Category: history

history pragmatic historian

What Do a Young Blacksmith and Public Domain Have to Do With Each Other?

By Mary | by Mary

My brain has a tendency to connect the most disparate things. But isn’t that where creativity comes from? So, let’s forge ahead with today’s blog post! An Enthusiastic Blacksmith Over the holidays while our kids were home, our Eldest Son introduced us to the videos of Alec Steele. Alec Steele is a young British blacksmith who produces YouTube videos showing people his projects and experiments in his shop. He is excitable, sharing his craft with…

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history pragmatic historian

Writing Our Own Histories

By Mary | by Mary

Fergus Falls and Der Spiegel The town of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, recently had to publicly correct the historic record. A reporter from Der Spiegel spent several weeks in the town in order to write a story focusing on the politics of rural America. Turns out he made up a lot of the story, giving a skewed view of the city and its residents. Michele Anderson and Jake Krohn provided a correction via their article on…

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history pragmatic historian

Digging Up “Sites Unseen”

By Mary | by Mary

Back in September, I mentioned a book I read about in The Guardian, “Sites Unseen: Uncovering Hidden Hazards in American Cities” by Scott Frickel and James R. Elliott.  Because I was so curious about it, I ordered it through our public library. The library system did not have a copy of this book in circulation, but, and here is the beauty of today’s public library system, I was able to order it and they purchased…

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