In reviewing British Pathe newsreels of Ohio events in the 1930s, I came across a silent feature that had not been identified. I was watching the aftermath of a June 18, 1936 strike and riot at the Black and Decker Electric Co. plant in Kent, Ohio. Now British Pathe knows. Only the date of the … Continue reading Not Bad For a Monday

How to engage students in the study of their material lives and the consequences of their choices, from The Chronicle of Higher Education: "Anthropology Course Explores the Life Cycle of, Say, Your Pen" What I find interesting is that  we use "life" and "lifespan" to refer to an object's usefulness. Arjun Appadurai discusses the "social" … Continue reading Globalization and Material Culture Studies

The weather today outside matches the weather that farmers in Wood County endured when they traveled to Wally Kramp's farm on February 26, 1933. There some 700-800 farmers stood out in the cold and staged a "penny auction" to save Kramp from foreclosure for an $800 loan he could not repay. They bid pennies on … Continue reading Penny Auctions in Ohio, 1933

Thank goodness we had lovely weather in Northeast Ohio for Vienna Historical Society's Second Annual Historic Cemetery Walk, 22-23 October 2011! Over sixty people toured the gravestones, investigating the Civil War through the experiences of Vienna residents. We discovered who went to war, who purchased substitutes and why, and how those who stayed at home … Continue reading Vienna Historical Society’s 2011 Cemetery Walk