Grace Lee Nute

Grace Lee Nute (October 13, 1895-May 4, 1990) was born in New Hampshire and attended Smith College and Radcliffe College before attending Harvard to get her Ph.D in American history. After this, Nute moved to Minnesota in 1921 to become the curator of manuscripts at the Minnesota Historical Society. She taught history at Hamline University until 1960, was a visiting professor at Macalester College, and served as the director of the James J. Hill papers project for the Hill Reference Library in St. Paul. Nute pioneered advances in preservation, introducing the use of microfilm and photocopies to preserve manuscripts and increase accessibility for scholars.

Nute received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Ford Foundation grant. She also wrote books and articles on the fur trade and the exploration of Minnesota, including the books The Voyageur and Caesars of the Wilderness. She was on the editorial board for the Natural History Society of Minnesota magazine, The Naturalist, and she also consulted for the 1950 film Robert Cavalier, Siuer de la Salle, which was put out by Encyclopedia Britannica. Nute’s other works include Rainy River Country and The Voyageur’s Highway: Minnesota’s Border Lake Land.

More information on Grace Lee Nute from the Minnesota Historical Society.