University of Nebraska Press

Speaking of summer reading lists…

The University of Nebraska Press title In the United States of Africa made a summer reading list put together by Public Radio International program The World. Here’s the description of In the United States of Africa that The World posted on its Web site:

"In the United States of Africa by Abourahaman A. Waberi. Translated from the French by David and Nicole Ball. University of Nebraska Press. Waberi, a French-speaking African writer, makes expert use of an acidic satiric set-up worthy of Swift. History has reversed itself: millions flee the poverty of the United States and Europe for the prosperity of Africa. A short, bittersweet, and amusing mediation on multicultural reversals of fortune."

To see what other titles The World recommends, click here.

And have a great weekend!

Off the Shelf: If You Don't Go, Don't Hinder Me by Bernice Johnson Reagon

Read from the opening essay, "Twentieth-Century Gospel: As the People Moved They Sang a New Song" in If You Don't Go, Don't Hinder Me: The African American Sacred SongTradition by Bernice Johnson Reagon:

"I joined my first and only gospel choir when I joined the church at eleven years of age. It was the first gospel choir at Mt. Early Baptist, a small rural church in Dougherty County pastored by my father, Rev. Jessie Johnson. My sister Fannie, who played the piano, organized the choir. It was 1954—gospelwas everywhere. Most of the Baptist and Pentecostal churches inside the city of Albany, the county seat of Dougherty, already had gospel choirs. However, the country churches were sometimes a decade behind the city churches."

Linking in Lincoln: November 13, 2008

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press is The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations by Amy Lonetree and Amanda J. Cobb.  The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian opened up in Washington D.C. in 2004.  Made up of approximately 800,000 objects within three galleries, these pieces are closely related to native communities across the continent. This compilation of perspectives, including both native and non-native, span the boundaries of art history, anthropology, ethnic studies, and Native American studies.
    Museums are just one of the many ways this country gives recognition and acknowledgement to the many disenfranchised groups that have existed here. This week Linking in Lincoln will provide links to some museums that represent other alienated cultures in America. Institutes which symbolize the inspiring accomplishments and heritage that at times during our history went overlooked. Care to join us reader?

1.    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in 1993 and has had more than 25 millions visitor to this day.

2.    The National Museum of African American History was also established in 2003 by the Smithsonian Institute. They were the first major museum to open on the web before their physical building was complete.

3.    In 1908 the Hispanic Society of America Museum and Library opened its doors. To this day it has published more than 200 monographs by the society’s curators.

4.    The Japanese American National Museum opened in 1992 and contains 130 years of Japanese American History dating back to the Issei generation.

5.    From 1892 to 1954 this immigrant depot processed and welcomed 12 million people in search of freedom and economic opportunity. You can commemorate their arrival at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

Well readers, what did you find?  A little slice of history I hope! Don’t forget that you can find The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations by Amy Lonetree and Amanda J Cobb at the University of Nebraska Press website. Don’t forget to join us tomorrow for a little This Week in History!

Linking in Lincoln: October 9, 2008

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press is Blue Skies, Black Wings: African American Pioneers of Aviation by Samuel L. Broadnax. After a love of flying and years spent as a pilot at the Tuskegee Army Air Base, Samuel Broadnax began to research the experiences of other black pilots and “pioneers” of aviation. This book is a culmination of those tales, from Charles Wesley Peters who flew his own plane in  1911, to the 1945 Freeman Field mutiny against segregationist policies. This week Linking in Lincoln will pay tribute to the struggles and fights of these men with a few links to widen our horizons on what they might have went through.

To see what life was like for African Americans in the military, during any war, head to Africanamericans.com.

Another famous African American, who also fought injustice but on a more public front, is Ella Fitzgerald. Check out her staggeringly good rendition of “Blue Skies” on youtube.com now.

Tuskegee Army Air Base, where Broadnax trained as a pilot, is now called Sharp Field. Go to Wikipedia.com for a full history.

