Category: Research
Barnstorming the Midwest: Des Moines
Travel to Des Moines, meet a politician you’re writing a dissertation about, visit the mecca of modern Midwestern marketing. It was a good two weeks.
Barnstorming the Midwest: Bismarck-Mandan
I was supposed to take a trip to Bismarck this summer after my journey through Grand Forks into Canada, but travel and driving fatigue led me to skip it in favor of a week in River Falls. My punishment was leaving for Bismarck at 3:15am…
Barnstorming the Midwest: Iron Range, Biwabik Edition
While my last trip to the Iron Range was doubly-immersive, acclimatizing to both the politics and the culture of Minnesota’s Northeast, this one took on more of a “business trip” feel. This was both good, because I explored the deteriorating relationship between Perpich and the…
Barnstorming the Midwest: River Falls, WI
What do you do when you need some time off the road but still getting work done? Find an archive under 40 minutes away that has relevant papers!
Barnstorming the Midwest: Grand Forks
In a few ways, North Dakota confirmed a lot of the cultural characteristics of the Midwest I’d long come to expect. In a few other ways, it was an entirely new world for me.
Barnstorming the Midwest: Iron Range, Lake Vermilion Edition
This was an unhealthy trip. And not because of the local beer, porketta, potica, and pasties.
Barnstorming the Midwest: Superior
When historians talk iron ore and the Midwest, we’re all familiar with the docks of Duluth and the radicalism of the Iron Range. But less often, we talk about the forgotten “twin” of the Twin Ports, Superior, Wisconsin.
Barnstorming the Midwest: Milwaukee, Part 1
Since I’m on this barnstorming tour for the remainder of 2017, I don’t need to live in Milwaukee until the spring, meaning I’m moving out of my apartment. That meant the unenviable task of cleaning it out but also provided the opportunity to use the…
Barnstorming the Midwest: Menomonie
It’s practically guaranteed to be a good trip to the archives when the archivist greets you with “Oh, I actually knew Al! I sat with him just a couple of months before he passed.”
What I mean when I say “I’m going to the archive”
As I caught up with my high school friend Lindsey and her husband Austin last night, I casually mentioned that tomorrow I would “be headed back to the archive.” Lindsey stopped me and said, “I’m sorry, but you always say that, and I don’t know…
