The Public Historian Review of Dis-History

It was a very nice surprise this afternoon to find notification that Dis-History has been reviewed by The Public Historian. For those of you not familiar with The Public Historian, it is the premier academic journal for public history practitioners. One of the key arguments I advanced in Dis-History was that Walt Disney was a public historian (of a kind) and utilized the past in helping form and advance a version of American culture. As such, it was a real honor for me to have Dis-History reviewed in the journal that is such a part of the public historian's craft.

The review concludes with the following line:
"All in all, this book should appeal to Disney scholars, public historians, and anyone who is interested in the significance of theme parks."

The review can be found in the November 2018 issue of The Public Historian.  My thanks to the journal and to the reviewer!

Indiana Holiday Authors Fair

A week ago for the second year in a row, I had the good fortune to take part in the Indiana Historical Society's annual authors fair. All Saturday afternoon, I got to meet with the book buying public, talk about Rebel Bulldog, and even sell some books!  One result was being asked to give a talk about the Davidson family in their neighborhood at some point in 2019.  Another was being included in the Indianapolis Star's list of books the public should consider buying!  You can see the complete list here.

This year has been an exciting one, and I'm very much look forward to where next year will take me.

The Age of Jackson and Rebel Bulldog

I have a deep love of history, both personally and professionally.  When I was in graduate school, while my cohort was encouraged to find a topic and area to specialize in, I was told by more than one professor that while that was necessary, we needed to be trained and cross trained in different areas of history. As such, though I was trained to be an American Historian, specializing in 20th century US History -- I was also cross trained in 19th century US, Indiana, Global/Transnational, and Religious History as well. That training has served me well, allowing me to teach a wide variety of classes and to indulge that love of history by reading and thinking broadly about the past.

Earlier this semester, I started listening to the Age of Jackson podcast, done by Daniel Gullota. It is a wonderful podcast, bringing historians together to talk about their books or important books about the Jacksonian period in American History (roughly the 1810s-1840s). One day this Fall, I happened to see a Twitter post from the podcast asking for book recommendations for future episodes. I contacted Daniel about the possibility of including Rebel Bulldog on the podcast. We chatted about how a book about the Civil War could fit into the Age of Jackson. While I made a good argument, I think what ultimately helped to win him over was Governor Noah Noble and the Beechers!  :) 

A few weeks ago, Daniel and I talked for over an hour on the phone. The interview was lots of fun to do and was wide ranging -- talking not just about the themes of the book, but also the process of researching and writing history. It was a great deal of fun. And so, I am very proud to have Episode 52 of the Age of Jackson podcast be on Rebel Bulldog.  My thanks to Daniel and I hope you enjoy listening to us discuss Rebel Bulldog!

Disney Walk In

We are currently in the midst of registration for next semester, a semester that will see me offer the Disney class for the third time. I'm of course pleased that students want to take the class -- it's filled again and has a wait list already, and we still have several days left for registration.

And that is, of course gratifying.  But even more so was something that happened today at the office.  The father of one of a Butler student came in to see me unannounced. His purpose was to get my book on Disney autographed. His family, like ours has a "Disney Problem," his daughter happened to see my book in the campus bookstore, and sent him a picture.  As he was visiting on campus today, he bought a copy and came by to see me.  We had a pleasant chat and he walked out with a signed edition of Dis-History!

World Cat and Dis-History

Today, so they say, is National Cat Day.  Now it is true that we don't have any cats, and it is also true that it seems like any group can claim that it is "national _____ day" with relative ease, but it is for sure true that today, Dis-History made it officially onto World Cat, the online library information search engine.  So, while I won't be celebrating any cats in my house, I will be thanking Ceaderville University for its purchase of Dis-History and for entering the following description:

"Dis-history is the term used by the author to describe the influence that Walt Disney and the Disney company has had on modern American culture. This book specifically focuses on the Disney theme parks role in shaping that culture." 