To find out more about the pioneers, in the U.S. and beyond,  in Aviation, check out aviation_calderara.com.

I can remember the first time I saw Glory. I was sick on the day they showed it in history, so my dad let me watch it at home. For more information on this stunning movie, and how it depicts African Americans in the military, head to imdb.com

In 12006, the Tuskegee Airmen won the Congressional Medal of Honor. To find out more about this unparalleled honor head to the cmohs.org.

Well readers, do you feel more informed? More equipped to head out and get your own copy of Blue Skies, Black Wings, if so check it out at the UNP website.  And don’t forget to join us tomorrow for another installment of This Week in History.

This Week in History: August 4-8, 2008

This Week in History: August 4 - 8, 2008
Well, August is officially here, and let me tell you we are sure feeling the heat here in Nebraska!  Hopefully the weather in China is a little milder because this week the summer Olympics officially begin in Beijing where over 10,000 athletes from around the world will be competing. It seems like the Olympics get bigger and bigger all the time! Did you know that even though the Olympics can be traced back to ancient Greece the modern Olympics didn’t begin until 1859? Just a little fun fact I thought I’d share. Here are some more fun facts about what was happening this week in history.

August 4, 1693: Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon's invention of champagne.
Nothing symbolizes celebration quite the way a bottle of champagne does!  However, it is unlikely that champagne will ever be able to compare to the popularity of its ancient counter-part: wine. If you are a self-proclaimed wino or just like learning about wine, you should be on the lookout for Corkscrewed where author Robert V. Camuto takes his readers on an incredible journey through France’s wine country. 

   
August 5, 1962: American actress Marilyn Monroe is found dead at the age of 36 from a drug overdose in her Hollywood home. As most of us know one of Monroe’s claims to fame was her marriage to legendary baseball player Joe DiMaggio. Their marriage was highly publicized and quite dramatic.  For those of you wanting to dig into a little more baseball drama check out Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball. 

August 6, 1965: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was made to help eliminate discriminatory voting practices that were being used towards blacks and other minorities in an effort to discourage them from casting their votes; the Act is seen as a landmark in the Civil Rights Movement. Pieces from Life’s Crazy Quilt is a riveting novel/memoir that retells of a time when racial turbulence was still a major part of life for African Americans in this country.

August 7, 1945: President Harry Truman announces the bombing of Hiroshima with an atomic bomb while returning from the Potsdam Conference aboard the heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31) in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.The dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan can (unofficially) be seen as the beginning of the Cold War, one of the most panicked times in American history.  In his book, Wildfire and Americans, Roger Kennedy brilliantly explores the “untold history” of the Cold War, and for you political history buffs out there, this one is a must! 

August 8, 1794: Joseph Whidbey and George Vancouver lead an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.
Even today, Alaska seems to be a place shrouded in mystery.  It’s so extraordinary that people were exploring this northern wilderness in 1794!  Authentic Alaska is a great way to start exploring this isolated land for yourself while in the comfort of your own home. This book is an amazing way to learn about America’s last frontier and its people. 

This Week in History: June 2-6, 2008

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:  June 2-6, 2008

Ok, readers this is a big week.

June 2, 1692: Bridget Bishop is the first person to go to trial in the Salem Witch Trials in Salem Massachusetts.  She is found guilty and was then hanged on June 10.

Atrocities on Trial, by Patricia Heberer and Jurgen Matthaus  is a great new book taking a sharp look at criminal trials throughout history, including the infamous Nuremberg trials. Any person with an interest in the history of law and what constitutes a war crime should check it out.

June 3, 2008: Presidential candidate Barack Obama announces that he will officially accept the nomination for the Democratic Party on August 28, 2008. This makes him the first African American to do so.

For another book on progressive movements in the political arena, please check out Mayor Helen Boosalis, by Beth Boosalis Davis. This inspiring story is about the first woman to become Mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska.

June 4, 1919: Congress approves the 19th amendment which guarantees suffrage to women everywhere.

