Margaret Beattie Bogue was born in Washington, D.C., did her undergraduate work at the University of Maryland and received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. She started her career at Vassar College. In 1966 she joined the University of Wisconsin Extension where she was responsible for program planning for American History Outreach as well as teaching and administrative duties. In 1983 she joined the UW-Madison Division of Outreach and later the Department of History. Her research interests include the environmental history of the Great Lakes and Midwestern agricultural and environmental history. In 1985 she published the award-winning book, Around the Shores of Lake Michigan: A Guide to Historic Sites, and in 2007 she published the second edition of another award-winning book, Around the Shores of Lake Superior: A Guide to Historic Sites. This interview was conducted for inclusion in the UW-Madison Oral History Program.