As a little girl, Michelle McClellan would carefully place her Barbie dolls in a shoebox and pretend they were the Ingalls family, heading west for adventure in a dusty covered wagon.
McClellan, assistant professor of history, LSA, was always trying to be more like Laura Ingalls Wilder. She read and reread the “Little House on the Prairie” books, owned her very own horse and joined 4-H, an agricultural club for kids.
“I loved the books since I was young — I was fascinated by Laura’s realness — real people, real family, real places,” says McClellan, who also is assistant professor of Residential College, LSA. “They’re the reason I became a historian.”
McClellan’s early love for the classic American texts led her to specialize in American women’s history, medical history and public history.
“Most people have heard of the ‘Little House’ stories and can picture something rustic or pioneer-y, even if they’ve never read the actual books. This series is woven deeply into our sense of American history and our sense of selves as Americans. It is very close to the surface.”
McClellan currently is writing a book about heritage tourism at the “Little House” sites, and she has given presentations about “Little House” and Laura Ingalls Wilder on campus and at local libraries in Ann Arbor and metro Detroit.
“The place-based nature of the books made me interested in how powerful places are and how our sense of self changes or remains the same over time with relation to places. That’s something I want to study,” she says.
McClellan emphasizes that it’s worthwhile to take such narratives seriously, because they have important implications for how we understand history as individuals and as communities.
“Girls’ stories are history. This is real history.”
McClellan rereads the Laura Ingalls Wilder books at least once a year. She also ventures west annually to visit the sites from the “Little House” series.
“It’s my happy place,” McClellan says. “The characters and the places are like friends.”
McClellan says that her love for the series definitely affects her courses and what she teaches.
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“It’s challenging but ultimately very rewarding to bring your professional knowledge to bear on something you care about so much.”
A member of the history department and the Residential College since 2009, McClellan teaches two courses per semester. She also specializes in the history of addiction and is in the process of writing another book, “Biology Is Not Destiny,” with Jill Becker, Patricia Y. Gurin Collegiate Professor of Psychology, LSA, and research professor, Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, Medical School; and Beth Glover Reed, associate professor of social work and women’s studies, School of Social Work.
Aside from “Little House,” McClellan loves reading, hiking and being outside.
Ultimately though, McClellan just wants people to realize: “Stories matter. Places matter. And history can be fun as well as meaningful.”
Q & A
What moment in the classroom stands out as the most memorable?
Actually it was a moment out of the classroom, when I took students in my public history class on the New Deal in Michigan to the Waterloo State Recreation Area so we could walk through the landscape we were studying in its present-day, three-dimensional reality. Closest you can get to time travel.
What can’t you live without?
Being outside.
What is your favorite spot on campus?
The Bentley Historical Library.
What inspires you?
The chance to prompt students to think in new ways about the past and its connections with the present.
What are you currently reading?
“Pioneer Girl,” a brand-new, annotated version of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s autobiography, which she wrote before the “Little House” books. We “bonnetheads” have been waiting for this for a long time.
Who had the biggest/greatest influence on your career path?
My undergraduate thesis adviser at Amherst College, the psychology professor Rose Olver. She was a wonderful scholar, feminist, role model and friend.
