Project Research
1/10/18 – Boise’s “Geothermal Gem”
Since the late 19th century, Boise’s geothermal energy has been an economic and cultural driver of the city’s development. A variety of entrepreneurs capitalized on the region’s active geologic inheritance to provide Boiseans with cheap and sustainable energy and, in doing so, pioneered the first geothermal heating district in the United States. Forty years later,… Read the Rest »
1/3/18 – Bringing Boise’s Geothermal Past, Forward: “The Heat Beneath Your Feet”
Idaho’s extreme landscapes allude to the state’s violent geologic past, from the towering 12,000-foot peaks of the Lost River Range to Craters of the Moon National Monument. Periodic episodes of volcanic activity shaped Idaho’s sceneries and, in many ways, continue to define the state today. The cinder cones and lava plumes endowed Idaho with rare-earth… Read the Rest »
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 »
2/1/17 – History Of…and At The Huntington
As a research historian with SHRA, I have been fortunate to travel to some fascinating places for work. A recent research trip took me to The Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Unlike other repositories that I have visited, The Huntington Library is a privately held, non-profit institution that boasts not only myriad collections and… Read the Rest »
9/7/16 – Historic Cookbooks
As a historian, I read a lot of books. And as a foodie, I read a lot of cookbooks. While many of the history books I read are newly published within the last few years, others date back decades. Typically, these books fall into the category of a secondary source, meaning that they reveal what… Read the Rest »
7/6/16 – Chronicling the Sinking of the Titanic
You’ve heard it screeched on playgrounds, bellowed at parties, and parodied all over the internet. “I’ll never let go, Jack!” It’s the iconic line Rose (played by Kate Winslet) calls out to her beloved Jack (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) in James Cameron’s 1997 movie Titanic. Almost 20 years on, the line — and the movie… Read the Rest »
1/27/16 – Up in Smoke
We conduct a lot of research in historic trade journals here at SHRA. While some might find the task of going through a 400-page bound volume rather tedious, as historians, we have great fun from the moment the weary spine of a volume squeaks back to life until we close the massive book and plumes… Read the Rest »
9/23/15 -The Legacy of Public Libraries – Then and Now, Part I
In the course of doing research for our active projects, SHRA researchers often come across articles from historic publications or find fascinating archival material that triggers a memory or provokes a question that compels us to further explore. I recently had such an experience when researching in a historic issue of the Engineering and Mining… Read the Rest »
9/9/15 – The National Archives: Making and Keeping History, Part Two
Editor’s note: This is the second installment in the blog series on history of the National Archives. Read the first installment here. Fire drills used to always reminded me of middle school, where students filed out of the classroom in single-file lines to congregate at the designated meeting place. Excitement was usually the emotion that… Read the Rest »
6/10/15 – SHRA’s Jennifer Stevens on NCPH’s History@Work blog
This week on the National Council on Public History’s History@Work blog, SHRA’s Jennifer Stevens has a guest post on the intersection of public history and policy. Click here to read the entire piece, including how a discovery of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.’s work lead her to her career in entrepreneurial public history.