Jill Johnson
6/14/17 – SHRA Wins NCPH 2017 Excellence in Consulting Award
SHRA is pleased to announce that the National Council on Public History (NCPH) awarded its 2017 Excellence in Consulting Award to our firm for our research and consulting work in support of Idaho Power’s centenary commemoration. The NCPH grants this award to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of public history through consulting or contract… Read the Rest »
5/11/16 – The Continuing Business of History
Long-time followers of this blog will recognize several recurring themes. In addition to a passion for history, our historians have a passion for the business of history. Many people outside the profession don’t know the full gamut of career opportunities outside of academia that are available to students of history – or the humanities in… Read the Rest »
4/6/16 – Santa Anita in the 1940s
Recently, the SHRA research team had the opportunity to visit Santa Anita Park, a horse racing venue in Arcadia, CA. They saw a statue of Seabiscuit, an unlikely champion thoroughbred whose last triumphant race was run there on March 2, 1940. The race, the Santa Anita Handicap, had a purse of $125,000 and Seabiscuit had… Read the Rest »
12/16/15 – The Transformation of American Christmas
If I were to hand you a calendar and ask you to point out the most American of our national holidays, which one would you choose? The Fourth of July and Thanksgiving would be clear frontrunners, but would you choose Christmas? There is an argument to be made that you should. In our country’s pre-history,… Read the Rest »
10/7/15 – Book Review – The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck
During the 15 years prior to the Civil War, historians estimate that more than 400,000 pioneers headed west via covered wagon. In the summer of 2007, I found myself driving from Western Washington to Rhode Island, a true “coast-to-coast” crossing, using a modern vehicle. My dog Griffin kept me company and from Utah to Iowa,… Read the Rest »
12/1/14 – Warts and Frogs: a 19th Century Explanation
From current popular television shows like Dr. Oz to the evening news and the morning newspapers, it seems like we are constantly bombarded with information pertaining to our health. The information is generally taken from the latest scientific research and expressed straightforwardly, in terms that most Americans can understand. A look through the archives shows… Read the Rest »
11/12/14 – Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup
According to this advertisement in the July 19, 1889 edition of the Idaho Statesman, mothers could purchase from “one of the best female nurses and physicians in the United States” a syrup for use during teething that “…relieves the child from pain, cures dysentery and diarrhea, griping in the bowels, and wind colic” for a… Read the Rest »
10/27/14 – Meet Dan Rice
Combing through old newspapers recently, we stumbled across a notice about a circus making its first visit to Idaho Territory. In the August 4, 1864 edition of the Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman, the reporter asserted that “everybody has seen Dan Rice’s circus in one part of the world or another, and everybody goes to see it… Read the Rest »
10/3/14 – The Penniless Billionaire, a Legacy of Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie is famous for many things, not least of which were his many philanthropic ventures and the legacy of libraries he left across the entire United States. Recently, the British media have been carrying the story of Charles “Chuck” Feeney, an Irish-American billionaire who is making a similar effort to give away his entire… Read the Rest »
8/29/14 – A Brief History of School Summer Vacation
As August draws to a close, most students across the U.S. are heading back to school. We previously looked at the origins of public schools in the U.S. , and SHRA delved into more education-related issues when we researched and wrote the 120-year history of the Idaho Education Association. Because most Americans are a product of… Read the Rest »