These stories can also be heard on Sunday mornings around 10 am on WILD 102’s “Look Back in Time” program. Each week’s radio story will be posted here on our website.
Weekly radio stories are researched, compiled, and read by Sheila Winstead, RCHS Board Member.
November 16 , 2025
We’re in the beginning of our 30th year of sharing the stories of Roseau County and its
residents on the radio with you. If you listen regularly, you’ll hear that most of the stories come
from Roseau County Museum’s research area resources. That includes the collections of area
newspapers, published books of previously collected histories, family files that contain many of
those collected histories as well as photos and newspaper clippings and other mementoes
added through the years, and personal histories added to our collection by local families. We
also interview people and share the stories they’ve told us.
The personal stories remind us that everyone has a unique story to tell. Everyone goes through
good times and hard times, finding ways to support themselves and their families. The stories
of the perseverance of our ancestors often trigger memories and common threads with our own
backgrounds. You may not think of your life as special, but it would be to others hearing about
it. We all contribute to the collective story of Roseau County.
One of the current goals of the Roseau County Museum is to expand on the stories compiled
for the Heritage Book published in 1992 by the Roseau County Historical Society. Before that
book could be published, a central committee was formed to coordinate the work. Then field
representatives were chosen to spread the word in their communities and encourage residents
to add their family’s story and those of their ancestors if they could. Photos were included if
provided, and the field representatives also wrote about the beginnings of their own community,
including schools, churches, and businesses. A deadline for contributing stories was advertised
and a number of volunteer typists got to work, compiling those stories on a computer.
Even though the final volume was published at 699 pages, many people later wished they had
taken the time to submit their own story.
All that happened over 30 years ago. Think of what has changed in the years since then. We’d
love to have you add to your family file if it was started with a story for the Heritage Book. If you
didn’t contribute a story at that time, you might still have a family file in our research area.
Come in and see what’s in it and think of what you could add to it. Thirty years is enough time
for two more generations to be added. We’d like to know about them, and in some cases, hear
how the original story concluded.
Becoming a member of Roseau County Historical Society gives you access to so much
research material and helps support the work of the Roseau County Museum as it collects and
shares the stories of Roseau County. If it’s been a few years since you visited the museum,
come in and see the exhibits. During the Covid shutdown, our Director/Curator Britt Dahl was
busy getting new lighting installed throughout the gallery and arranging the exhibit cases to tell
a thorough history of Roseau County and its people. Admission is free. Artifacts are constantly
added. New exhibits are created from the many items in our collection.
Watch for advertising about the Light Up the Museum event next Monday, November 24, which
will include entertainment and a baked potato bar. If your group or you personally would like to
decorate a tree for the Christmas tree walk, be sure to call the museum right away and arrange
a time to do that. There is a lot of creativity shown every year in those trees. That creativity
symbolizes what has made our county successful.
Thank you to 
for letting us share our county’s history with your listeners by donating air time, studio time, and production staff every week.