150 years after the U.S- Dakota War of 1862, the Minneapolis Central Library remembers the tragic past and explores the meanings of the Dakota experience in America. This year’s One Minneapolis One Read book is Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past by Minnesotan Diane Wilson.
Spirit Car can be checked out from any of the Hennepin County Library branches. Read the book and join us in discussion. Diane Wilson will be at Minneapolis Central Library to discuss her book on Monday, October 15th in the Doty Board Room on 2nd floor, 7-8 pm.
The doll pictured above is one of five “Skookum Bully Good Dolls” kept in the Minneapolis Central Library Children’s Realia collection. Mary McAboy created these dolls in 1913 after growing up in Red Lake Falls, Minnesota. Skookums were sold across the United States, Canada, and Mexico between the 1920s and 1960s. Well-preserved dolls are now collector’s items and worth as much as $600!
One of our “Skookum” dolls is on display with Spirit Car and other relevant books in the Atrium Case in the Central Library’s Commons. What can these dolls’ history tell us about the Dakota experience and the last 150 years?