As the Fall semester begins to wind down, and we prepare for the Spring, and with it, the return of my Disney and American Culture class, this is welcome news indeed!

Prohibition in Greenfield

Tonight I had the good fortune of talking about my very first book, Prohibition is Here to Stay, at the Hancock County Public Library in Greenfield, Indiana.  It was a pleasure to be the guest of both the library and the Hancock County historian.  It was fun to revisit the Reverend Edward S. Shumaker and the Dry Crusade, while also talking about how Prohibition continues to shape Indiana and the nation in very real ways.

I hope to have a couple of major announcements about Rebel Bulldog (and maybe even Dis-History) soon.  Additionally, one of these days I'm going to do a post about what I'm currently working on...a project that is coming together very quickly and in ways that may one day help create a "Butler at War" series! 

Double Dose of Rebel Bulldog

The start of the school year has brought with it a good deal of action on the book front. I hope to be sharing more soon, but here is some news on Rebel Bulldog:

Last week, I was notified by the IHS that they had received a review from the Federation of Genealogical Societies  FGS Forum.  It read in part:  "At first glance a reader would believe this book to be a collection of letters pertaining to a family, with some filler to describe how they fit into the Civil War. The reader would be mistaken, but I believe they would be most delighted in what they find instead . . . In the end, this is a very well-written book that was quite a delight to read."   I am, of course, quite glad to read the glowing review, and happy as well to see the book reaching a broad audience.

Speaking of audience, tonight I had the pleasure of talking about Rebel Bulldog to the Madison County Historical Society's Civil War Roundtable.  There was a nice turnout and some good questions from the group.  My thanks to Gerald Jones for the invitation to speak up in Anderson.

And in another update, I've started work on my next book, which will look at the Brown family, Butler University, and the Great War!

WBAA review of Rebel Bulldog

It was wonderful to discover the following discussion of Rebel Bulldog on WBAA (based out of Purdue University):

http://www.wbaa.org/post/book-review-rebel-bulldog#stream/0

Thank you, Nick Schenkel for great commentary on the book!

A Line of Praise Goes A Long Way

I received the following (via email) from a Rebel Bulldog reader today:

"I read your most recent book a month or so ago. Nicely done! VERY impressive job tracking down a lot of far-flung sources."

As an author, I can't tell you how nice it is to hear from readers!  This, and a good dose of family time, made this an excellent weekend.

I hope to be able to share a major Rebel Bulldog announcement soon.....plus updates on new and older projects (Dis-History sequel anyone)? 

NUVO on Rebel Bulldog

Many thanks to NUVO for the nice write up on Rebel Bulldog, and for including it in your expanded summer reading list!  It was fun to come upon it tonight, after spending much of today doing research on other Indiana History topics.

https://www.nuvo.net/arts/no-such-thing-as-too-many-books/article_89714a82-86c2-11e8-89a6-83a24d1728b7.html

MENSA and Eugenics

Earlier this year I was invited to speak at the annual MENSA that was going to be held in Indianapolis.  I accepted the invitation and was asked to speak about eugenics in Indiana, a topic I know a little something about having been part of a group that worked on commemorating the enactment of the first eugenic sterilization law anywhere in the world (it happened right here in Indiana in 1907).  The talk itself was before an audience of a round 50 people, who were treated with an overview of eugenics, the Indiana Plan, and the eventual repeal of the law in 1974 (thanks to Governor Otis "Doc" Bowen).

For me, it was nice to get to revisit the topic before a learned audience that asked very insightful questions.  But in preparing for today I also got to have some academic nostalgia. It has been a decade since the project came to an end (over a decade, really, as most of our work was finished by 2007).  In that time, all five of my books have been released (four of which were written in those years), I've traveled near and far, watched my kids grow from babies to tweens/teens, moved into a new house, spoken around the state (and even at some spots around the country), taught classes at several different universities, and found new research topics.  But perhaps not surprisingly, I'm never far from the Progressive era.

