi Aadizookaan, together we can create a new story about what was, what is, and, ultimately, what will be.” —from the Prologue At the turn of the nineteenth century, one mile east of Grand Marais, Minnesota, you would have found Chippewa City, a village that as many as 200 Anishinaabe families called home. Today you will find only Highway 61, private lakeshore property, and the one remaining village building: St. Francis Xavier Church. In Walking the Old Road, Staci Lola Drouillard guides readers through the story of that lost community, reclaiming for history the Ojibwe voices that have for so long, and so unceremoniously, been silenced. Blending memoir, oral history, and narrative, Walking the Old Road reaches back to a time when Chippewa City, then called Nishkwakwansing (at the edge of the forest), was home to generations of Ojibwe ancestors. Drouillard, whose own family once lived in Chippewa City, draws on memories, family history, historical analysis, and testimony passed from one generation to the next to conduct us through the ages of early European contact, government land allotment, family relocation, and assimilation. Documenting a story too often told by non-Natives, whether historians or travelers, archaeologists or settlers, Walking the Old Road gives an authentic voice to the Native American history of the North Shore. This history, infused with a powerful sense of place, connects the Ojibwe of today with the traditions of their ancestors and their descendants, recreating the narrative of Chippewa City as it was—and is and forever will be—lived.
This updated 2nd edition of the popular Backroads of Minnesota (2002) comes in a new portable size, making it easy to tote in your car and head out to a new destination in beautiful Minnesota. Have you driven on the Gunflint and Arrowhead trails? Have you circled the whole of Mille Lacs? Have you gone birding on the western prairies, or wound around the bluffs of the Mississippi River from Red Wing to the Iowa border? Have you experienced the forgotten corners of the Twin Cities metro area? Backroads of Minnesota takes you on 31 routes covering all corners of the Land of 10,000 Lakes: routes that lead you to the state’s most scenic natural areas and sites that capture the state’s colorful history. Whether you’re planning a day trip or a weekend getaway, Backroads of Minnesota will lead you deep into the soul of the state, beyond the common tourist attractions.
Join Eve and Gary Wallinga on the trails that lead to the magnificent waterfalls of Lake Superior's North Shore. From the St. Louis River in Jay Cooke State Park to the Pigeon River on the Canadian border, and now, in this new and expanded edition, the authors go beyond the North Shore to northern Wisconsin and across the border to Ontario. Maps and directions to over 150 waterfalls are included in this unique guide. From highway waysides to invigorating day-hikes, Waterfalls of Minnesota's North Shore and More offers waterfall experiences for everyone who enjoys the splashing splendor of Lake Superior's tributary rivers and streams. Let the Wallingas be your guides to new North Shore adventures. Many waterfalls in this book appear for the first time in any North Shore guide!
With its rugged shoreline and deep, cold waters, Lake Superior offers exciting opportunities for travel, exploration, and enjoyment. From the Grand Sable Dunes and Apostle Islands of the south shore to mountain-studded St. Ignace Island and majestic Thunder Cape on the north, the lake is deeply ingrained in North America’s cultural and environmental heritage. Around the Shores of Lake Superioris an ideal trip planner and a unique guide to the region. As author Margaret Beattie Bogue follows the Lake Superior shoreline clockwise through Minnesota, Ontario, Michigan, and Wisconsin, she evokes the richness of local history and highlights hundreds of landmarks and points of interest that surround the lake. Grand Portage, Fort William Historical Park, the Agawa Canyon Pictographs, Isle Royale, the Pictured Rocks, and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshores are just a few of the many sites featured, each with a short descriptive history, directions, and contact information. In keeping with the guide’s easy-to-follow organization, all sites are keyed to a foldout map pocketed in the book’s back cover. This book also includes illuminating essays that give context to the natural and human history of the region—the Ojibwe presence, French exploration, industry on and around the lake, and the impact of this history on the natural environment. With more than 200 color and black-and-white images, this updated and greatly expanded Second Edition will enrich the appreciation of the region for both visitors and residents of the upper Great Lakes. Winner, Best Midwest Regional Interest Book, Midwest Book Awards Winner, Award of Merit for Leadership in History, American Association for State and Local History Best Books for Regional Special Interests, selected by the American Association of School Librarians, and Best Books for Regional Audiences, selected by the Public Library Association
Minnesotan Tricia Cornell brings years of traveling experience to the table in Moon Minnesota. Cornell spotlights a great list of travel strategies, such as "Best of Minnesota", "A Long Weekend in the Twin Cities", and "Wacky Minnesota". She covers the Twin Cities' thriving nightlife as well as the recaptured Victorian allure found in Duluth's historic B&Bs. Whether they're exploring the old European charm of St. Paul or enjoying the sophistication of Minneapolis, Moon Minnesota gives travelers the tools they need to create a more personal and memorable experience. This ebook and its features are best experienced on iOS or Android devices and the Kindle Fire.