“Why the Midwest Loves to Polka” — could it be because of German ancestry?
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Supporting Wisconsin writers from 1964 to 2022
by jhayslett
“Why the Midwest Loves to Polka” — could it be because of German ancestry?
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by jhayslett
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by jhayslett
by jhayslett
Here’s news from Wisconsin Historical Society Press:
New Book Rolls out a Barrel Full of Polka History The Wisconsin Historical Society Press rolls out a barrel full of polka history and culture in a new book by polka radio host and folk music historian Richard March, Polka Heartland: Why the Midwest Loves to Polka. From polka’s surprising origins as a cutting-edge European fad, to an exploration of the modern-day polka scene, “Polka Heartland” captures the beat that pulses in the heart of Midwestern culture, and offers up the fascinating history of how “oompah-pah” came to be the sound of middle America. This history unites the dazzling images of photographer Dick Blau with the author’s cultural backstory to explain the polka phenomenon that plays out at Wisconsin wedding receptions, crowded festival dance tents, and off-the-grid Mexican dances. March explores the people, places, and history behind the Midwest’s favorite music and describes some of the venues, instruments, and music-makers who have been pivotal to polka’s popularity. Blau’s six full-color galleries color March’s prose with a vivacity sure to send readers’ toes tapping out on to the dance floor. This joyful romp through the beloved and richly storied genre of polka music is also available as an e-book. For more information, contact: Kristin Gilpatrick, Marketing Manager |
The Council for Wisconsin Writers is a non-profit, tax-exempt, membership organization dedicated to promoting local, state, and national awareness of Wisconsin’s great literary heritage and to encourage excellence among today’s Wisconsin writers. Please visit us at www.wiswriters.org.
by jhayslett
“Our upcoming book A Settler’s Year: Pioneer Life through the Seasons by Kathleen Ernst, with photography by Loyd Heath, has been selected to represent Wisconsin at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC!
“The book is on the list of “52 Great Reads Prepared by the Center for the Book and its Affiliate State Centers,” which features books representing the literary heritage of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
by jhayslett
Check out this release from the Wisconsin Historical Society Press:
New Handbook Provides Civil Rights Teaching Tools
As Civil Rights issues make headlines nationwide, the Wisconsin Historical Society Press and the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Library-Archives have teamed up to help educators give students background about the history of the Civil Rights movement.
Tools for Teaching the History of Civil Rights in Milwaukee and the Nation is a user-friendly handbook focusing on Civil Rights history. It covers desegregation and voter registration efforts in the South, civil rights battles in Milwaukee where leaders like Vel Phillips andFather James Groppi fought for fair housing and school desegregation, and turning points such as the 1954 Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Each of the handbook’s twenty lessons includes background information, facsimiles of historical documents and thoughtful classroom activities designed to spark critical thinking.
“We created this book to help teach middle and high school students about one of our nation’s most dynamic social movements, the Civil Rights Movement, in Milwaukee and the South,” explains the book’s editor Michael Edmonds, Deputy Director of Library-Archives for the Wisconsin Historical Society. Edmonds is also editor of the Society Press’s book Risking Everything: A Freedom Summer Reader, a sampling of the thousands of original documents in the Society’s nationally renowned civil rights archives.
The handbook is divided into three sections, including:
1. Milwaukee’s Civil Rights Movement: on such topics as the fair housing fight, young people in the Milwaukee movement, and Milwaukee school busing debates,
2. Civil Rights Movement in the South: on such topics as segregation in Mississippi in the 1950s-1960s, arguments for and against Civil Rights Movement, and the power of Freedom Schools, and
3. Pivotal Events and Issues in Civil Rights History: on such topics as Brown vs. Board of Education, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Civil Disobedience.
Through each lesson and its follow-up discussion questions, “We hope students will learn to connect their own lives and current events, today with the people who fought for civil rights 50 years ago,” Edmonds adds.
Lesson plans were created by Edmonds and the Society’s Freedom Summer project staff. The handbook was produced thanks to funding from The Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation, the Herzfeld Foundation, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, C.G. Schmidt, and the Weyco Charitable Trust.
More information about the book is available from Kristin Gilpatrick, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 816 State St., Madison, WI 53706; 608-264-6465; email: kristin.gilpatrick@wisconsinhistory.org.