The Milwaukee Road, officially known as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMSP&P RR), was a Class I railroad that operated across the Midwest and northwestern United States from its founding in 1847 until its merger with the Soo Line Railroad in 1985–1986. Over its history, the company underwent several name changes and periods of bankruptcy. Although it no longer exists as a separate entity, its legacy is preserved through landmarks such as the historic Milwaukee Road Depot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and through preserved equipment like the Milwaukee Road 261 steam locomotive.
Originally incorporated as the Milwaukee and Waukesha Railroad in 1847, the company soon changed its name to the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad. Its first rail line, connecting Milwaukee and Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, opened in 1850, with passenger service beginning on February 25, 1851. The name was changed in 1874 to the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, and by 1887, it had expanded lines through Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Matthew Cecil received his B.S. in History from South Dakota State University in 1995. He earned an M.A. in History from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and completed a Ph.D. in Mass Communication at the University of Iowa in 2000, specializing in public relations.
Cecil’s career includes work as a political reporter and columnist, as well as a media relations practitioner in South Dakota and North Dakota. His teaching career began as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Iowa. From 2000 to 2002, he served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Purdue University. He then joined the University of Oklahoma before returning in 2005 to his hometown of Brookings, South Dakota, to teach at South Dakota State University. At SDSU, he is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Media Production Emphasis in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. He teaches a variety of courses, including Introduction to Mass Communication, basic video production, new media, and public relations skills.
Cecil’s areas of expertise include new media and media history, with a particular focus on FBI public relations during the J. Edgar Hoover era. His scholarly work has appeared in American Journalism, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, The Journalism Inquiry, and other national and international journals.