Women may have been granted suffrage, but the plight of young girls is still in the works.
To see how this is playing out in some native communities and what is being done first hand; check out Empowerment of North American Indian Girlsby Carol A. Markstrom.

June 5, 1851: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic Uncle Toms Cabin, starts its 10 month run in the National Era, an abolitionist newspaper.

For a first hand look at how this amazing struggle would continue, please read Marvin V. Arnett's book,  Pieces from Life’s Crazy Quilt, about growing up in Detroit during the heart  of the civil rights movement.

June 6, 1986: A 52 year old man in Auburn Washington dies after taking an Excedrin laced with cyanide.

Speaking of poison…..A Strange and Formidable Weapon, by Marion Girard, is about the advent of poison gas during World War I. The use of this gas would have affects on all aspects of British society, those foreseen and unforeseen.

Well, readers thanks for joining us for another installment of TWIH, see you again Tuesday for a little trivia!

An Integrated Intimacy

by Anna-Lisa Cox

The extraordinary story of Covert, Michigan’s radical integration and racial equality has long fascinated me, and, like any author, I could not help but be changed by my years of research into its history.  Yet, my experience with the contemporary community of Covert has also profoundly affected me. 

I still remember visiting Covert many years ago to conduct an oral history interview.  I was to meet with the elderly descendants of some of the first black pioneers to settle in Covert.  I was in graduate school at the time, and had just finished taking a seminar on the practice and theory of oral history, and I really wanted to make sure that I got everything just right.  When I arrived I was very conscious that I was a white stranger in the home of a black family who had generously given me an opportunity to ask them intimate questions about their ancestors.  I was already nervous by the time I had to set up the recording equipment, and in that process made things even worse.  Soon the machines were rebelling, and I could feel myself starting to blush, and then was mortified to see my hands start shaking.  All of a sudden I felt a firm hand on my shoulder -- it was one of my interviewees.  The elderly gentleman smiled at me and said, “Girl, relax!  I’ve got cousins who are whiter than you!”  He started to laugh and I joined him.  After the interview I mulled over what he had said.  Intellectually I knew that Covert had been an integrated community, where whites and blacks had created a socially, economically, politically and physically integrated community a century before the Civil Rights movement.  Finally, however, I truly understood that this was a community where race was not just about theories; it was about intimacy – about family.

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Anna-Lisa Cox is the award-winning author of A Stronger Kinship: One Town's Extraordinary Story of Hope and Faith.  You can learn more by listening to an NPR story on Covert, Michigan and Cox's research.

Lee Lowenfish at SABR

Lee Lowenfish, author of Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman, attended Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) conference last week.  Lorin Duckman was able to capture some photos of Lee at the UNP booth.

The SABR 37 Convention was held July 26 through the 29th, 2007 in St. Louis, MO.  You can learn more about SABR on their website and their many publications.

A View into the Culture of Basketball

heck out this audio/visual representation of the book Under the Boards: The Cultural Revolution in Basketball.  The book is by author Jeffrey Lane, and you can visit his website here.  The video was created by Emily Henretta.  Enjoy!

On reading memoirs

've read very few memoirs in my not-so-short lifetime (Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Wharton’s A Backward Glance, I can’t think of any others, but I’m sure there are more I’ve read) because, as a rule, I stay as far away from nonfiction as possible. But I recently read a book called Pieces from Life’s Crazy Quilt by a woman named Marvin V. Arnett. A woman named Marvin? She explains that it is a namesake of a beautiful friend of her mother’s, another woman named Marvin.

The memoir traces Arnett’s life during her elementary school years, circa the Depression. It gives a perspective into a black community salted with other races (for instance, Polish immigrants and descendants play roles in Arnett’s life) in Detroit during this era.  And there is a sense of community that is lost today in Detroit-sized cities; I bet one would be hard pressed to find a community like Arnett’s, where everyone knew everyone and took care of everyone.