The diaries published gave me some insight into how the pioneer women stabilized the home. Their lives were full of dreary mundane daily tasks that had to be done for survival. These women often looked at the migration to Iowa as a family opportunity to make a new life. Having grown up in Iowa, I can visualize Iowa as a new frontier and remember the culture I grew up with. The culture in Iowa of pitching in and helping the community grow has not changed.

Many American literature textbooks cover the topic of Transcendentalism with selections from just Emerson and Thoreau. Why they don't include some of the essays of Margaret Fuller is a mystery, especially in our current age of political correctness and emphasis on diversity. She provides a woman's opinion of life in general and of the landscape and people of the Midwest in particular in this, her first published book.


_Summer on the Lakes, in 1843_ is first and foremost a travelogue of Fuller's tour of the Midwest, and we follow her to Chicago and Milwaukee and into rural Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Her trip not only predates her friends' visits to the same area (Emerson first came through by stagecoach in 1850, and Thoreau took the train in 1861) but it also offers more observations about the people and the living conditions out on the prairie. Fuller had more time to spend roaming and adventuring, and she seems to have been more interested in the local culture than the men later were. (Or perhaps Emerson and Thoreau figured that Margaret Fuller had already provided the world with descriptions of the region, so they need not bother.) Midwestern readers should particularly enjoy the historic look at familiar landscapes, written at a time when white settlements were just beginning to congeal and take hold.


Secondarily, Fuller focuses much of her writing on the plight of American Indians and also of women in general. She had read a great deal about the native people and seems disappointed to find that most of the Black Hawk War survivors had already moved west by the time of her visit. She also points a critical eye to the fate of the members of her gender who were helping to eke out a living on the prairie: "The great drawback upon the lives of these settlers, at present, is the unfitness of the women for their new lot." ... All domestic labor "must often be performed, sick or well, by the mother and daughters, to whom a city education has imparted neither the strength nor skill now demanded." (p. 38) And yet, many of the people she meets seem to be happy; and while life is hard and without most amenities, entertainment (even the occasional piano!) and merriment can abound.


The narrative tends to languish when Fuller digresses into long-winded stories of the plights of specific women she either knew personally or heard about second- or even thirdhand. While these plot interruptions get tedious to the casual reader, they are further glimpses of feminine life in the early 19th century. Seen in that light, they can provide interesting diversions to the travelogue.


Original illustrations by Fuller's traveling companion, Sarah Ann Clarke (sister of James Freeman Clarke) augment the text. This edition's introduction by Susan Belasco Smith helps to bring perspective to the trip and the writing. Recommended especially for residents of northern Illinois and to anyone interested in Midwestern history, transcendentalism, or women's studies. [This reviewer was an Illinois resident when these comments were written.]

A very good read. The coverage of Cynthia Ann Parker's life in the best detail that can be offered. Not too over-packed with facts and figures, but sticking to her story as told by her son Quanah, and her grand children. Though hard to find (I ordered from the publisher) it was worth the money

Teresa's fatherless family has common homesteading hardships in Spokane Falls, Washington Territory set in 1886. With mystery, an Indian friend, land stealing, and gold in the plot, preteens and even adults will learn and savor the rich history in this well-written story.

The book is very insightful for people trying to trace the history of the boarding-school experience among Native Americans. For too long, we have heard the story of this blight on education in this country from the perpetrators side only. This book goes far and away in advancing for the first time the views and stories of the people who lived it. Began as a way to "civilize" Native people forcefully, Chilocco soon becomes, after needed reform, a way of life for many Indian families till 1980. Racism was the antagonist after the 20's which forced Native people to send their children to these schools, not the government. Sometimes, these schools were their own choices for higher education for their children after grade schools. Clearly evident in this book is the nature of "vocational education" which was espoused by the boarding schools: that of subservience. They were not training these people to be doctors, lawyers, educators, and civil servants, they trained them to do for others and not to aspire to anything but. A great book to start your education into educational history of Native peoples. I highly recommend this!

I fell in love with the charactors in this book! Michael was such a sweet little boy and you just wanted to take him in your arms! The "grandmother" reminded me so much of my own mother but was thrilled with the way things turned out. I read this book in one afternoon!

