National Dairy Cattle Congress
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 | Columns, Iowa History Journal | No Comments
Publisher’s Perspective – Volume 2, Issue 5 of Iowa History Journal
When I was a kid growing up in Waterloo in the 1950s, I was a city slicker that didn’t know a darn thing about farm animals and implements. Still, other than Christmas, the most exciting time of the year for me, and most kids I knew, was opening day of the National Dairy Cattle Congress. It was a huge, weeklong show that took place on the western edge of the city, and offered attractions galore, for a very wide variety of people.
It was so much more extravagant than any local fair I had ever seen that it couldn’t even be compared. It was such a big event in the 1950s that the Waterloo schools gave all students a day off to attend it. All the previous week, it was the subject of talk among all the kids in the school I attended. We laid plans for the big day off, and how much fun we were going to have.
Iowa History Journal Volume 2, Issue 5 Now Available
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments
With football season kicking off all across the state of Iowa and the nation, now is the perfect time to revisit the story of one of the greatest football players in the history of our state. Johnny Bright played his first game at Drake University in the fall of 1949 – and over the next three years blazed a trail that is simply amazing.
Bright led the entire nation in total offense as a sophomore, as a junior, and was leading the nation as a senior when he suffered one of the most reprehensible occurrences in the history of college sports. Bright and the Bulldogs took a 6-0 record into Stillwater, Oklahoma, on October 20, 1951, to meet the Oklahoma A&M Aggies. What happened that day has been a dark spot ever since.
Bright was badly injured and missed two of the next three games but still finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting that year. He went on to a tremendous career in the Canadian Football League and eventually became a highly regarded educator in Edmonton, Canada.
This issue of Iowa History Journal offers the compelling story of Johnny Bright along with some fabulous pictures. You won’t want to miss it.
Iowa Public Radio Hosts Mike About Iowa History Journal
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 | Iowa History Journal, Radio | No Comments
Mike was interviewed by Iowa Public Radio on Monday. He was on the show Talk of Iowa, which airs during the work week from 10 to 11 am.
A synopsis of the show reads:
Writing About Iowa
What are the challenges and opportunities facing writers who write about Iowa people, places and events for a regional and national audience? Guests are Trevor Meers, Executive Editor, Midwest Living magazine; Mike Chapman, publisher, Iowa History Journal; and Beth Wilson, editor, The Iowan magazine. (46:30)
Iowa author, historian has booth at state fair – offering free magazines with new subscriptions
Thursday, August 12th, 2010 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments
Mike Chapman, a well-known Iowa author and public speaker, will be appearing Aug. 12-22 at the Iowa State Fair, in the Iowa History Journal booth in the Ralph H. Diets Historical Museum. He will have copies of the magazine Iowa History Journal and many of his 22 books for sale.
A native of Waterloo, Chapman retired from a 35-year newspaper career in 2002 to devote his time to writing books. Among his published books are Lowell Park, a novel about Ronald Reagan as a lifeguard in Dixon, Illinois, in the summer of 1932, and Gotch: An American Hero, the story of the Humboldt, Iowa, native who was world heavyweight wrestling champion from 1908 to 1915.
Come Visit Mike at State Fair & Cattle Congress
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 | Iowa History Journal, Speaking | No Comments
Mike Chapman is a public speaker who has appeared at dozens of events the past several years, to talk about Iowa History Journal magazine in particular and Iowa history in general.
In the past year, he has given speeches in Des Moines, Marshalltown, Newton, Osage, Waterloo, Ankeny and Stanton, drawing rave reviews every where.
In the coming months, Mike will be appearing at the Iowa State Fair on August 12-22 and at the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, September 16-19. You are invited to come meet Mike and his wife, Bev, and browse over the numerous books he has written (21 to date) and see the ten issues of Iowa History Journal that have been published so far. If you buy any of the books or magazines, Mike will be happy to sign them for you.
Both the books and the magazines make tremendous gifts for Iowans who live anywhere!
Bill’s and Bob’s Field of Dreams
Saturday, July 10th, 2010 | Columns, Iowa History Journal | No Comments
Publisher’s Perspective – Volume 2, Issue 4 of Iowa History Journal
Iowa is well known in some circles as the home of “Field of Dreams” because the hit movie of that name was filmed on a picturesque farm near Dyersville. The 1989 film starred Kevin Costner as an Iowa farmer who saw ghost players come out of a cornfield to play on a baseball diamond he carved out of a pasture.
But in reality, there are two fields of dream in our great state. The first one was developed in the mid 1930s near Van Meter, on a farm owned by Bill Feller.
