University of Nebraska Press

This Week in History: September 22-26, 2008

Well readers, it’s been a pretty big week in my little world. My hopes of becoming the next Mrs. Clay Aiken were dashed as this month's People hit the stands and formally announced his lack of interest in my (the fairer) sex. I have no doubt women all over the U.S. were equally disappointed. Now if you are not a fan of Mr. Aiken or are slightly more interested in the books and history we’re about to present then let me delay you no further.  After all we’ve got a pretty eclectic week for you, everything from Lewis and Clark to Dr. Seuss to Luke Skywalker. If you want to lament with me however, then please go ahead.

September 22, 1888: The first issue of National Geographic Magazine is published.

National Geographic is known for taking that in depth look into our world, our cultures, and nature that is necessary for a well balanced perspective. For me Antarctica is a perfect representation of this. To see what one of UNP’s authors have come to know about the continent, take a look at The Entire Earth and Sky: Views on Antarctica,by Leslie Carol Roberts.

September 23, 1886: Lewis and Clark return to St. Louis after exploring the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

Oh, Lewis and Clark! However did they make it without Sacagawea? To find out please check out Why Sacagawea Deserves the Day Off and Other Lessons from the Lewis & Clark Trail, by Stephanie Ambrose Tubbs.

September 24, 1991: Theodore Geisel aka Dr. Seuss dies today.

I think we can all agree that Dr. Seuss was a real lover of children. For another UNP author who can say the same, please check out Against Joie de Vivre by Phillip Lopate.

September 25, 1951: Mark Hamil, American Actor is born today.

There can, perhaps, be no better representative of science fiction than Star Wars. For a look at what came before this brilliant trilogy have a look at The Man with the Strange Head and other Early Science Fiction Stories by Miles J. Breuer.

September 26, 1774: Johnny Appleseed, American Environmentalist is born.

In the age of Global Warming, we have grown used to the conflict between progressing as a society at the possible risk of nature and protecting the environment at the possible risk of progression. As Midwesterners we are privileged to have a large part of this threatened landscape in our own backyards. You can see this beautifully outlined in The Wide Open: Prose, Poetry, and Photographs of the Prairie, by Annick Smith and Susan O’Conner

Well readers, have a great weekend. Join us again Tuesday for some Tuesday Trivia!

Tuesday Trivia: September 3, 2008

On the trail of Tuesday Trivia….
New this month from the University of Nebraska Press, is Why Sacagawea Deserves the Day off and Other Lessons from the Lewis and Clark Trail, by Stephanie Ambrose Tubbs.  By foot, by Volkswagen bus, and by canoe is how this adventurous woman renewed and relived each step the two explorers and their famous (though relatively unknown) guide took more than two hundred years ago.  This week Tuesday Trivia will try to shed some light onto this mystery woman-with all the information the world wide web has to offer.
Put your thinking caps on bloggers….this trivia train is ready to take off!

1.)    True or False: There are two lakes, one river and 4 mountain peaks named after Sacagawea?
2.)    In what year was Sacagawea born?
3.)    Sacagawea actually means what, and should be spelled how?
4.)    What tribe is she originally from?
5.)    True or False: Sacagawea was originally captured in the fall of 1800 near what is now known as Peoria, IL?
6.)    She was traded to a French Canadian trader by the name of what?
7.)    Who was President the year Sacagawea was born?
8.)    In what years did she travel with Lewis & Clark?
9.)    What year was Sacagawea reunited with her people?
10.)    She died in what year?

Ok, bloggers how’d you do? Check back tomorrow for your answers!

This Week in History: August 11-15, 2008

The Summer Olympics are officially in full swing and excitement doesn’t seem to be in short supply. The United States is off to a great start; only China has won more gold medals at this point, but the U.S. isn’t behind by much. Another competition that is heating up is the presidential election. The race seems to be getting more and more media coverage everyday; it has become such a media frenzy that even Paris Hilton is using the election as a way to get publicity! The race to the White House couldn’t be between more different people; it will be interesting to see who will emerge victorious. Well, enough about politics and the Olympics, let’s look back and see what was happening this week in history.

