Grace Lee Nute

Grace Lee Nute (13 October 1895, in North Conway, New Hampshire – 4 May 1990, in Menlo Park, California) was a history professor and curator of manuscripts. She was among the pioneers of using microfilm to preserve information from manuscripts and increase their accessibility.

Biography
Nute graduated in 1917 with an A.B. in American literature from Smith College, in 1918 with an A.M. from Radcliffe College, and in 1921 with a Ph.D. in American history from Harvard University. At the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul she was from 1921 to 1946 the curator of manuscripts and from 1946 to 1957 a research associate. In 1927 she became an assistant professor at Hamline University in St. Paul.

"She taught Minnesota history at Hamline University from 1927-60, conducted study courses for business women from 1930-34, was a lecturer on Minnesota history for the University of Minnesota Extension Division from 1948-52, was a visiting professor at Macalester College from 1956-59, and the director of the James J. Hill papers project for the Hill Reference Library in St. Paul from 1960-66."

Nute wrote books and articles on the North American fur trade and the French exploration of Minnesota. For the academic year 1934–1935 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for the purpose of writing of a joint biography of the French explorers Médard Chouart and Pierre-Esprit Radisson. She wrote articles for the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, the American Historical Review, and the Dictionary of American Biography, as well as several journals that are mainly of interest to residents of the state of Minnesota.