Most Civil War buffs concentrate upon the war east of the Mississippi. By comparison, the two battles of Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove are obscured by their distance from the main scene. I was interested, as my g-grandfather set up and ran a field hospital at Fayetteville, during the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. The book is one of the best I've read in it's description of the tactics employed. Even better, the timely maps are simple, clear and placed closely to the verbage they cover. Similarly placed are short biographies of the major officers on each side of the battles. Unit narratives seldom drop below company level and the book cannot be considered an exhaustive study. But, at the end of 126 pages, a reader will have a sufficiently clear view of the events to gain a good grasp of the strategy and tactics used in these two important battles.

As the parent of a boy adopted from Korea, I find this story follows ours quite closely. The process and the issues are the same for many adoptive families. The only thing missing from this book is any mention of a birth father. The birth mother's role is handled well, but there is no reference to a birth father. This book starts when Benjamin is nine years old. That's when the real questions about adoption can begin.

I bought this book because I was working in an Iowa prairie and wanted a good guide to the wildflowers. This is it! Large color photos are arranged by general blooming time/season. The text gives information about the plant, habitats, seasons, as well as some interesting folklore or other uses of the plant. This book certainly doesn't contain all flowering plants of the prairie, but it's a great start and a handy reference, especially for cross-referencing. Full-color photos are good, often showing both flowers and leaves.

Twenty Years at Hull House is an outstanding example of the humanitarianism movement in America at the turn of the century. Jane Addams, the author and narrator of the book, was born in Illinois. Early in her life she began to see the effects of poverty on people. She recalls one incident early in her life of seeing a homeless man on the street. She asked her father why that was, and he replied that that was just the way things were. Her father was a Quaker and the most prominate role model in Jane's life. As a child she grew up wanting to be just like him. For a while, she aspired to be a mill owner just like him. Her mother is not mentioned in the book at all. Jane went to Rockford College and soon toured London. It was there that she came up with the idea of the Hull House. Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago. It offered day care and college level classes for women. Spawning from her work at the house, Jane joined many causes that she passionately fought for. These causes included working hours for women, child labor laws, and juivenile court. She could be considered an early feminist. Also from her work at Hull House, Jane started studing the causes of poverty and the effects it had on society. She was not satisfied with just the success of her house; she wanted to know why there was a need for it at all. Later in her life she joined the womens sufferage movement. Jane Addams was a wonderful reformist and feminist that sought to better the country. Twenty Years at Hull House offer insight into one of America' most interesting time periods.

Like many of her fellow "Progressives," Jane Addams was born in the midwest and received an exceptional scholastic and religious education. She was strongly devoted to her father and shared with him a reverence for Abraham Lincoln not just as a man, but as a living ideal against which all men should measure their ideas and actions. Typical of many reformers of her era, Addams was not attracted to evangelical duty. Missionary work left her with a sense of futile detachment from the wretched social conditions she witnessed in East London. After visiting Toynbee Hall, Addams decided to establish a similar settlement house in the rapidly-growing city of Chicago, where "the evil and vices of American life seemed to be exaggerated." Her experiences at this settlement house are the subject of this book.

Although, on the one hand, Addams seemed the typical Progressive; on the other hand she did not follow many of the ideas of the more radical reformers. She was very practical and refused to be swayed by the claims of certain social movements and untried panaceas. she did not become a socialist. Although she greatly admired Tolstoy, she found his message "confused and contradictory" and doubted its suitability to the situation in Chicago. She deplored any violent tactics associated with socialist and anarchist groups despite their "noble motives." Addams demostrated an understanding of the ways in which strikes had a detrimental effect on people outside the labor movement (her dying sister was unable to see her family because the transportation system was blocked due to the Pullman strike. Unlike most reformers, she also had respect for the immigrant cultures represented at Hull House. A labor museum put native sewing machines and other instruments and crafts on display for all to enjoy.

One observation made by this reader was the animosity on the part of European reformers toward the work of the settlement residents. Tolstoy offered petty criticisms and one English visitor concluded that reformers in America were indifferent to the plight of the poor because they could not recite the "cubic feet of air required for each occupant of a tenement bedroom." Such remarks smack of a "caring competition." Addams, however, was well aware that the settlement house experiment was far from complete. Jane Addams' honest and humble account--albeit long and sometimes rambling (don't let the skinny paperback fool you)--demonstrated her unwavering commitment to achieving the improvement and unity of humanity.

Although, I did find this book to be hard to read at times, I did find it very interesting. It was an inspiring book, showing what a group of dedicated ladies can do when they set their minds to something. Jane Addams is quite the heroine along with the many other ladies that helped her run Hull-House. A very inspiring story. We should all be as dedicated to doing good in the world.