Minnesota Resort Industry Oral History Project: Interview with John Lyght

Titles: Minnesota Resort Industry Oral History Project: Interview with John Lyght (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: John Lyght was born in Lutsen, Minnesota in 1927. Raised and educated in Minnesota, he lived in Cook County most of his life, excluding the year spent in the United States Air Force, 1945-46. He married Anne Matage in 1954. They had three children and six grandchildren. John Lyght was the son of Hosey [Hosiah] Posey Lyght, a black pioneer settler and resort owner on the North Shore. Mr. Lyght's professional employment history included managing a private summer resort in Lutsen, 1955-1972, driving a school bus for the Cook County School District during the off season of the resort, 1955-1972 and working as a part-time deputy for the Cook County Sheriff's Department, 1968-1972. In 1972 Mr. Lyght was appointed to the position of Sheriff by the Cook County Commissioners. In 1974 he was elected to that position with 93% of the vote and continued to be re-elected with a high percentage of votes. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Mr. Lyght discusses his parents homesteading in Minnesota, the turning of their land into a resort and the closing of the resort in 1941. He also talks of the family business, Lyght Brothers Trucking and the resort owned by the Foster Forbes Glass Company, which he managed for twenty years. In addition to his activities with the resort, Mr. Lyght tells how he became involved with law enforcement and of changes that he has seen in the profession.

Dates

• 03/13/1992 (Creation)

Creation

• interviewee: Lyght, John R.
• interviewer: Robertson, Margaret A.

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 79
• Accession Number: AV1994.162

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

• Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Minnesota Resort Industry Oral History Project' <OH 79>

Quantity: 1 hour sound cassette 18 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: sound recordings
• Content Category: text

Measurements

• 60 minutes length

Subjects

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