No comments about The Northwest Ordinance, 1787: A Bicentennial Handbook.

5 comments about Bean Blossom Dreams: A City Family's Search for a Simple Country Life.

1. Isn't quitting your boring 9 to 5 office job, moving to the country and living a quieter, humbler existence, everyone's secret dream? Well it has always been one of mine, and reading this book was absolutely a treat for me. In addition to thouroughly enjoying every page of this story, I actually learned many things from this book and was delighted to find that Sallyann included her recipes and tips from the story in the back of the book (although it did mean that the book ended too soon). I was especially dying to know the recipe for her Gorganzola and Leek Soup, and now I can't wait to try it out. I will fondly remember the Murphey's story as I try out her many wonderful recipes. I look forward to her next book, and hopefully a sequel to this story is in her plans.



2. My daughter picked this book up from a garage sale for fifty cents and left it in the "reading room" in our modest house in a modest city in the modest midwest. Growing up on a farm and being raised in a climate where work was expected and birth/life/death were daily events and where weather determined how many presents would be under the Christmas tree, and as well, how much canning would be done in the fall from the family garden, I hold little respect from someone who makes light of being an organic farmer and makes "potpourri" from rose petals.
   
   I realize it's been 10 years or so since Ms. Murphey wrote her book, but I would likely enjoy reading or listening to what she has to say today. Yes, neighbors were family and we lived and breathed next to them. The vet was next to God and God was next to the dinner table every single night when my Dad said Grace. A life on the farm is not romantic when there is no other livelihood. Too bad most people don't recognize this.
   
   I spent just today working on tearing down an old chicken coop at my folks place. The mouse dirt, the years of chicken filth and the constant wind out on the prairie are NOT romantic and not to be trifled with.
   This book goes to the next grange sale fund raiser.



3. Well, geez, the previous reviewer was a little harsh. I don't think Ms. Murphey glamorized or made light of the serious work she had to do on the farm. Rather, I thought she did a great job of showing how difficult it really is. I enjoyed the book and thought it was very touching.



4. Hi, this is Charley Murphey - the daughter :) I may be nearly twenty now and heading toward my sophomore year in college, but I remember those years which Bean Blossom Dreams so aptly describes better than I remember the past five and I can tell you completely honestly that we were never once arrogant about our ability as farmers. I can only remember my mom's infamous enthusiasm at work, her total and complete optimism and hope that we could really have a farm. We have since eased off of that - especially when my mom became deathly allergic to bee stings and we had to completely change our expectations of the garden - but my father is starting a new business producing organic plant food and I've been learning all I can about gardening to help out my mother. I'm sorry that there are those who feel that farm work is not something to be celebrated the way we do, but one thing I can tell you for sure is that we were not glamourizing our life here, or trying to pass ourselves off as great farmers. I know what real farmwork is, I've seen it at home and at the farms of our friends - and I know I'm not cut out for it. But having humor and joy for something that is underappreciated as a profession and way of life is not making a mockery of it - it is simply making it real and something people can smile about and relate to on the smaller level we were working at, so that they would understand and appreciate what we were trying to accomplish. This farm means more to me than anywhere else in the world. The things my mother and father gave to me by coming here, by trying so hard, by having the grace to giggle at themselves when they made mistakes - is priceless. I will never forget what they did for me/us and I will be a part of this farm - as well as try to make it a part of my children someday - forever.



5. One of my favorite stories - laugh out loud funny. Handles serious issues with grace and humor. An enchanting read about a city family's rebirth in the country.

No comments about Finding Indiana Ancestors: A Guide to Historical Research.

1 comments about The Old Northwest Pioneer Period, : 1815-1840 (2 volumes) (Volumes 1 and 2).

1. "Old friends are the best" can apply to historical works as well as personalities for "The Old Northwest" is old -- first published in 1950 -- but still the best account of pioneer life north of the Ohio River ever written.
   
   This two-volume work runs to nearly 1200 pages of text and is an exhaustive account of life in the early years of the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and, to a small extent, Wisconsin. With his lengthy descriptions of quotidian life in these new states and territories the author anticipated by a generation the "annales" approach -- essentially retrospective sociology -- that dominated American historiography decades later. At the same time, he was, as well, a superb commentator on frontier politics and the technology of an emergent industrial civilization.
   
   The sources for this monumental work are about what one would expect: countless newspapers, pioneer memoirs, publications of various antiquarian and First Settler associations and endless digging about in state archives. All of this is woven together in very serviceable prose that is laced with a pleasant humor and never cruel irony. The resultant work is endlessly readable.
   