And that is a good thing. The Progressives are a mixed bag of reformers and reforms.  For good and bad, we live in a nation and world that they helped craft and create. Eugenics is a good example.  We have not escaped the legacy of state sponsored sterilization, after all, things like the vasectomy are with us still.  And like the negative branch, the positive arm of eugenics gave us pre-natal care and an emphasis on well child check ups.

Thank you, MENSA for the chance to speak today.  It wasn't on Disney or the Civil War, but on something equally important historically, and maybe just as importantly, near and dear to my heart.

Dis-History "Recieved"

One of the interesting things about publishing a book is that eventually it gets reviewed. This could be on websites (like Amazon) or it could be (if you are an academic) in journals. That being said, institutions that offer reviews always receive more books than they have space to review.  Sometimes, journals opt to just list those books.  Other times, they might provide readers an abstract.  I'm very pleased that Children's Literature Association Quarterly, in its Summer 2018 edition (page 202), has published the following about Dis-History:

Dis-History: Uses of the Past in Walt Disney's Worlds. By Jason Lantzer. New York: Theme Park Press, 2017.

A history professor at Butler University, Jason Lantzer looks at the Disney theme parks through the lens of public history. Lantzer discusses how the narrative elements in these parks combine to tell an idealized story of America's history, and how they have shaped contemporary American culture by cultivating a nostalgic desire to return to a past that never actually existed.

My thanks to CLAQ for being the first (as far as I know) to include Dis-History in the discussion!

And, while I've got you here, let me announce here that while I continue work on my Eisenhower and the Holocaust project, I have agreed, in principle, to write a sequel to Dis-History, with a focus on Universal Studios!  Indeed, I've already completed a research trip down to Florida.  There is more to come on both of these projects!

A New Dis-History Review!

And the latest 5 star review for Dis-History has been posted:

"Every turn, every page just makes my heart smile and makes me feel like returning to the happiest place on earth!" --Nickole Patton

If you need a copy for yourself, you can find it here!

Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Finalist!

Press Release from the Indiana Historical Society Press:

 

The IHS Press books Rebel Bulldog and Campaign Crossroads have been recognized as finalists in the 20th annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

Rebel Bulldog is a finalist in the War & Military (Adult Nonfiction) category (https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2017/war-and-military-2/) and Campaign Crossroads is a finalist in the Regional (Adult Nonfiction) category (https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2017/regional/).

As part of its mission to discover, review, and share the best books from university and independent publishers (and authors), independent media company Foreword Magazine, Inc. hosts its annual awards program each year. Finalists represent the best books published in 2017. After more than 2,000 individual titles spread across 65 genres were submitted for consideration, the list of finalists was determined by Foreword’s editorial team. Winners will be decided by an expert team of booksellers and librarians—representing Foreword’s readership—from across the country.

 

The complete list of finalists can be found at:

https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2017/

“Choosing finalists for the INDIES is always the highlight of our year, but the job is very difficult due to the high quality of submissions,” said Victoria Sutherland, founder/publisher of Foreword Reviews. “Each new book award season proves again how independent publishers are the real innovators in the industry.”

Winners in each genre—along with Editor’s Choice Prize winners and Foreword’s INDIE Publisher of the Year—will be announced June 15, 2018.

Midwest Book Review of Rebel Bulldog

Critique: Rebel Bulldog is the true-life, Civil War era story of an Indiana man who swore allegiance to the confederacy, battled as a Rebel, and returned to the North after the close of the Civil War. Expertly researched and engagingly presented, Rebel Bulldog is a fascinating glimpse into a chaotic era of American history, and a choice pick for public library Civil War collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that Rebel Bulldog is also available in a Kindle edition ($19.95).