August 11, 1900: Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidential nomination of William Jennings Bryan.
William Jennings Bryan is one of the most famous men to have come from Nebraska; he was a very successful man who accomplished a lot throughout his life, although he never did make it to the White House despite running for the office three different times. For those of you interested in Nebraska and its people, The Plain Sense of Things by Pamela Carter Joern would be a great book for you. Although the book is fiction, it is very representative of how real life was for families that lived in Nebraska when the state was still a wild frontier. 

August 12, 30 BC: Cleopatra commits suicide after her lover Mark Antony's defeat at the battle of Actium.
The story of Cleopatra and Mark Antony is one of the most famous love stories of all time. For all you romantics out there, Valentines, by former poet laureate Ted Kooser, should be able to help feed your need for love. Kooser started writing poems to the women in his life back in 1986, and his Valentine’s Day tradition persisted for over twenty-one years! Valentines is the collection of the valentines/poems he sent, and the collection is sure to put butterflies in your stomach.

August 13, 1918: Women enlist in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha Mae Johnson is the first woman to enlist.
Women have come a long way since 1918.  If you think about it, women weren’t even allowed to vote in 1918! Well, women have made a lot of progress; nevertheless, women are still doing a lot of firsts, even today. In Pacific Lady, Sharon Sites Adams with the help of Karen J. Coates shares her experience of being the first woman to sail solo from mainland United States to Hawaii in 1965. This is a great book for anyone who loves reading about adventure!

August 14, 1901: The first claimed powered flight, by Gustave Whitehead in his Number 21.
This supposed flight by Gustave Whitehead happened two years before the Wright brothers made their place in history by flying. Many people, however, doubt Whitehead’s reliability and contest if the flight actually even happened. Regardless, Whitehead and several witnesses claimed his plane, Number 21, flew off the ground for 200 feet or so on this day. Today aviation is a part of our everyday lives, but flying can still be dangerous business. In his book, Hard Air, W. Scott Olsen explores extraordinary flying, and gives readers an inside look into extreme flying situations such as flying into a hurricane. Check this book out if you want to see into a world that usually only a few will ever know.

August 15, 1769: Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the France is born.
Napoleon Bonaparte is probably one of the most famous military leaders of all time. Many people don’t realize that Native Americans had many great military leaders too that were just as brilliant and brave as some of the European leaders. One of the most famous Native American leaders was Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux. Author Mari Sandoz explores the life and legacy of this great leader in her book Crazy Horse. It is a must for those interested in Native American studies and military endeavors.

Author in the News

Susan Brownell, author of the University of Nebraska Press title, The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games: Sport, Race, and American Imperialism, was featured this morning on NPR. Listen to the NPR broadcast as she discusses China and their efforts to enthusiastically support their country at this year’s summer Olympics.

Brownell’s title, The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games, is due out this September. 

Linking in Lincoln: July 24, 2008

New from the University of Nebraska Press, is Chief Bender’s Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star by Tom Swift.  Charles Albert Bender was the greatest American Indian Baseball Player of all time. His career unfolded in a time of great prejudice but his reputation for possessing an “unflappable demeanor” garnered him respect from the sporting world. This remarkable story told by journalist Tom Swift is sure to show you a side of baseball that is often overlooked, and his talent of utilizing both storytelling and the objectiveness of journalism recreates the “silent struggle” this sports hero endured. This week Linking in Lincoln will take a closer look at the player, the writer, and all the things in between!

Care to brush up on your Chief Bender bio?  If so then do it here at Wikipedia.

For you sports fanatics out there, you can take a look at his stats here.

Tom Swift is an award winning journalist and freelance writer. For more info take a look at his website, “Writers Notebook”.

Curious about other American Indian baseball players? Check out Baseball Almanac for a more comprehensive list.

There are numerous sports heroes out there, but My Hero-sports gives bios and introductions to who they consider to be the most significant.

Chief Bender grew up on the White Earth Reservation. Go to their website for a closer look at their significant history.

Hope you enjoy bloggers! Join us tomorrow for a little TWIH

Tuesday Trivia: July 21, 2007

Well bloggers it hotter than … (well, you know) outside. So to try and get our minds out of the heat this week’s Tuesday Trivia is going to take a look at UNP’s new book, Authentic Alaska II: Voices of the Far North, edited by Susan B. Andrews and John Creed.  Showcasing writers from the Arctic Ocean to the Southeast Alaska rainforests, their stories account for the diverse and unique culture this state has to offer. Their sometimes intimate pieces touch on everything from Global Warming to a mothers fight for her son to go to college. This sequel to Authentic Alaska features both native and non native writers from primarily rural communities. If nothing else then reading this book in the dead heat (like today) might cool you down just a bit!