   There is no aspect of life in the geographical area under consideration for the time period 1815-1840 that is not described -- often in great detail. One learns what the pioneer planted and how he planted it; how he built his house and barn; how he slaughterd his hogs; how the pioneer wife clothed and fed her family and how that family was educated. These chapters, taken by themselves, would empower the veriest modern city-slicker to pioneer himself in the wilderness with at least a fighting chance at survival.
   
   The canal and railroad booms are lovingly retailed. The reader learns exactly what an "ark" was and how it differed from a "flatboat" as well as the details of construction of any other number of riverine craft.
   
   These books are, as well, a primer on Jacksonian banking and finance. The boom and bust mentality of a raucous agricultural economy just sliding over into manufacturing is recounted with a sophistication worthy of such later standbys as Bray Hammond's classic history of period banking.
   
   One could go on and on. To recount all the subjects expertly recounted therein would exhaust the patience of the reader and the time of the reviewer. At the republication price of under $40.00 the set this offering must constitute one of the greatest bargains in American historical writing.

1 comments about Indiana Genealogical Research.

1. The series by Mr. Schweitzer covering a number of states is an excellent starting point for most researchers as well as a handy reference to have. Mr. Schweitzer begins with a brief historical overview of the state's settlement, geography, industries, migration and the like which helps to paint a picture of what likely drew your ancestors there. Mr. Schweitzer's writing style is very plain and direct and he includes a wonderful county by county listing of resources for each state as well as overall statewide resources and records available at the Federal level. There are undoubtedly books that go into greater detail on each state but the Schweitzer series are a great starting point and well worth the money if you're researching there. His titles usually have to be ordered at local booksellers so Amazon is your best bet at getting these quickly and painlessly. One particular note is that this title was written years ago and some telephone numbers and addresses have changed and some groups or societies may be dormant or closed. Additionally Mr. Schweitzer does not make reference to internet sources or email addresses, which is just as well as they tend to get out-of-date quite quickly. I've gotten considerable use out of this title on Indiana and it continues to be very helpful.

No comments about Racism and Sexual Oppression in Anglo-America: A Genealogy.

No comments about The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis.

4 comments about The Nazi Ancestral Proof: Genealogy, Racial Science, and the Final Solution.

1. This is another in a long line of books that shed no new light on the unfortunate events of WWII. Not one I would make a must read to understand the Holocaust.



2. In the first third of the twentieth century, Germany was the most technologically sophisticated and scientifically advanced nation in the world. How could such a nation have produced the Third Reich, the author asks. But before 1933 Germany was not the country where antisemitism has its deepest roots, and this book avoids contributing something to enlighten the causes of antisemitismus in general and in Germany in particular.
   Up to now "race" has in many languages two meanings: First, it means a nation as a whole, second, it means a distinct human type with specific, hereditarily based physical and mental characteristics. In its first meaning, racial hygiene could be unterstood as synonymous with social hygiene, in its second, race was a term of physical anthropology. Leading Nazis were well aware of this ambiguity of the term race and played in words with this ambiguity.
   Despite Jews were never a race in the sense of physical anthropology, anthropologists tried to discern Jews from non-Jews on the basis of racial characterics. The strongest part of this book by Ehrenrich is documenting this dissonance between racial scientific theory and racist practice. The author draws upon a rich body of original sources from German archives and publications. His knowledge of such sources is extraordinary exhaustive and his conclusions are of high originality.
   
   In 1933 the democratically elected government of Germany institutionalized the racial ideology of the Nazi party. In the following years millions of Germans had do proof their "Aryan" descent. But because the Aryans were never a race, since 1935 The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor prohibited marriages and extramarital intercourse between "Jews" (the name was now officially used in place of "non-Aryans") and "Germans. The German Blood Certificate (Deutschblütigkeitserklärung) was a document provided to those with partial Jewish heritage during the Second World War that allowed exemption from Germany's racial laws. Hitler insisted on reviewing each application personally. Thousands of soldiers exempted in such a way from the Nuremberg laws, served in the German Army (see Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story Of Nazi Racial Laws And Men Of Jewish Descent In The German Military (Modern War Studies))
   
   However, even after 1935 in the language of the ordinary people, someone had "to prove his Aryan descent". It was not a proof belonging to a race, but a proof of genealogical descent from non-Jews.



3. I am fairly well read in twentieth century European history, and find that Ehrenreich's text covers an area rarely explored in depth--namely the Nazi's attempt to differentiate between "Aryans" and "alien races"-especially Jews. Their primary problem was that a portion of the Jews in Germany had been baptized into Christianity, demonstrated "Aryan" physical characteristics, had Germanic names, intermarried and (in some cases) had been conferred with aristocratic titles. Ehrenreich covers the various attempts to "weed out" the unwanted through geneological records and "biological investigations." The complicity of the various Churches and scientific communites is documented as well. This is a text book, but a relatively brief one, highly organized and enlivened with interesting case studies. If this an an area in which you have an interest or a healthy curiosity, you won't be disappointed.



