By Vikki Bynum
The historical and emotional threads that connected the lives of my grandmother, mother, and myself reach back to my grandmother’s childhood. Mary Daniel’s alienation from her wealthy Minneapolis family led to her rebellious marriage to William “Harrigan” Huckenpoehler, a working-class German American from rural Waconia, Minnesota. The four children, Great Depression, and Second World War that lay ahead for this mismatched couple comprise much of the second half of my new book, Deep Roots, Broken Branches: A History and Memoir. On March 18, 2025, Dr. Priscilla Leder and I discussed these years and more on her Bookmarked podcast, KZSM radio. To listen to that interview, click below.
Billy, Mary Jo, and Margaret. Waconia, MN, circa 1931
From the University Press of Mississippi: “Best known for her award-winning book The Free State of Jones: Mississippi’s Longest Civil War, historian Victoria Bynum turns now to her own history in this multigenerational American saga spanning from 1840 to 1979. Through meticulous historical research, personal letters, diaries, and the unpublished memoir of Mary Daniel Huckenpoehler, the author’s maternal grandmother, Bynum examines five generations within the broader context of the nation’s history, navigating pivotal events such as First Wave immigration, the Civil War, the Gilded Age, the Great Depression, two world wars, the Cold War, and beyond.”
