Category: History and Biography

Finite Pleasures of Memory is a lyrical, coming-of-age reflection on the quiet moments that shape who we are. Following a Brazilian student navigating life in Iowa, Sophia Ramalli explores how small, everyday experiences trigger powerful connections between past and present—revealing that while moments may be fleeting, their emotional impact can feel infinite.

The Mississippi River Valley has played a huge role in the evolution of American history and culture, from the time of the Mississippian mound builders, through European colonialism, the early American republic and Civil War, to the modern-day civil rights movement. In this wide-ranging work, historian Michael Allen examines America's great river valley through the lenses of history, economics, folklore, literature, movies and television, and music—country, blues, gospel, jazz, and rock and roll.

Bruce Curtis, a professional historian, places the life and times of his centenarian mother, Josephine Teeter Curtis, and of her many relatives and friends, within a broad and richly annotated nineteenth and twentieth century southeastern Iowa framework.

The Road I Grew Up On is a two-volume anthology self-published by Helen Gunderson, a fourth-generation, septuagenarian Iowan who grew up on a farm in Pocahontas County, Iowa. After earning an undergraduate degree in physical education, a masters degree in instructional technology, and a Master of Divinity, and having a diverse career that took her to other states, Helen relocated to central Iowa, where she eventually established her home on an urban farm in Ames. Her anthology, written from a liberal perspective, consists of regional and neighborhood history, personal memoir, spiritual insights, opinion, and photographs. The project, started in 1989, includes photographs, video footage, recorded interviews, other research and writings by Helen about the neighborhood and culture where she grew up.

Volume 1 consists of material written and gathered between 1989 and 2004, touching on local history, changes in the rural landscape and farm technology, agricultural issues, family dynamics, gender, and death.

The Road I Grew Up On is a two-volume anthology self-published by Helen Gunderson, a fourth-generation, septuagenarian Iowan who grew up on a farm in Pocahontas County, Iowa. After earning an undergraduate degree in physical education and masters degrees in instructional technology and theology and having a diverse career that took her to other states, Helen relocated to central Iowa, where she eventually established her home on an urban farm in Ames. Her anthology, written from a liberal perspective, consists of regional and neighborhood history, personal memoir, spiritual insights, opinion, and photographs. The project, started in 1989, includes photographs, video footage, recorded interviews, other research and writings by Helen about the neighborhood and culture where she grew up.

Volume 2 consists of chapters written in 2019 on local history, death, land stewardship, agricultural issues, state and federal politics, family dynamics, and hospitality, as well as an additional chapter about living in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

H. E. Wilkinson. Memories of an Iowa Farm Boy. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1994.

Louis H. Pammel. Prominent Men I Have Met. Cedar Rapids, IA: The Torch Press, 1929.

Louis H. Pammel. Prominent Men I Have Met. Ames, IA: Louis H. Pammel, 1929.

 Louis H. Pammel. Prominent Men I Have Met. Cedar Rapids, IA: The Torch Press, 1929.

Louis H. Pammel. Prominent Men I Have Met. Ames, IA: Louis H. Pammel, 1928.

Louis H. Pammel. Prominent Men I Have Met. Ames, IA: Louis H. Pammel, 1928.