Through the years, I’ve been to both fields of dreams several times. Shoeless Joe Jackson was the star player of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox team that the Costner film focused on, and I created a Shoeless Joe Jackson poster in 1992 that has sold very well at the gift shop at the Dyersville movie site.
On May 26, I once again visited the “original” field of dreams, the one near Van Meter. I drove there with Scott Havick, the energetic and passionate director of the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter.
Iowa History Journal Volume 2, Issue 4 Now Available
Friday, July 9th, 2010 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments
Iowa is known for the “Field of Dreams” movie starring Kevin Costner in which the ghosts of major league baseball players emerge from an Iowa cornfield near Dyersville. But the original “field of dreams” was built near Van Meter, in central Iowa, by Bill Feller and his son, Bob – who went on to become the greatest baseball player ever produced in this state!
This issue has a long feature article – written by Buck Turnbull, retired award-winning sportswriter of the Des Moines Register – on Bob Feller’s amazing career with the Cleveland Indians. Also, publisher Mike Chapman writes about the Fellers’ field of dreams and the beautiful Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter.
There is also Part Two of the John Wayne story, based in Winterset, Iowa.
The magazine has other outstanding articles on a wide range of topics – including Glenn Miller, king of the Big Band era; a magician from Marshalltown who was so famous that even Harry Houdini listened to him, and a forgotten Utopian society named the Icarians.
All of this plus columns by John McNeer and Arvid Huisman and a book review, Iowa History Quiz and What’s In a Name, telling about the historic past of Iowa’s third largest city, Davenport.
Iowa History Journal Volume 2, Issue 3 Now Available
Monday, May 3rd, 2010 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments
John Wayne is the focus of the May/June, 2010, issue of Iowa History Journal. The cover features a seldom seen full-color oil painting of The Duke at the peak of his movie career, playing “Hondo” in 1953. We contacted the artist for permission to use this very powerful image on the cover because we wanted to give the readers a portrait that is not only powerful (note the eyes) but rare.
John Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa, and publisher Mike Chapman devotes his column to the Winterset birthplace. There is also a rare photo of John Wayne posing with Brian Downes in 1977. Downes is now the enthusiastic and energetic executive director of the birthplace site in Winterset.
Another feature you won’t want to miss is how HyVee grew from one store in Iowa to one of the finest companies in the United States.
And Don Doxsie, long-time sports editor of the Quad City Times in Davenport, offers an absorbing story about a little-known baseball legend named “Ironman” Joe McGinnity and his days as an Iowa manager.
Iowa History Journal Volume 2, Issue 2 Now Available
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments
The March/April, 2010, issue features fascinating articles on an Iowa school teacher named Jane Elliott who in the 1960s shook up the national educational network with her thought provoking “brown eyes/blue eyes” studies on racial discrimination. Also in this issue, a look at the time traveling caveman named Alley Oop and his “birth” in Perry, Iowa. This issue contains a look at the highly successful Pella Corporation, the Iowa legacy of George Washington Carver and the emergence of the Iowa State University wrestling program in the 1960s. And finally, a look at the Blue Hall of Fame and the day the Civil War almost came to Iowa!
Also columns by regulars Mike Chapman, Arvid Huisman and John McNeer; Iowa History Quiz, and a book review on “Head-On Joe: The Man who Wrecked 146 Locomotives”.
History of the W.I.N. Memorabilia Show
Sunday, March 7th, 2010 | Columns, WIN Magazine, Wrestling | No Comments
Mike’s column from the latest issue of WIN Magazine talks about the history of the Memorabilia Show. This show will mark Mike’s 20th and last show.
He writes:
The 1991 NCAA championships in Iowa City stand out in my mind as one of the most memorable ever, for many reasons.
…It was the scene for an experiment I tried with two friends – Mike DeAnna, former Hawkeye star, and Bob Steenlage, Iowa’s first four-time state champion and an All-American at West Point.
We wanted to develop an event that would offer fans a gathering spot between sessions of the tournament. We were tired of trying to meet friends in smoke-filled bars or crowded restaurants, or jammed into motel lobbies. We felt other fans would embrace the concept of a general gathering spot between sessions, as well.
That tournament marks the debut of what has become known as the “WIN Memorabilia Show.”
We hope to see you there this year!
Upcoming Speeches and Appearances
- April 12, 2012 – Toledo Public Library
- May 18, 2012 – Winnie Hawks
Calendar of Appearances
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Winnie Hawks
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