Iowa History Journal Volume 5, Issue 2, Now Available

Friday, March 1st, 2013 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments

To an entire generation of Americans in the 1950s and ‘60s, she was known simply as “Mamie”. She served as the nation’s First Lady from 1952 to 1959, when her husband Dwight D. Eisenhower was President of the United States of America. Eisenhower, known affectionately as Ike, was the hero of WWII and met his Mamie when they were just youngsters starting out on life’s journey. Mamie was born in Boone, Iowa, and she lived with her family in Cedar Rapids for a spell. Today, her legacy lives on in Boone – particularly at her birthplace home at 709 Carroll Street. It is a story that Iowans should take great pride in knowing.

A wild elephant on the loose in Iowa? Yep, way back in 1923 an elephant escaped from a circus car and went on a rampage through southern Iowa. The story is both humorous yet sad. Read the details in the current issue of Iowa’s elephant walk. In addition, Don Doxsie writes about the Fabulous Five basketball team of the 1950s and its back to back trips to the Final Four.

Also included in this issue:

• Saying goodbye to Abigail Van Buren and a Hawkeye Hero
• Fort Dodge lad survives the horrors of the notorious Civil War prison at Andersonville
• Earl May created one of Iowa’s most enduring businesses
• Mount Ayr combines the past with the future in amazing style
• The oldest Czech Catholic Church is the pride of Spillville
• Columns by our regulars – Arvid Huisman, John McNeer and Mike Chapman
• Iowa History quiz
• Letters to the editor

…and much more!

Click to see the full contents of the issue…

Tags: Abigail Van Buren, Andersonville, Earl May, Mamie Eisenhower, Mount Ayr, Spillville

Upcoming Speeches and Appearances

Sunday, February 10th, 2013 | Book Signing, Iowa History Journal, Speaking, WIN Magazine, Wrestling | No Comments

February 20 — Mike will be talking to the Knoxville Rotary Club on Wednesday, February 20, at noon at the Swamp Fox Pub and Grille in Knoxville. His speech is about famous Iowans and Iowa History Journal.

March 21-23 – Mike and Bev will be appearing at the WIN Memorabilia Show between sessions of the NCAA Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines on March 21-23. Mike and Bev created the WIN show 23 years ago and they will be greeting wrestling fans and showing memorabilia, as well as selling books, posters and videos. Numerous Olympic champions will be the special guests and an estimated 10,000 wrestling fans are expected to attend the WIN show. It will be located inside of the NCAA Fan Festival in the HY-Vee Hall. There is no charge to attend the WIN show.

July 9 – Mike will be giving a speech on the life and legacy of Frank Gotch, former world heavyweight wrestling champion, on Tuesday, July 9, at 7:30 p.m., at Joe Sheldon County Park in Humboldt. The talk is being sponsored by Project AWARE, which is a volunteer weeklong river cleanup. Each year, hundreds of Iowans join together for a week in canoes to remove trash from 80-90 miles of a different river. To date, more than 2,500 AWARE volunteers from across the state have cleaned up over 780 river miles, removing more than 250 tons of trash (70% of which has been recycled) from rivers all across Iowa. This year’s event will be held July 6-13 on the Des Moines River from Algona down through Humboldt and Fort Dodge.The event is open to the public.

Tags: knoxville rotary, WIN Memorabilia Show

Iowa History Journal Volume 5, Issue 1, Now Available

Tuesday, January 1st, 2013 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments

In 1937, Universal Studios selected Stanley Leland Weed of Forest City, Iowa, to be its new singing cowboy star of the movies . They picked him over a group of other candidates, including a young fellow who would go on to movie fame as Roy Rogers. Stanley Leland Weed became Bob Baker and rode into Hollywood history, leaving a series of question marks about the direction of his career. Mike Chapman’s article explores the background of this one-time cowboy movie star from Iowa.

Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the empire of Japan, the United States enacted a daring bombing raid on Tokyo and other Japanese cities. Led by Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, the daring raid has become a part of American military folklore – and three Iowans were among the pilots who risked their lives. Michael Vogt, a civilian pilot and curator at the Gold Star Military Museum at Camp Dodge takes Iowa History Journal readers on this trip back into history.

Also included in this issue:

• The amazing journey of Casey’s General Store
• The Iowan who made history with Lincoln
• Iowa’s Field House boasts 85 years of fine memories
• Story of trampoline founder George Nissen: book review
• Sioux City actress Constance Towers
• Columns by our regulars – Arvid Huisman, John McNeer and Mike Chapman
• Iowa History quiz
• Letters to the editor

…and much more!

Click to see the full contents of the issue…

Tags: Bob Baker, Casey's, Constance Towers, George Nissen, Iowa Field House, Jimmy Doolittle, Michael Vogt, Stanley Weed

Iowa History Journal Volume 4, Issue 6 Now Available

Sunday, November 4th, 2012 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments

In early November of 1942, the focus of the entire nation was on Waterloo, Iowa, as word came out that five brothers from one family were killed in action in the sea battle of Guadalcanal. The five Sullivan boys became a rallying point for the war effort and President Roosevelt called their loss one of the biggest tragedies any American family has been forced to endure. In a stirring account, professor Jeff Stein paints a vivid picture of the tragedy and how Waterloo has kept alive the memory of the Sullivan brothers.

Readers will also be treated to feature stories on many other fascinating persons and moments in Iowa history – ranging from the fabulous work of sculpture Christian Petersen to the overcoming of tragedy by James Hearst, Iowa’s farmer poet…..to the twelve Iowans who sought to be President of the United States, and much more.

Also included in this issue:

• Strange airships haunted Iowa skies in 1897
• Two new books “celebrate” Iowa history
• The city of Cresco calls itself “one in a million”
• Fayette dentist was also heck of a coach at Upper Iowa University
• Columns by our regulars – Arvid Huisman, John McNeer and Mike Chapman
• Iowa History Quiz
• Letters to the Editor

…and much more!

Click to see the full contents of the issue…

Tags: Christian Petersen, Cresco, James Hearst, Sullivan Brothers