Midwest 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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