Sunday South Bend Tribune

Growing up, the South Bend Tribune's Sunday edition was a part of my life. As such, it was a great honor to have Rebel Bulldog discussed in its pages:

https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/community/former-south-bend-area-residents-talk-about-their-books-on/article_b5ef2e74-4dc0-529c-b4d0-c970b403e3b6.html

Another Dis-History Review on Amazon!

I am very pleased to announce that Dis-History has received yet another stellar review over on Amazon:

"I loved this book by Dr. Lantzer! This book was a fresh approach on Walt's impact in the world. The book offers so much context to the world of Walt, helping us understand how and perhaps why he crafted everything he invented. We are reminded how Walt was inspired by the world around him. The book is very well cited/referenced for researchers who want to dig even deeper than what Lantzer's insights offer."

What makes this review particularly noteworthy for me is that its author is Christopher Tremblay, the author of Walt's Pilgrimage, a wonderful book on all the places Walt lived, visited, and worked, and all the places that were named after him!  It is an honor to have a fellow Disney historian write such complementary things.  Plus, he also teaches a class on Disney as well!  

Founders Week Talk

In 1850, Ovid Butler wrote and submitted a charter for a new institution of higher education to be created in Indianapolis. A lawyer by training, and the son of a minister, Butler and the men who signed the charter sought to create launch a new school to be called North Western Christian University. An upstart school, in a city that was hardly thirty years old, NWCU was defined by geography ("North Western" was an homage to the Northwest Territorial Ordinance), faith (Butler was a devoted member, as were many of those who signed, of the evangelical Protestant denomination the Disciples of Christ), and educational aspiration (named a "university" before a single student was enrolled or curriculum/majors/degrees drawn up).  But it was also shaped by political (Butler's charter was being written in the midst of debate over slavery and the Compromise of 1850), social (the charter made the new university open to both men and women), and denominational (the Disciples had a school in Virginia, Butler wanted a school in the north--away from slavery's influence.  But it was also to be a school that was open to those outside of the denomination as well).  Five years after the charter was written, in 1855, NWCU opened its doors to its first class.

It was members of its second entering class, however, that are the basis for my fifth book, Rebel Bulldog.  And 168 years after the charter was signed, and for the second time since I came to Butler, I got to be an official part of Founders Week and talk about the Davidsons, how their story was rediscovered, and how it all came about because of my decision to offer an honors class about Butler and the Civil War.  With an audience of over 50 people on Tuesday afternoon--most of whom were honors students, I took part in a conversation with the senior editor of the Indiana Historical Society Press, Ray Boomhower about the book, and the opportunity to autograph a few copies as well.  It was a great time (even if the Dawgs couldn't quite pull out the victory over in Hinkle later that day).

Prime Life and the Collegian

Today saw a nice article in the Butler Collegian, complete with interviews with one of my colleagues and a former student.  The focus was mainly about Rebel Bulldog, but also included mention of Dis-History.  It was nice to get to talk about how both of these books came about and were nurtured by the Honors courses that helped create them.

https://thebutlercollegian.com/?p=31916

And then I got to speak about Rebel Bulldog at Prime Life Enrichment in Carmel.  As it has been in the past, it was a wonderful place to talk about history with an engaged audience.

Fishers Current and Rebel Bulldog

It was a pleasure to chat about Rebel Bulldog with the Fishers Current!

http://youarecurrent.com/2018/01/26/butler-professors-lesson-plan-turns-to-history-novel/

Butler Newsroom and Rebel Bulldog

Today the Butler University newsroom ran the following article on Rebel Bulldog......

http://news.butler.edu/blog/2018/01/rebel-bulldogs/


I'm very honored to have been able to tell this part of Butler's history!

Edutainment vs Education: History, Hollywood, the Greatest Showman, and Walt Disney

My family went to see The Greatest Showman this afternoon.  It is an absolutely wonderful film, great songs, acting, and visuals.  The team that put it together (both on and off camera, on set and back in the studio) did an amazing job.  And Hugh Jackman is just awesome!

