ONLINE: Michael Stevens

media release: Join Wisconsin Historical Society for "Book Bites" - a series of brief Facebook Live book talks from the WHS Press exploring all things Wisconsin! The series will stream on the WHS Press Facebook page on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

On February 17 Michael Stevens discusses his book The Making of Pioneer Wisconsin.

From the mid-1830s through the 1850s, more than a half million people settled in Wisconsin. While traveling in ships and wagons, establishing homes, and forming new communities, these men, women, and children recorded their experiences in letters, diaries, and newspaper articles. In their own words, they revealed their fears, joys, frustrations, and hopes for like in this new place. Woven together with context provided by historian Michael E. Stevens, these first person accounts form a fascinating narrative that deepens our ability to understand and empathize with Wisconsin's early pioneers.

Michael E. Stevens is Wisconsin State Historian Emeritus and the author or editor of nearly thirty articles and thirteen books.  He has won the Gambrinus Prize for the Family Letters of Victor and Meta Berger and the Association for Documentary Editing's Lyman Butterfield Award for career contributions in historical research, teaching, and documentary editing. Stevens earned his PhD in American history from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was editor and director of publications for the South Carolina Department of Archives and History from 1978-1987, and held various positions at the Wisconsin Historical Society from 1987-2013, including state historian, state historic preservation officer, and division administrator.