American Studies

Allies of the Earth is a splendidly produced book featuring beautiful cover art and rich period imagery promoting the railroads’ relationship with the environment. The book’s high production values, engaging and accessible narrative, and timeliness—considering the current national debate over increased energy costs—makes this fascinating study essential for environmental historians, students, and the general public.

—Environmental History

Author Carol Trowbridge helps us understand this eccentric medical pioneer who was never fully accepted by his peers, but whose holistic methods are now considered the cutting edge of medicine today.

Trowbridge’s book is a very interesting discussion of late-nineteenth-century evolutionary thought and the impact of this thought upon American medicine. Still certainly ranks as one of the least-known and original scientific thinkers of the late nineteenth century.

—Journal of the West

The spectacular natural wonder called Big Spring near the Current River is hidden away in Missouri’s Ozarks Hills.

Big Spring Autumn is an engagingly reflective account of both place and human experience. Bonnie Stepenoff fuses the insights of a seasoned historian and observer of landscape with personal recollections and deeply held feelings that should appeal to a broad audience. 

—Richard Longstreth, George Washington University

President Harry Truman identified himself repeatedly as a champion of civil liberties in the American system of government. (TLS 9)

President Harry S. Truman’s contribution to civil rights is generally viewed as substantial and important. These essays renew a continuing dialogue into the meaning of some of President Truman’s most important decisions.     (TLS 2)

It appears that Truman knew the politics of race was based more on finesse than force, and although he understood both, the best he could do is start the process. The editors include useful lists of Truman’s speeches and executive orders relating to civil rights, and the collection of original documents and period photographs is exceptional.

—Book News Inc.

This work examines more than sixty years of major social and economic changes for the fiercely independent residents of the Courtois Hills in the Missouri Ozark.

A Democratic President facing a Republican Congress and a divided Democratic Party, Truman stands as a model for other presidents during periods of divided government.     (TLS 7)

Truman’s grandson provides commentary, photos, and context for the recently discovered letters Bess wrote to Harry Truman during the formative years of his political life.

The 1909 murder case surrounding the wealthy Swope family of Independence, Missouri, gripped newspaper readers throughout the nation. This book gathers the facts behind the suspicious fates of three Swope family members: the eccentric Colonel, millionaire donor of Kansas City, Missouri’s Swope Park, his affable cousin, and a young nephew and heir.

Book of the Year Award for the 2009 ForeWord Magazine, True Crime category

Presenting the “lost” year of the overland emigrants in 1848, this volume sheds light on the journey of the men, women, children, and the wagon trains that made the challenging trek from Missouri to Oregon and California.

This unique collection of images of Abraham Lincoln portrays one of America’s greatest figures from an artist’s point of view.

Decades before the environmental concerns of the 1960s and long before today’s quest for sustainability, Harry S. Truman’s presidency decisively changed the scope and pace of federal government interaction with the natural world.     (TLS 5)

Thomas Quinn, DO, showcases some of the valiant women who rose above adversity to become osteopathic doctors in those early years, and includes prominent women osteopathic physicians up to the present time

Women’s stories are noticeably absent from the master narrative of the Populist and Progressive movements, where their struggle for civil rights was more evident in the Midwest than any other region in the country. This collection of eleven biographical essays highlights women leaders in the Midwest who challenged gender, racial, class, and ethnic boundaries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

This is a history of Truman State University as it evolved from a small, regional teachers college to a nationally recognized, highly selective liberal arts and sciences institution.

An eye-opening chronicle of the proud history of Truman State from its visionary founding over a hundred years ago to modern changes and transformations, such as the introduction of value-added assessment and student reactions.

—The Midwest Book Review

This book tells the story of the Taliesin Fellowship created by Frank and Olgivanna Lloyd Wright in 1932. The Fellowship’s origins and milestones in its history are documented here, as well as the dynamics that shaped its progress, its character, and its story.

The book is a fascinating tale of the Taliesin Fellowship including milestones in its history and dynamics that have shaped its progress and character.

—Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly

On the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel an international group of scholars, policy makers, and members of the public gathered at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace on the Hebrew University Campus to examine the diplomatic and political context from which the State of Israel emerged.

Mysterious cold spots, disembodied voices, and smoky apparitions are just a few of the ghostly goings-on gathered by journalist Jason Offutt in his trek across Missouri.

Truman pioneered refugee admissions, was the first president to propose eliminating all racial/ethnic bars in immigration, and his commission on immigration set out reforms which became central to the epochal Immigration Act of 1965.     (TLS 6)

After 50 years of continuing conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, the legacy of Truman’s struggle is reflected in the distinct voices of this collection’s contributors, including scholars, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Israel’s representative to the United Nations, and a former White House aide during Truman’s presidency.     (TLS 3)

One of the first government heads to recognize the existence of Israel, Harry Truman is a vital figure in the history of modern Israel.

—The Midwest Book Review

In the frontier town of Independence, Missouri, a commerce route for goods to and from Europe developed into a sophisticated international network of overland trade with Mexico.

In post-Reconstruction America, John William “Blind” Boone, an illiterate, itinerate musician, overcame obstacles created by disability, exploitative managers, and racial prejudice to become one of the country’s most beloved concert performers.

