Dorothy Molter Museum
Nov 03, 2021 12:00 PM
Jess Edberg, Executive Director
Dorothy Molter Museum
Jess Edberg is the executive director of the Dorothy Molter Museum and an adjunct instructor at Vermilion Community College in the Natural Resources
Department. Her passion for inspiring others to learn is well served in these roles, as well as in her past work at the International Wolf Center. Jess also contributes her time and energy to volunteer activities, which includes her involvement on several current and past MN DNR and USFS advisory committees, Wolf Care at the International Wolf Center, and other community organizations. She enjoys spending her free time with her family outdoors in every season as well as on the ice with Ely's women's hockey tea
Nestled in a quiet grove of pines, just outside of Ely, Minnesota, are the cabins and museum of one of the north wood’s dearest and most colorful individuals, Dorothy Molter. Some remember her fondly as the “Root Beer Lady” while others recall her as the “Nightingale of the Wilderness” or, simply, Dorothy.
Dorothy carved out her legacy in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) located within the Superior National Forest. Dorothy lived on the Isle of Pines on Knife Lake for more than 56 years where she paddled, hiked, fished, skied and snowshoed this pristine area, until her death in 1986. She was visited by as many as 7,000 people a year