4. Any book that can change my perspective is worth the time it takes to read it. This is one of those books. Dr. Ehrenreich explains how racist beliefs were considered 'scientifically' legitimate by not only the government but also the top academic institutions. In short, the book made me realize how there is no such thing as race and how it is still used today to justify genocide. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants proof of how quickly people can be brainwashed by nonscientific propaganda.

4 comments about The Indiana Way: A State History.

1. As a local history buff, I was pleased to encounter this book at the bookstore. Professor Madison does a nice job outlining Indiana's history in a way that the average arm-chair historian can understand without any difficulty whatsoever. The first section is devoted to the land and the early people who inhabited the land. He does a great job getting the geographical history down in a concise manner. It's easy to ramble about the topic, but Madison does a nice job of being brief, but also impeccable with content. He covers all the bases.
   I particulary enjoy the social history, which talks about race-relations and also about people who helped form the State.

   Most major events in American History are taken from the Hoosier perspective as well. While reading, you can tell that Madison has a particular love for the State of Indiana. He writes about it in such a way that demonstrates his admiration for the early settlers, but also he looks at them from a realistic point of view. He does not write history from rose-colored glasses, and writes in a honest and refreshing sort of way.

   My only complaint would be that there needs to be more pictures. I do have to add that the photos included are obviously carefully selected, as they make silent statements in themselves. For example, the one of Klan members exiting a church in rural Knox, Indiana, or the one of a one-room delapitated school house in northern Clinton Co. He did a great job in selecting appropriate photos... I only wish there were more.




2. For those of you non-native Hoosiers (such as myself), this book will help explain why things are the way they are here in Indiana. Why don't we observe daylight savings time? It's "the Indiana way". Why are we more conservative than our fellow midwesterners? It's "the Indiana way".



3. Those that are looking for a general overview of history, in the state of Indiana, will get what they are looking for. Well written and researched. I would have liked to have seen more individual accounts, but that is only a personal preference.



4. I really thought I was overreacting to the lack of some information in this book, so I gave it to another Hoosier who is well versed in Indiana history and they agreed with me. What is contained in the pages is good; however I found a huge lack of content concerning the more northern sections of the state. The effect of the railroad - after all Indiana for the main years of rail travel was one of the more important sections of rail travel between the east and the west, it had the largest and most modern switching yards in the world. Indiana also was a huge manufacturer of band instruments, it also had one of the main pharmaceutical labs in the world, producing vitamins, Alka-Seltzer. There is no mention at all of one of the larger cities in the northern section that contained all of the previously mentioned items - Elkhart. How can you give a state history and leave out such a significant city?

4 comments about Steel Giants: Historic Images from the Calumet Regional Archives.

1. Beautifully composed, printed and bound. Photos of the two steel giants of Northwest Indiana in the early 20th century. Has a library style cover.



2. That vast amalgam of the steel industry that lined virtually the entire South Shore of Lake Michigan never ceased to amaze me as I flew over it on my many trips in and out of Chicago from the East Coast, and it was equally depressing to watch the slow demise and near disappearance of Big Steel over the last thirty years leaving what appears to be a vast alley of soot and rust. It never occurred to me that I would ever need to know more about the subject than my own personal observations noted above. That all changed when I was engaged to design an exhibit based on the Steel Industry on the Lake Michigan South Shore.
   The current meager supply of easily accessible information was vastly improved by the publication of "Steel Giants". This impressive photographic compilation of the now vanished industry puts in one place access to vast archives formerly easily available only to scholars and those willing to travel to Indiana. Due to the source material itself, it's not not the perfect compendium of the industry that might have been compiled by an independent eye. It is instead what the steel industry saw as important to note for reasons of publicity or record. That other book will have to be left to other enquiring industrial archaeologists yet to come. So take this book for what it is---a vast self-portrait of the Twentieth Century steel giants as they saw themselves. That said, it comprises a magnificent and beautifully produced corporate photographic record that you can actually hold in your hands and appreciate at a cost far less than a plane ticket.



3. I think anyone who has either worked, lived, or has a family member that worked at either Inland Steel or USS Gary Works must have this book. Very few words but lots of very interesting and previously unseen by many people in and or from the area. The adjacent areas to these two mills have come full circle. They both started as sand dunes and now are re-approaching that same state again. AS the Steel Industry in these areas have gone, so have the areas (cities). Again, this is a must for anyone from these areas. Besides many of my fathers pictures are in this book. Regardless IT'S A MUST.



4. The book provides an excellent pictorial presentation of the development of the Steel Industry in Northwest Indiana. It presents background information identifying the development of the communities during the subsequent construction of two of the largest steel producing facilities in the United States.