Wisconsin Historical Society Book Uncovers State’s ‘Warriors, Saints, and Scoundrels’

Meet the mayors, ministers, mystics, murderers and more whose lives influenced and defined the state of Wisconsin in the Wisconsin Historical Society Press’s newest release, Warriors, Saints, and Scoundrels: Brief Portraits of Real People Who Shaped Wisconsin. This collection of brief biographies illustrates the lives of unique, quirky and inspiring individuals who influenced our history, from a doctor who believed there were cavemen on Mars to the first woman to practice law in front of the Supreme Court.

Co-authors Michael Edmonds and Samantha Snyder plumbed the depths of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s collections to research and compose lively portraits of 80 notable individuals. Among them are a governor who saw ghosts, an incorrigible horse thief, a husband and wife who each stood over seven feet tall, an American Indian chief who defied forced removal, and the cheesemonger who created the “Dairy State.” Each story is followed by recommended sources for readers’ continued exploration.

Edmonds is the author of two award-winning books from the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, Out of the Northwoods: The Many Lives of Paul Bunyan and Risking Everything: A Freedom Summer Reader, and has written several articles for the Wisconsin Magazine of History and other journals.

Snyder is a two-time graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, most recently completing her Masters in Library and Information Studies from the UW School of Library and Information Studies in May 2015. She currently works as a reference librarian at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon. This is her first book.

For more information visit wisconsinhistory.org/whspress.