Grasshoppers in My Bed: Lillie Belle Gibbs, Minnesota Farm Girl, 1877
Terry Swanson and Peggy Stern

History Revealed Series
Thursday, August 4, 2022, 7:00 pm

In partnership with the East Side Freedom Library & Roseville Library
Live presentation on Zoom
Register in advance for this meeting, register on Zoom here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
For questions, please email events@rchs.com

Join author Terry Swanson and illustrator Peggy Stern as they present their new historical fiction book, Grasshoppers in My Bed, based on the journal of 11-year- old Lillie Gibbs of Gibbs Farm.

It is 1876—Christmas day—which just happens to be the eleventh birthday of Lillie Belle Gibbs. Her mother and father present her with a new journal. Now she must decide how to fill the pages.

Grasshoppers in her bed, a smudge pot to keep the mosquitos at bay, the one-room schoolhouse across the road, popping corn in the Victorian parlor, hired hands who work on the farm half the year, and her best friend, Minnesota Mae Hendrickson, all make appearances.

Using clues Lillie left behind through writings as a child and an adult, this important work of historical fiction is filled with stories and illustrations detailing a year in the ordinary life of a real Minnesota farm girl from the 1870s.

Grasshoppers in My Bed: Lillie Belle Gibbs – A Minnesota Farm Girl – 1877 is available through the Ramsey County Historical Society or other local vendors.
RCHS Member price: $18.00
Regular Price: $20.00
To order, see the form here.

For more information on the book, see the post here.

Terry Swanson is a Minnesota historian who has specialized in public history in the Twin Cities area since 1990. She was director of collections, education, and programs at the American Swedish Institute from 1997 to 2005. She worked as program and site manager at Ramsey County Historical Society’s (RCHS) Gibbs Farm from 2007 to 2016. Since retiring in 2017, she has worked as a historical consultant and with Investigate MN, a partnership between local libraries and museums (including RCHS) designed for school-age children to boost academic achievement and help close the achievement gap.

Peggy Stern is a former site interpreter at Gibbs Farm where, under the direction of the then-program and site manager Terry Swanson, she handcrafted murals and signage to enhance the venue. Their working relationship eventually developed into a collaboration for this book. Stern holds a degree in fine art from the University of Wisconsin–River Falls and has continued her art education at Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) and at both Minnetonka and White Bear Centers for the Arts. In addition to illustration, her main areas of interest are drawing, painting, and sculpture. Her work has been exhibited at various Twin Cities locations including, most recently, the Northern Lights Exhibition.

Featured image by Peggy Stern.