In Volume Two of Heartland History, Gary R. Kremer continues his effort to document and describe the richly textured history of Missouri's capital city and the surrounding region. The result is a collection of essays that are sure to entertain and enlighten readers. Among this book's highlights are essays on how Sonny Liston learned to box in the Missouri State Penitentiary, how local boys became part of a United States effort to fight terrorism along the Mexican border during World War 1, and how the state of Missouri's unwillingness to open the University of Missouri to African-Americans led to the creation of a Lincoln University School of Law and a School of Journalism. In all, this collection includes forty-one essays on topics as varied as "Rural and Small Town Life," "Women's Lives, Women's Culture," and "Crime and Punishment."
Just as in Volume One, Kremer places his characters and their stories in the context of the larger history of the state, the region, and the nation. The result is local history at its finest.
About the Author
Gary R. Kremer, PhD, is the executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri and the Western Historical Manuscript Collection and adjunct professor of history at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO.
