Release Party: Taste of the Nation
During the Depression, the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) dispatched scribes to sample the fare at group eating events like church dinners, political barbecues, and clambakes. Its America Eats project sought […]
Author: rkcunningham
Posts by rkcunningham
200 Years of Illinois: Near and Deere
Fleeing debt, John Deere made his way from Vermont to Illinois with a dream: to earn big money making tools. The blacksmith settled in the charmingly-named Grand Detour, Illinois, and […]
RIP Michael S. Harper
Michael S. Harper had a claim on the title of poet-historian, for he drew on the vast histories of African Americans as well as the United States to create works […]
Pump it up with Walt Whitman
The well-read are abuzz over Walt Whitman’s recently discovered journalistic work Manly Health and Training. Published in an obscure newspaper in 1858, Whitman’s dive into the medical science and ubiquitous quackery of […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: The Stories We Tell
Humanity has undoubtedly told stories since forever. Possibly our ancestors acted or danced them before speech found its way into our brains. Writing brought religious texts and Gilgamesh but even […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: O Mother, Where Art Thou?
I wouldn’t try being a mom for a million bucks. I’m not just talking about all the surgery it would require. Fatherhood is definitely its own cross to bear, don’t […]
The Winner’s Circle
Do we like to brag? Ehh, everyone has their faults. Over the years, UIP books have won a great many plaudits, including a National Book Award in 1970 for Science […]
Honoring a Pioneer
On Monday, April 25, The College at Brockport, State University of New York, honored alum Fannie Barrier Williams, its first African American female graduate. The institution dedicated a plaque to […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: The Pitching Hour
For a boring sport, baseball sure produces a lot of interesting writing. Maybe because writers have a lot of time to think, take notes, nap, and so on waiting for […]
200 Years of Illinois: U.S. as in United States
“My family is American, and has been for generations, in all its branches, direct and collateral.” April 27 marks the 194th anniversary of the birth of Ulysses S. Grant, victor […]
Kind of Blue
With the Cubs shocking the monkey in the early going, the cry goes out: Kris Bryant for president. Or Anthony Rizzo. Or Jake Arrieta. Alas, they are all too young and, […]
200 Years of Illinois: Dark Skies
April 21, 1967, dawned cool and foggy in northern Illinois. It had been a tough winter and the cold had yet to fully retreat. In fact, it would snow again three days […]