A.    Alaska is derived from the word Aleut meaning what?
B.    5% if the state speaks one of how many indigenous languages?
C.    The Highest point in Alaska is what?
D.    True or False: Alaska is one of two states not boarded by another.
E.    Alaska is the largest state in the US and covers how much ground?
F.    In 1964 the “Good Friday Earthquake” killed how many people.
G.    80% of Alaska’s state revenues comes from what?
H.    True or False: Alaska has one of the highest individual tax burdens in the country.
I.    How many volcanoes reside in Alaska?
J.    True or False: It was purchased from Russia in 1867 for less than 2 cents per acre.

Ok, bloggers check back tomorrow for the answers!

Tuesday Trivia: July 15, 2008

                                                         IT’S A REBEL TUESDAY!

New from the University of Nebraska Press is Rebel: The Life and Times of John Singleton Mosby by Kevin H. Siepel. Rebel is the first complete biography of the Confederacy’s best-known partisan commander, John Singleton Mosby, the “Gray Ghost.” A practicing attorney in Virginia and at first a reluctant soldier, in 1861 Mosby took to soldiering with a vengeance, becoming one of the Confederate army’s highest-profile officers, known especially for his cavalry battalion’s continued and effective harassment of Union armies in northern Virginia. Although hunted after the war and regarded, in fact, as the last Confederate officer to surrender, he later became anathema to former Confederates for his willingness to forget the past and his desire to heal the nation’s wounds. Appointed U.S. consul in Hong Kong, he soon initiated an anticorruption campaign that ruined careers in the Far East and Washington. Then, following a stint as a railroad attorney in California, he surfaced again as a government investigator sent by President Theodore Roosevelt to tear down cattlemen’s fences on public lands in the West. Ironically, he ended his career as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice.

    This week Tuesday Trivia is going to take a look at Rebels down the years, and these bad boys may not be who you think.

Match the rebel to their legacy:
1.    Pancho Villa
2.    Robert E. Lee
3.    Emiliano Zappata
4.    George Washington
5.    Geronimo
6.    Leon Trotsky
7.    Spartacus
8.    Che Guevara
9.    Michael Davitt

A.    Decorated Southern General who supported Pres. Andrew Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction.
B.    Apache leader who defended his tribe against the advance of the US on his land.
C.    Roman slave who lead an uprising in 73-71 BC.
D.    An Irish politician was pivotal in the Land Act of 1881.
E.    Mexican Revolutionary General but violence prevented him from true hero representation.
F.    Bolshevik revolutionary who was a founding member of Politburo.
G.    First President of the United States
H.    Marxist and Cuban guerrilla leader who was executed in Bolivia in 1967.
I.    Prominent figure in the Mexico Revolution in 1910

Ok, bloggers check back tomorrow for the answers!!!

More Praise for Chief Bender's Burden

Chief Bender’s Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star by Tom Swift

“A gem. . . . Swift’s mission is to reassert Bender as an important figure in the history of the game, both as a player and a groundbreaking figure. His book does well in both ways.”—Kevin Canfield, Chicago Sun-Times

To read earlier praise for Chief Bender's Burden, please visit http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2008/02/starred-review.html.

Continued Praise for Nez Perce Country

Nez Perce Country by Alvin M. Josephy Jr.

“A highly readable text . . . . Josephy was well-suited for the task of writing a comprehensive overview. . . . He probably knew and cared about Nez Perce history and the Nez Perce people as much as any non-Nez Perce writer. . . . We should value this representation of Nez Perce culture and history for what it is: a comprehensive historical description of the Nez Perce Indians by a major writer who spent his life studying and befriending the Nez Perce people.”—Indigenous Issues Today

Read previous praise for Nez Perce Country at http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2007/11/praise-for-nez.html.

More Praise for Chief Bender's Burden

Chief Bender’s Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star by Tom Swift

“A fascinating study of the hardship and prejudice Bender endured, and the character he showed in the face of it all.”—Pat Borzi, MinnPost.com

“A substantial, vivid story of one of the best pitchers of the game’s early years.”—Mike Miliard, Boston Phoenix

To read earlier praise for Chief Bender's Burden, please visit http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2008/02/starred-review.html.