The Professor, the Pacifist, and the Patriotic Farmer
Ernest Hemingway said, "Any man's life, told truly, is a novel." What is Memorial Day but a day to remember. I'll introduce three men from the greater Grinnell area who…
Political genius and over-confidence: A review of Lincoln and His Party in the Secession Crisis
Countless books have been written about the causes of the Civil War. Historian David M. Potter analyzes Republican decisions that contributed to the conflagration. Potter states: “The supreme task of…
The Founders may not have anticipated this one: A controversial loophole about Secession?
A coal miner, riding an elevator deep into a mine, looks for new veins of coal. In a similar way, I have looked for things that other historians might have…
Common ground amid the vociferous slavery debate
The slavery debate was so heated that three Protestant denominations split over the issue. Pro-slavery Christians saw the plain meaning of Scripture; abolitionists pointed to a sophisticated anti-slavery biblical argument. …
Against the flow of Northern opinion: Illinois Rebels and Iowa Confederates
"The Heartland" conjures an image of waving fields of corn under wide-open skies. True-blue Midwesterners enlisted by the thousands in the Union Army. It's also true that some Illinois and…
Feel free to step inside: A review of Outside In: African-American History in Iowa, 1838-2000
Hustling up to the front door, package in hand, I rang the doorbell. An older African-American man invited me in out of the cold. I stepped inside a small entryway…
Slavery Debates: Communication model gone bad
Pounding drums, jeers, and yelling reached a cacophonous pitch on the ship of state. In retrospect, it was inevitable that the slavery debate would end in catastrophe. Historian Mark Noll…
Shaky family, explosive neighborhood: A review of Across Five Aprils
Irene Hunt's grandfather told her what it was like to be a 9-year-old boy in Southern Illinois, with several brothers in the Union Army and one brother wearing gray. Hunt…
Join an expedition into the past: A new Iowa Civil War history
Like a Boy Scout leader with camera around his neck, Kenneth L. Lyftogt takes readers deep into the jungles of a long-ago land, filled with thorny branches, quicksand, and storm…
When you travel, don’t forget to take an Indiana Jones hat
When I take a trip overseas, I plan what I'll carry on the plane and what gets stowed inside the plane. I cram my carryon bag with a few clothes,…