What the film is not, however, is history.  Yes, it is about a real historical person (P.T. Barnum) who put on performances, had a museum of "oddities," created a circus, was indeed, "the greatest showman."  But the film is not historically accurate on any number of levels, much to the dismay of critics--whom I won't link to because this post really isn't about the criticisms of this particular film (but I will say, to paraphrase Jackman's Barnum, that some of them seem to be film critics that hate film). 

No, you see, the real Barnum, the Barnum of history was and did much more than the movie version we watched showed.  He was a politician in Connecticut (serving as mayor and in the state legislature).  He was a Democrat who became a Republican in the years before the Civil War.  He was a temperance speaker.  He was, in fact, the father of four daughters (only two are shown in the film)---one of whom died as a 2 year old.  He was an author, "debunker," a marketer.....it is almost impossible to list all he did.  Oh, and he looked nothing like Hugh Jackman!

What I did not expect the film to be, was historically accurate. As I wrote on Twitter:

"As an historian, I consider any “history” based movie I see as primarily entertainment, not educational. If I end up looking things up after I get home, and maybe learning something from that, so much the better. Just some insight for non-historians (and film critics) as well."

What I was getting at in this Twitter post was the concept of edutainment, an idea pioneered by Walt Disney (and something I talk about in Dis-History quite a bit).  The idea was that film (or theme parks) could be both entertaining and educational.  It does not promise to be 100 percent historically accurate, or engage every aspect of a particular story, only to use history to tell a story.  The idea as Walt conceived of it was that it would spark further discussion, research, and engagement with the past.  It was not a substitute for history, but a tool to further historical (or literary, or folk lore) inquiry.

I think many critics (including historians, who should know better) sometimes forget that Hollywood is about making money, not "doing history."  Even the best history based films take artistic license.  The goal for studios is to tell a story that gets audiences into theaters (or purchased at some point via some medium).  It is not to do the job of historians.  It is incumbent upon historians to make sure there is material to inform the public after they have seen a film.  As a profession, we should not be dependent to do our job for us--nor should we want them to be!  Rather than complain that a film doesn't capture every possible facet, we should be ready to use the film to engage and educate.  It's what Walt would have wanted, and what Barnum would have endorsed!

South Bend TV time

My thanks to the morning team of ABC57 in South Bend, who had me on air this morning to talk about Rebel Bulldog!

I hope to come back to Northern Indiana -- for more book talks and signings in 2018!

THE Indiana Historical Society

When I was in high school, thinking about colleges, the contest came down to three: Indiana University, Purdue University, or the University of Notre Dame.  While Notre Dame would eventually get a Lantzer (my younger brother) as a student--and would publish my first book, the real contest was between IU and PU.  I can still remember the day I got my IU letter of acceptance, and how I knew that my decision was made (even though I did also get into Purdue as well).  I was already a Hoosier by birth, now I was going to be a Hoosier by education.  At my high school graduation, a family friend (and an IU grad) signed my graduation card "Congratulations on attending THE Indiana University." 

That pride in IU saw me through three degrees (two down in Bloomington, one in Indianapolis).  And it eventually brought me into contact with THE Indiana Historical Society.  My home state has robust and county level historical societies and museums, an exceptional state governmental Historical Bureau, a state-of-the-art State Museum, a terrific State Library, one of the leading Historic Landmarks/historic preservation organizations in the nation, and a truly awesome Historical Society.  I could hardly dream as I started work on my first degree, even when I knew I'd always keep a foot firmly planted in Hoosier History, that one day I'd have a book published by the Indiana Historical Society Press (even if I was eventually destined to spend hours upon hours in its library).

All that brings me to the fact that today, not only can I look back on a good month of work talking about Rebel Bulldog, but that my interview with the Press's editor appears on the IHS Press blog.  You can read it here:

https://indianahistory.org/blog/hot-off-the-press-rebel-bulldog/