St. Cloud Photo Book Goes on Sale Tuesday, Museum Open House Thursday

(KNSI) – A new photo book chronicling the history of St. Cloud will be available starting Tuesday, May 5th, with a celebration party at the Stearns History Museum two days later.

“Images of America: St. Cloud” is part of Arcadia Publishing’s long-running series of local history photo books. The St. Cloud edition was put together by Stearns History Museum Librarian Miranda Stueckrath and Archivist Grant Wilson. The book features roughly 150 photos drawn largely from the museum’s own collection.

Stueckrath says the open house on Thursday, May 7th, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the museum will give attendees a chance to see materials that didn’t make it between the covers. “We’re also going to be pulling archival and 3D materials out for people to look at that are related to things either in the book, or perhaps photos of things that we didn’t get a chance to put in the book.”

Stueckrath and Wilson each had to cut around 20 photos from every chapter to fit Arcadia’s strict page count. The open house is partly a chance to give those photos some daylight and to show off the broader collection. “That was the whole point of the book, is to show what amazing photos we have, and that it is accessible to everyone. Come and see us, come and look at them. People love looking at these photos. They love going down memory lane.”

Light refreshments will be served at the May 7th open house, and Stueckrath and Wilson will be on hand to talk about the project.
The museum holds the bulk of the former St. Cloud Times photo archive, including the Myron Hall collection from the 1950s onward, along with numerous studio collections of high school portraits, wedding photos, and family portraits.

The book will be available at most major retailers, but Stueckrath says buying directly from the museum benefits the nonprofit far more. “When you buy it from the museum, then we get the proceeds of that entire book to us, because we get them at a discounted rate from Arcadia as a supplier. So it’s the best way to fully give us some support.”

The museum is free to Stearns County residents and is open Wednesday through Saturday.

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