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History

Buddy Levy
Spring 2023

Empire of Ice and Stone: A chat with author Buddy Levy

The treacherous Arctic is the setting of a harrowing true story of shipwreck, disaster, and survival in the early twentieth century. Acclaimed adventure writer Buddy Levy, also a creative writing and English professor at Washington State University, talks with Washington State Magazine associate editor Adriana Janovich about his latest book, Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk.

The second of three nonfiction historical narratives by master storyteller Levy about survival and exploration in the Arctic wilderness, this book tracks the voyage of the Karluk to the Bering Sea and its destruction in the ice, leaving crew, Inuit guides, and … » More …

Soldier from World War II who attended Washington State University
Winter 2022

Unforgotten: Fallen Cougars Project at Washington State University

The mission of the Fallen Cougars Project is to create a digital memorial to the 250 Washington State College World War II war dead. By researching and displaying short biographical portraits, the Fallen Cougars Project aims to reintroduce these largely forgotten WSC students into the 21st century Cougar Nation.

Through historical film footage and interviews, student researchers and project director Ray Sun, associate professor of history at Washington State University Pullman, explore the meaning of the project and what it means to them personally.

Visit the Fallen Cougars Project website.

 

Also read about the project, veterans, and some … » More …

Book cover of Making Space for Women
Winter 2022

Making Space for Women: Stories from Trailblazing Women of NASA’s Johnson Space Center

Book cover of Making Space for Women

 

Edited by Jennifer M. Ross-Nazzal ’04 PhD History

Texas A&M University Press: 2022

 

One made the coffee every morning. “That was just standard operating procedure,” she explains, noting one boss never called her by her name. It was always “Young Lady.”

Another, in her first job out of high school, babysat for astronauts after work. Still another, a mathematician, was asked to fill in for two weeks for a secretary who was on her honeymoon. When she … » More …

Book cover of Pioneering Death
Winter 2022

Pioneering Death: The Violence of Boyhood in Turn-of-the-Century Oregon

Book cover of Pioneering Death

Peter Boag

University of Washington Press: 2022

 

His father slapped him, commanding him to tend to his chores. Instead, the 18-year-old marched into the farmhouse where he lived with his parents and siblings, grabbed his father’s rifle, and shot him in the back of the head before turning the weapon on his mother and a community member who had stopped to chat.

The more historian Peter Boag learned about the killing in west Linn County⁠—and its place in the larger social … » More …

Plume of smoke comes from the crater of Mount St. Helens in 1982
Spring 2022

Large volcanic eruptions 1800–present in the United States*

 

*as delineated by its current international and state boundaries

 

1800 — Mount St. Helens (Washington)  The eruption was seen by Native Americans. Oral tradition of NE Washington tribes noted many people starved to death the winter following the eruption.

 

1812 — Augustine Volcano (Alaska)  Augustine has had six significant eruptions: 1812, 1883–1884, 1935, 1963–1964, 1976, and 1986. The 1883 eruption produced a tsunami.

 

1825 — Isanotski Peaks (Alaska)  Also known as Isanotski Volcano, locally as “Ragged Jack,” is a multi-peaked mountain on Unimak Island, the easternmost Aleutian Island. Other … » More …