Heartland History – serie

To know a place deeply means to understand it on several levels, layered almost as if from bedrock to topsoil. Midwest Bedrock: The Search for Nature's Soul in America's Heartland takes readers on a journey across all twelve Midwest states to natural settings that defy typical stereotypes of the Midwest landscape. Each chapter focuses on one focal region or locality within each state, often seeking out lesser-known landscapes steeped in beauty and story.Author Kevin Koch invites readers to join him on a journey through the beauty of the Midwest and to discover such places as Wisconsin's 1,100-mile Ice Age Trail that follows the furthest reach of the last glacier; Minnesota's Lake Itasca, headwaters of the Mississippi River; and Indiana's Hoosier National Forest, which still cradles hidden graveyards from long-abandoned farm communities. Part history, part memoir, part interview-based research, Midwest Bedrock is a personal narrative of exploring the natural beauty of America's Heartland, where each location tells the stories of the past that linger on the landscape.

To know a place deeply means to understand it on several levels, layered almost as if from bedrock to topsoil. Midwest Bedrock: The Search for Nature's Soul in America's Heartland takes readers on a journey across all twelve Midwest states to natural settings that defy typical stereotypes of the Midwest landscape. Each chapter focuses on one focal region or locality within each state, often seeking out lesser-known landscapes steeped in beauty and story.Author Kevin Koch invites readers to join him on a journey through the beauty of the Midwest and to discover such places as Wisconsin's 1,100-mile Ice Age Trail that follows the furthest reach of the last glacier; Minnesota's Lake Itasca, headwaters of the Mississippi River; and Indiana's Hoosier National Forest, which still cradles hidden graveyards from long-abandoned farm communities. Part history, part memoir, part interview-based research, Midwest Bedrock is a personal narrative of exploring the natural beauty of America's Heartland, where each location tells the stories of the past that linger on the landscape.

As its name denotes, Indianapolis is without question Indiana's city. Known as the Crossroads of America, Indianapolis and the surrounding communities have and continue to play an important role in politics, logistics, and commerce for both the state and the country.Indianapolis: A Concise History looks at the development of the city from a frontier village to a major railroad city in the late nineteenth century and through its continued growth in the twentieth century. Author and historian Jon C. Teaford reveals the origins of the Indianapolis Speedway, the rise and fall of the Ku Klux Klan, the persistent racial tension in the city, and the revitalization efforts under Mayor William Hudnut and his successors. Since 1824 Indianapolis has been the state's largest city, its political center, and the home of Indiana's state government, and it continues to be a center for urban growth.

As its name denotes, Indianapolis is without question Indiana's city. Known as the Crossroads of America, Indianapolis and the surrounding communities have and continue to play an important role in politics, logistics, and commerce for both the state and the country.Indianapolis: A Concise History looks at the development of the city from a frontier village to a major railroad city in the late nineteenth century and through its continued growth in the twentieth century. Author and historian Jon C. Teaford reveals the origins of the Indianapolis Speedway, the rise and fall of the Ku Klux Klan, the persistent racial tension in the city, and the revitalization efforts under Mayor William Hudnut and his successors. Since 1824 Indianapolis has been the state's largest city, its political center, and the home of Indiana's state government, and it continues to be a center for urban growth.

Discover how railroad companies in America's heartland developed a monumental network that spanned nearly 70,000 route miles. Over a century, a wide array of carriers ranging from short lines to trunk roads spread through the Midwest and represented over 35% of the country's rail mileage in the 1920s.Railroads in the Midwest is a portrait of two premier rail hub rivals, Chicago and St. Louis, and of Iowa and Ohio, which boasted the highest line densities. Before World War I, Iowa railroad officials bragged that the Hawkeye State had a depot and agent located no farther than thirteen miles from any point within its borders.In Railroads in the Midwest: An Epic History, renowned historian H. Roger Grant draws on fifty years of research into America's celebrated railroad history to examine what effect railroads had in the heartland and what has happened to them since the early twentieth century.

Discover how railroad companies in America's heartland developed a monumental network that spanned nearly 70,000 route miles. Over a century, a wide array of carriers ranging from short lines to trunk roads spread through the Midwest and represented over 35% of the country's rail mileage in the 1920s.Railroads in the Midwest is a portrait of two premier rail hub rivals, Chicago and St. Louis, and of Iowa and Ohio, which boasted the highest line densities. Before World War I, Iowa railroad officials bragged that the Hawkeye State had a depot and agent located no farther than thirteen miles from any point within its borders.In Railroads in the Midwest: An Epic History, renowned historian H. Roger Grant draws on fifty years of research into America's celebrated railroad history to examine what effect railroads had in the heartland and what has happened to them since the early twentieth century.

