Every generation faces the world as it was given to them, and strives to leave it safer for the next. For those who came of age in mid-20th century America, the challenges were particularly daunting.

After a childhood overshadowed by the Great Depression, world war rushed these young men and women into adulthood. This generation's endurance and ingenuity brought not only wartime victory but unprecedented prosperity in the post-war years. In recognition of their courage and in gratitude for their efforts, many have called them the "Greatest Generation

In Their Words: Stories of Minnesota's Greatest Generation is a collection of more than 150 personal stories that follow members of this remarkable generation through the pivotal decades of the Depression, the War, and the Boom, illustrated with more than 900 photographs, objects and other materials found in the Minnesota Historical Society's Collections and shared by storytellers.

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