History professor Annette Atkins speaks on Minnesota history

04/15/2008

Annette Atkins, professor of history at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, speaks at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 13, at the St. Cloud Holiday Inn, and at noon Wednesday, May 14, at Lurie Besikof Lapidus and Company, LLP, 2501 Wayzata Blvd., Minneapolis.

Atkins presents “"The State We're In - Minnesota at 150,” to coincide with celebrations of the Minnesota’s statehood sesquicentennial. Atkins’ talk is based on her latest book, Creating Minnesota: A History From the Inside Out (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2007), which provides a new history of the state as well as a rethinking of what state history ought to be. The book was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award.

Atkins has been teaching at CSB and SJU since 1980. Her academic areas of interest are local and regional history, 19th century U.S. history and public history.

The presentations, part of the SJU Leaders and Legacy Speaker Series, are open to the general public. Advance registration for either event by May 7 is encouraged. The cost is $15 in St. Cloud and $20 in Minneapolis, and includes breakfast and lunch, respectively.

The Leaders and Legacy Speaker Series is sponsored by the alumni relations office at SJU. More information is available on the SJU Alumni Web site .