A unique blend of memoir and public history, Packinghouse Daughter, winner of the Minnesota Book Award, tells a compelling story of small-town, working-class life. The daughter of a Wilson & Company millwright, Cheri Register recalls the 1959 meatpackers’ strike that divided her hometown of Albert Lea, Minnesota. The violence that erupted when the company “replaced” its union workers with strikebreakers tested family loyalty and community stability. Register skillfully interweaves her own memories, historical research, and oral interviews into a narrative that is thoughtful and impassioned about the value of blue-collar work and the dignity of those who do it.

Author Biography

Cheri Register often tells people her University of Chicago Ph.D. really stands for “Packinghouse Daughter.” The opening chapter of Packinghouse Daughter was cited as a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 1996. Other excerpts have appeared in Hungry Mind Review, University of Chicago Magazine, and the book Is Academic Feminism Dead? Her work on this memoir has earned a Jerome Travel and Study Grant, a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, and grants from the Loft Literary Center and the Minnesota Historical Society. Her other books include The Chronic Illness Experience: Embracing the Imperfect Life (formerly titled Living with Chronic Illness: Days of Patience and Passion) and “Are Those Kids Yours?” American Families with Children Adopted from Other Countries. She has published many essays in magazines, literary journals, and anthologies, and is known for her early work in feminist literary criticism and Scandinavian literature. A writer of creative nonfiction, Register now teaches writing at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, where she also lives.

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