200 Years of Illinois: Moses in No Man’s Land
On October 4, 1923, Charlton Heston floated down Lake Michigan in a reed basket and bumped ashore at No Man’s Land, Illinois. A proverbial land of milk and honey—well, booze and […]
Author: rkcunningham
Posts by rkcunningham
Sweet potatoes for a sweet year
Today marks Rosh Hashanah of the year 5777 and if you want to be Jewish for a day, you should eat. Because you look tired. Your cheeks look sunken. Are […]
Release Party: A Century of Transnationalism
Immigrant transnationalism reminded scholars that migrants, in leaving home for a new life abroad, inevitably tie place of origin and destination together, scholars of transnationalism have also insisted that today’s […]
200 Years of Illinois: Lead Is Galena and Galena Is Lead
On September 30, 1822, the federal government gave the first lease to mine lead in the Galena region to Richard M. Johnson. They also provided armed soldiers as guards to […]
Banning books
Last year Slate ran an article that, in that annoying Slate way, made it clear: the battle is won. We no longer have to fear book banning. It is a rare phenomenon, […]
Return of the Word Warrior
This past Sunday, Washington, D.C. radio station WAMU-FM went into the vaults to find a classic 1949 radio documentary on Ida B. Wells. Part of the classic Destination Freedom series, the […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: I Learned Law at the Movies
Courtroom dramas and filmed jury rooms have left an indelible impression on Americans. That impression? The law is so straightforward you can wrap up any case in a maximum of […]
Release Party: Black Girlhood in the Nineteenth Century
From the new UIP release Black Girlhood in the Nineteenth Century, by Nazera Sadiq Wright. African American educator and activist Fannie Barrier Williams highlighted what could happen when black girls in […]
Marty Robbins, El Paso, and Mr. Teardrop
In three decades as a singer and songwriter Robbins placed a staggering 94 songs on Billboard’s country music charts. His musical style ranged from rockabilly rave-ups to pop standards and […]
Trivia Friday
1. University of Illinois scientists have long endeavored to create a base for chewing gum that uses zein, a protein found in corn. In 2005, researcher Graciela Padua announced that […]
200 Years of Illinois: Of Maulers and Marines
September 22, 1927. The date of The Long Count, one of most memorable moments in the annals of pugilism. In this corner, the heavyweight champion of the world, Gene Tunney, […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: Photos of America
Though UIP published photography on the beauty of the Midwest and the University of Illinois campus, we also venture out of these expected subjected areas. This week we present a […]