To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” This segment is the the story of a woman who had mixed success as a novelist but eventually found her voice in the character of Betsy, whose antics and adventures mirrored Maud's real-life childhood in Mankato at the turn of the century.
In 1940, Maud Hart Lovelace brought her Mankato, Minnesota childhood to life in a book she called "Betsy-Tacy." It was her first book for children, and as it turned out, her first big success. Ten books and 15 years later, Maud had 20 years of her life documented in the Betsy-Tacy series and fans around the world were tuned into to the intricacies of small-town life at the turn of the century.
This is the ninth of twelve reports.
Click links below for other reports in series:
part 1: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/01/25/a-minnesota-century-sugar-point
part 2: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/02/23/a-minnesota-century-predictions
part 3: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/03/29/a-minnesota-century-lincoln-fey
part 4: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/04/26/a-minnesota-century-the-road-to-bagley
part 5: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/05/31/a-minnesota-century-mining-the-north
part 6: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/06/21/a-minnesota-century-eva-mcdonald
part 7: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/07/26/a-minnesota-century-the-mayo-brothers
part 8: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/08/30/a-minnesota-century-rhoda-emery
part 10: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/10/28/a-minnesota-century-the-story-of-cole-younger
part 11: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/11/29/a-minnesota-century-fredrick-lamar-mcghee-an-early-leader
part 12: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/12/27/a-minnesota-century-news-100-years-ago
Awarded:
2000 The Gracie Allen Award, Radio - Outstanding News Story/Series category