First, we hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving enjoying God’s blessings with each other.
Second, do note that Ramaker hours are changed for the holiday. Our schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, Nov 25: 7:30am – 5pm
Wednesday, Nov 26: 8am – 4:30pm
Thursday, Nov 27: Closed
Friday, Nov 28: Closed
Saturday, Nov 29: Closed
Sunday, Nov 30: 6pm – 12am
Happy Thanksgiving!
“My childhood came to a virtual halt when I was around five years old.”
That’s how Little Heathens begins. While this sentence sets up what could be a book of despair and sadness, I found the text to be quite the opposite. The author certainly experienced difficult times – it’s about her time during the Great Depression, so there was obviously little money, compounded by the fact that there was no father in the picture – yet I found the overall tone to be one of fond remembrance, even a little rowdy at times.
The book is about Mildred Armstrong Kalish’s life during the 1930s in a small town in Iowa. The author was in her 80s when she wrote the novel, but her memories are crisp and detailed.
While it’s a narrative, the book is interspersed with recipes — including one for head cheese, which I found stomach-wrenching – and remedies for common ailments. I thought the best parts, though, were just the author’s remembrances about her daily life. I liked reading about what games they played, what pranks they pulled, what meals they ate (head cheese excepted), what books they read, what animals they tended.
If you are interested in the personal and local side of history, Little Heathens is a thorough memoir of the Depression era in Iowa.
It’s Veterans Day today, a time we acknowledge the service of the men and women who have volunteered in the armed forces in America. Every Veteran has a story about his or her time of service – what it involved, what they experienced, what happened after. The Library of Congress has been collecting these stories, whether they are in oral interviews, letters, photos or personal memoirs.
To search their extensive collection, visit the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. It’s a great way to learn more about the people who served our country in this way and to learn more about the time in which they served.
It’s Election Day — don’t forget to vote! Polling places in Iowa are open from 7am until 9pm. Iowa does have same-day registration, so even if you are not registered to vote, you can do so today.
If you have any questions about where to vote or if you are eligible to vote, visit the web site of the Iowa Secretary of State; all the information should be there.
Want to add authentic art images to your research project? Then checkout ARTstor -a digital library of more than 500,000 images of paintings, sculpture, architecture, photographs, manuscripts, fabrics, costumes, cartoons, posters, etc. Art work is available dating as far back as 2000 years BC and from geographic locations around the world.
Note: for best results, use Mozilla Firefox as your browser and turn off your
Pop up Blocker.
If you want to Save groups of images, login and set up a username & password.
If you want to Download images, open an image by double clicking on it, click the save icon, accept the Terms & Conditions of Use, agree to ARTstor as a safe website and Save.
ARTstor – a great library resource for Northwestern students and faculty!
