Exploring History & Discovering Your Spark
I've recently taken an interest in culinary history. I suppose I can blame the social media algorithms for that. Two years ago, I started my sourdough journey after watching way too many reels about starter cultures. Last summer, I began making my own ginger bug sodas, and the family has been loving them. My latest… Continue reading Churning Up History
I dove back into my family history the other day. It had been a while since I’d gone on a late-night binge through Ancestry or FamilySearch. It felt good to be back at it. One of my kids recently started learning about the Civil War in school. I think I may have been more excited… Continue reading Honoring my Civil War Ancestor
Allis-Chalmers Goes to War
Allis-Chalmers, like other companies, had its own employee newsletter. These shared everything from company products and expansions to employee benefits and leisure. Thumbing through these is a blast from the past. It offers a glimpse into what it was like to work at this once-great company. Click the photo below to take a look. Comment… Continue reading a-c scope: Magazine of Allis-Chalmers People
Last year, I finally finished a project I started several years ago. This book is one of several that I plan to publish as a multi-volume history of my Frederick ancestors. I started with my great-great-grandparents. My plan is to have a book for each Frederick generation down to me.I started this project using Shutterfly.… Continue reading Creating my Family History Book: A Step-by-Step Journey
Wow, it’s been a minute, hasn’t it?! I owe a sincere apology to all my loyal readers for the long intermission. Life gets busy — kids, work, and projects tend to take center stage — and sometimes our hobbies unintentionally take a backseat. But I’m back! I’ve been cleaning up the blog, re-imagining the front… Continue reading The Weekend Historian Returns, Huzzah!
Community in Crisis As Allis-Chalmers got work at its pilot plant in the old street car barns underway, the production workers held an election to choose a bargaining agent. A vote was held on January 18, 1952, in favor of the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers (UAW)--part of the larger Congress of Industrial… Continue reading There and Gone: The Short History of the Allis-Chalmers Terre Haute Works -Part II
American Midnight: The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten CrisisBy Adam Hochschild My Rating: ★★★★★ What a great read—and everyone should read this. Everything I read I saw parallels with our time. People say history rhymes—in this case it has! Xenophobia—why do we hate immigrants so much? Why do we associate them with… Continue reading Book Review- “American Midnight”
Hitler's American Gamble: Pearl Harbor and Germany’s March to Global Warby Brendan Simms, Charlie Laderman My Rating: ★★★★ World War II was a cataclysmic event that reshaped and redefined the world in the 20th century. The United States found itself at the center of the global stage when it was "suddenly and deliberately attacked" by… Continue reading Book Review- “Hitler’s American Gamble”
While doing research on some other Allis-Chalmers topics, I stumbled across an interesting article in the A-C Scope, an employee publication from Allis-Chalmers. It highlighted the visit of the delegation of manufacturing representatives and government officials from the Soviet Union. Here is a transcription of the article from the November/December 1959 issue of the publication.… Continue reading The Soviets at the West Allis Works
The Weekend Historian 