Historian Annette Atkins on the 'enemies among us' in Minn. during WWI
Historian Annette Atkins explores the social context in Minnesota during World War I. It was a time when Minnesotans cast a suspicious eye on immigrants who might be disloyal.
It's a story of fear and another story of "us vs. them” — not from today, but from a century ago.
The Minnesota Commission of Public Safety operated during World War I. It's a fascinating story about fear, politics, liquor and Minnesotans who were called "foreign-born civic slackers."
Annette Atkins is a retired professor of history at St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict. She spoke in 2014 at the Minnesota Historical Society's History Forum.
Further reading
1917: Woodrow Wilson's call to war pulled America onto a global stage
Veterans: From shell-shock to PTSD, a century of invisible war trauma
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