The armory buildings in most Missouri towns are the unheralded local face of the Missouri National Guard.

We seldom can read about the life, experiences, and dreams of a common citizen, but here is a glimpse of American society of the late nineteenth century “from the bottom up” as revealed in the life of one man and his family.

Naked Heart: A Soldier’s Journey to the Front is a powerful statement about the dark and vainglorious side of combat as experienced in World War II by a young private, Harold Pagliaro.

Harry S. Truman’s national security legacy, as documented here by Truman scholars and political leaders on the 50th anniversary of the end of his presidency, is marked by a series of noteworthy foreign policy initiatives.     (TLS 1)

Truman was credited with bring[ing] post-WWII order: both former aides to the President and seasoned national security experts blend memories with analysis in a coverage recommended for any college-level library strong in political science and American history.

—Midwest Book Review

Harry S. Truman oversaw the beginning of a dramatic shift in the relationship between the U.S. government and Native Americans.     (TLS 4)

In this inside look at the folk tradition of hand fishing, Mary Grigsby interviews thirty Missouri noodlers to examine this sport’s appeal.

Presentations made at the 18th North American Prairie Conference in June 2002 articulate the importance of the prairie’s worth.

Harry S. Truman made decisions as president that would have a decisive impact in determining the course of history in Northeast Asia after World War II.     (TLS 8)

When the US military was recruiting women mathematicians for a top-secret project to help win World War II, Betty Jean Jennings (Bartik), was a 20-year-old college graduate from rural northwest Missouri applied for the job. Hired as a “computer," she later joined a team of six programmers, all women, who programmed the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC), the first successful general-purpose programmable electronic computer.

This extensive and rich treasure trove of cartoons from Populist newspapers of the 1890s tells the story of one of the most successful third-party movements in American history.

Michael Frome is the pioneer conservation journalist, a premier environmental muckraker.

As a seasoned watchdog and critic, no other environmental writer gave a more objective, well-documented assessment of the failures and betrayals of those in power who violated the public trust. Michael Frome’s memoirs reveal his support of activist leaders around the country who bring accountability to government. It is in these everyday citizens who fight for the public interest that he finds hope for democracy and our nation.

—Stewart Brandborg, Wilderness Society

Buried for years in family files, this important firsthand Civil War account of Franklin Dick’s experiences as Union assistant adjutant general and Missouri provost marshal general gives a new view of politics, power, and divided loyalties in the state of Missouri.

Thoughtfully annotated and supplemented with brief biographies as well as a family genealogy and bibliography, Troubled State is a welcome addition to Civil War primary source shelves.

This collection of 263 cartoons portrays the life and times of Harry S. Truman during his years in local and state offices, the U.S. Senate, and as the 33rd U.S. President.

While the clever cartoons confirm the notion that a picture can be worth a thousand words, the accompanying text is a surprise bonus. It presents a masterfully concise biography of Truman and a review of his impact upon the world.

—Springfield News-Leader

Unbridled Cowboy is a riveting firsthand account of a defiant hell-raiser in the wild and tumultuous American Southwest.

Winner of the 2009 Will Rogers Medallion Award

Author Margaret Graham draws from an extensive collection of letters, journals, Bible entries, receipts, newspaper clippings, and photographs from 1860 to 1902 to portray the family of boarding house proprietor Margaret Bruin Machette.

It is part of the genius of this oversize, eclectic, thoughtfully organized collection that it can be read on several levels: culled for straight history, browsed for printed and other trappings of popular culture or mined in depth for its household’s-eye view of an American family in transition.

—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A comprehensive and comparative oral history of Asian women living in the Midwest.

This comprehensive oral history recognizes the challenges faced by immigrant women adjusting to a new culture while working to preserve their ethnic identity.

—State Historical Society of Missouri

When Waltus Watkins, a successful farmer and entrepreneur, decided to open a woolen mill on his rural western Missouri property in the late 1850s, he was not just undertaking another commercial venture.

This volume, well illustrated throughout, is exactly the sort of souvenir publication for an industrial installation that is both tied to the site and puts the site into the wider context.

—Industrial Archaeology

Jason Offutt investigates true tales of these and other paranormal events that happened within 100 miles of his home. He introduces ordinary folks who have encountered unexplained phenomena in everyday places and presents engaging accounts of their experiences.

This volume tells the story of transportation providers struggling to survive in a changing economy only to surrender to the relentless forces of the marketplace. In many communities, the withdrawal of the railroad had unexpected consequences; in others, it forever altered the rhythm of daily life.     (Vol. 1, Eastern United States)

This book is appropriately documented, sports excellent maps, and contains a variety of striking historic and contemporary images. All levels/collections.

Through the use of maps, photographs, and a fast-moving narrative, Schwieterman illustrates the circumstances surrounding the rise and fall of rail service in fifty-eight communities distinguished for their notable railroad histories.     (Vol. 2, Western United States)

This book…will jolt you awake with its innovative approach to defining the history of many notable Western towns.… For history nitpickers and movie critics, this book provides an unexpected perspective in understanding the commerce and economics of the West.

—True West