Iowa Stories: Black Thunder - The Story of a Mosquito
Recorded: November 7, 2019
Runtime: 00:57:45
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Historian Daniel Kaiser speaks about his new book, "Grinnell Stories: African Americans of Early Grinnell."
The early history of the city of Grinnell is well documented, starting with J.B. Grinnell himself. But those stories don't give the full picture as many times the town's African Americans were overlooked by historians. Even though J.B. Grinnell was a staunch abolitionist and the community was a stop on the Underground Railroad, African Americans are not mentioned or pictured. Daniel H. Kaiser aims to fill the gap in the historical record in his book, Grinnell Stories: African Americans of Early Grinnell, introducing some of the men and women of color in Grinnell between about 1860 and 1960.
Retired Grinnell College professor Daniel H. Kaiser taught Russian and European history for 30 years. Kaiser currently focuses on local history and has published more than sixty "Grinnell Stories" since 2015 from which the essays in his recent book were drawn, revised, and enlarged.
Recorded at the State Historical Society of Iowa on March 11, 2020.