A witty, wise, and affectionate journey to every corner of the North Star State. After years of living abroad, writer and poet Patrick Hicks returns to Minnesota only to find that his home state feels like a foreign country.In the tradition of Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux, Greater Minnesota is an account of Hicks's discoveries. Half travelogue, half history, and fully delightful in its exploration of new places and people, this book follows Hicks as he ventures to the North Shore, the Iron Range, the Southwest, and even Up North in the dead of winter. As he travels the back roads of the state, he visits the Mayo Clinic, the SPAM Museum, ancient petroglyphs, the US Hockey Hall of Fame, the birthplace of Minnesota Public Radio, a world-class aviation museum hidden on the prairie, a lost forest, the humble start of the Mississippi River, and other stops along the way that are both surprising and intriguing.Through conversations with people on his travels, Greater Minnesota brings the reader along as he searches for what it means to be a Minnesotan.

A witty, wise, and affectionate journey to every corner of the North Star State. After years of living abroad, writer and poet Patrick Hicks returns to Minnesota only to find that his home state feels like a foreign country.In the tradition of Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux, Greater Minnesota is an account of Hicks's discoveries. Half travelogue, half history, and fully delightful in its exploration of new places and people, this book follows Hicks as he ventures to the North Shore, the Iron Range, the Southwest, and even Up North in the dead of winter. As he travels the back roads of the state, he visits the Mayo Clinic, the SPAM Museum, ancient petroglyphs, the US Hockey Hall of Fame, the birthplace of Minnesota Public Radio, a world-class aviation museum hidden on the prairie, a lost forest, the humble start of the Mississippi River, and other stops along the way that are both surprising and intriguing.Through conversations with people on his travels, Greater Minnesota brings the reader along as he searches for what it means to be a Minnesotan.

The American Midwest and the Idea of Regionalism traces the birth, rise, and evolution of regional thought in the American Midwest from the concept's emergence in the 1890s to its national and global implications in the early 21st century.In three parts, author Michael C. Steiner describes how the idea of regionalism arose from the American Midwest, drawing connections between and across many of the cultural movements and actors of US history. First, Steiner outlines how the Middle West, as a constellation of Native and settler cultures, gave rise to the nation's first regional thought. He then focuses on the lives and theories of the most significant contributors to this philosophy—John Wesley Powell, Jane Addams, Frederick Jackson Turner, and Hamlin Garland—before examining its evolution in the first half of the 20th century with the influence of Black intellectuals and artists, from Langston Hughes and Gordon Parks to Margaret Walker and Richard Wright. Following their enduring impact through works of the latter part of the century, Steiner completes his survey with the wide-ranging works of Gwendolyn Brooks, Nelson Algren, and Meridel Le Sueur. Finally, he considers how regionalism has expanded and evolved as a "forever agenda" into our current era.A deep dive into the rich patchwork of racial, ethnic, and radical cultures that is the Midwest, The American Midwest and the Idea of Regionalism is a creative intellectual history that will appeal to a wide range of readers.

The American Midwest and the Idea of Regionalism traces the birth, rise, and evolution of regional thought in the American Midwest from the concept's emergence in the 1890s to its national and global implications in the early 21st century.In three parts, author Michael C. Steiner describes how the idea of regionalism arose from the American Midwest, drawing connections between and across many of the cultural movements and actors of US history. First, Steiner outlines how the Middle West, as a constellation of Native and settler cultures, gave rise to the nation's first regional thought. He then focuses on the lives and theories of the most significant contributors to this philosophy—John Wesley Powell, Jane Addams, Frederick Jackson Turner, and Hamlin Garland—before examining its evolution in the first half of the 20th century with the influence of Black intellectuals and artists, from Langston Hughes and Gordon Parks to Margaret Walker and Richard Wright. Following their enduring impact through works of the latter part of the century, Steiner completes his survey with the wide-ranging works of Gwendolyn Brooks, Nelson Algren, and Meridel Le Sueur. Finally, he considers how regionalism has expanded and evolved as a "forever agenda" into our current era.A deep dive into the rich patchwork of racial, ethnic, and radical cultures that is the Midwest, The American Midwest and the Idea of Regionalism is a creative intellectual history that will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Beyond Corn and Caucuses is an interdisciplinary exploration of Iowa's modern history and identity through visual culture that offers fresh insights on a state that has too often been stereotyped as flat, bland, and homogeneous.Combining art history, American studies, politics, film studies, and tourism studies, author Anna Thompson Hajdik tells new stories about the state and makes connections between past and present, the regional and the national, and myth and reality. Through six case studies focused on a different depiction of the state, Hajdik unravels how the image of Iowa has morphed over time into a totemic symbol of the nation's character. From films like Field of Dreams and The Music Man to vibrant public art and coverage of the Iowa caucuses, Beyond Corn and Caucuses asks readers to consider how the intersection of regional and national identity has taken root in a place like Iowa, and how its visual culture can play a significant role in shaping collective public memory. More than just a chronological history of Iowa, Beyond Corn and Caucuses reclaims and elevates the history and culture of the American Midwest.