Remembrance & Redemption: the Charles Ward Legacy

Shelby Edwards has nearly 20 years of experience in archives and libraries across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Her past roles, including Archivist at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls Area Research Center and Associate Curator of Manuscripts at the Minnesota Historical Society, have given her a solid grounding in 20th-century regional history.

Professionally, she has focused on building archival collections that reflect the lives and contributions of traditionally underrepresented communities. Personally, she’s drawn to the murkier corners of the past, with a particular interest in stories of transformation and redemption, which is one reason Charles Ward has stayed with her for over a decade.

Though not originally from Hudson, Charles Ward spent the last 34 years of his life in the St. Croix River Valley and considered Hudson home for many of those years. Facts about his early life range from hazy to outlandish but a chance meeting with…