Tag: American history

The Things That Made the Drink Famous: Valentine’s Day Edition

February 14, 2020

  This is the second part in a series by Doug Hoverson featuring breweriana that complement the book The Drink That Made Wisconsin Famous. This Valentine’s Day edition comes with some difficulty because beer has not been the traditional drink of romance in poetry, story, or song. While breweries have celebrated Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick’s … More The Things That Made the Drink Famous: Valentine’s Day Edition

His words, his story, his magnetism: Capturing the voice of Hy Berman, Minnesota’s beloved public historian

November 1, 2019

BY JAY WEINER Until the work began on what would become Professor Berman: The Last Lecture of Minnesota’s Greatest Public Historian, I didn’t know Hy Berman very well. For nearly 30 years, I was a reporter for the Star Tribune and Hy was a prominent University of Minnesota professor and political pundit. But a search … More His words, his story, his magnetism: Capturing the voice of Hy Berman, Minnesota’s beloved public historian

This key point in US history urgently calls for peaceful, art-filled protest.

August 7, 2019

Teachers strike in Oakland. Photo credit: Brooke AndersonPhotography. Published on Common Dreams.Used with permission. T. V. REEDBuchanan Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Washington State University As Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth has carefully documented, throughout modern history large-scale civil disobedience has been the most effective way to bring about significant social change—including overthrowing authoritarian regimes. If only … More This key point in US history urgently calls for peaceful, art-filled protest.

College is for the connections . . . and the architecture

June 26, 2019

BY CARLA YANNI After the recent college admissions scandal in the United States, many people were left scratching their heads. Who would pay half a million dollars just to secure a place for a child at the University of Southern California? Sure, USC comes in at a respectable 22nd place in one national ranking of … More College is for the connections . . . and the architecture

"History is nothing if not a collection of antecedents, one leading to the next": Michael Schumacher on the 1968 election and the war for America’s soul.

August 15, 2018

BY MICHAEL SCHUMACHERExcerpt from The Contest: The 1968 Election and the War for America’s Soul***** A political campaign is a dehumanizing rite. Its only purpose is power, and tends to bring out the worst in men. Repetition, exhaustion, anxiety, and pressure must be endured cheerfully. Instincts have to be disguised. Sleep and privacy are elusive. … More "History is nothing if not a collection of antecedents, one leading to the next": Michael Schumacher on the 1968 election and the war for America’s soul.

Governing the countryside: On modernity and progress in rural South Dakota.

June 12, 2018

BY THOMAS BIOLSIUniversity of California, Berkeley How should we make sense of “red states” and “blue states,” and in a way that does not fall victim to the political polarization that seems to have reached a crescendo in the present? My new book, Power and Progress on the Prairie, seeks to uncover the history of … More Governing the countryside: On modernity and progress in rural South Dakota.

A look behind the challenging, provocative, fascinating history of the color grey.

May 16, 2018

BY FRANCES GUERIN I recall the day The Truth Is Always Grey was conceived. I was visiting the Alberto Giacometti retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Fall 2007—a huge exhibition in which Giacometti’s portraits, sculptures, and busts were placed in dialogue to shed new light on the oeuvre. As I walked from room to room, … More A look behind the challenging, provocative, fascinating history of the color grey.

From environmental impact to community saviors, here are seven things you might not know about one of the largest wildfires in Minnesota history.

May 9, 2018

BY CARY J. GRIFFITHAuthor of Gunflint Burning Eleven years ago this month, the most destructive wildfire in modern Minnesota history at the time rallied more than one thousand firefighters, consumed 75,000 acres of forest, with firefighting costs around $11 million and structure losses estimated to top $100 million. Writing about the Ham Lake fire was … More From environmental impact to community saviors, here are seven things you might not know about one of the largest wildfires in Minnesota history.

Uncovering the brave women behind mental-health reform in Minnesota.

April 5, 2018

BY SUSAN BARTLETT FOOTEProfessor emerita in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota In the past two years, the Women’s March and the #MeToo movement have given voice to demands for gender equality. These claims are part of a long history—from suffragists marching for the vote to the cry of feminists in … More Uncovering the brave women behind mental-health reform in Minnesota.

Before Sigurd Olson, and before Calvin Rutstrum, there was Howard Greene.

November 28, 2017

Camp scene from 1915 at Lake Vermillion, in the mist. Because there is a difference between the history we know and the stories we keep, the experience of this book is magical. —PETER GEYE, from the Foreword to Border Country: The Northwoods Canoe Journals of Howard Greene, 1906–1916. *** Over the course of ten years, … More Before Sigurd Olson, and before Calvin Rutstrum, there was Howard Greene.