Derek Larson, St. Joseph, joined the Board of Directors at the Stearns History Museum in November. Larson is a history and environmental studies professor at College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. He will be on a research sabbatical from January through August 2021, exploring the impacts of the 1918 influenza pandemic on Stearns County. Larson will work with a team of students to develop a series of digital maps that illustrate the pandemic’s impact at the township level, incorporating both narrative elements from oral histories and data from public health records and cemetery surveys. He joins the board along with Christopher Lehman, an ethnic studies professor and chair at St. Cloud State University. Lehman received the 2020 Minnesota Book Award for Minnesota Nonfiction for his literary work, “Slavery’s Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State.” The Board’s purpose is to govern and advise the Stearns History Museum’s policy and direction and assist with its leadership and general promotion. The Museum connects people through the power of history and culture.
