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History and Current Events July 2025 |
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Medicine River : a story of survival and the legacy of Indian boarding schools
by Mary Annette Pember
"A sweeping and trenchant exploration of the history of Native American boarding schools in the U.S., and the legacy of abuse wrought by systemic attempts to use education as a tool through which to destroy Native culture. From the mid-19th century to the late 1930s, tens of thousands of Native children were pulled from their families to attend boarding schools that claimed to help create opportunity for these children to pursue professions outside their communities and otherwise "assimilate" into American life. In reality, these boarding schools-sponsored by the US Government but often run by various religious orders with little to no regulation-were an insidious attempt to destroy tribes, break up families, and stamp out the traditions of generations of Native people. Children were beaten for speaking their native languages, forced to complete menial tasks in terrible conditions, and utterly deprived of love and affection. Ojibwe journalist Mary Pember's mother was forced to attend one of these institutions-a seminary in Wisconsin, and the impacts of her experience have cast a pall over Mary's own childhood, and her relationship with her mother. Highlighting both her mother's experience and the experiences of countless other students at such schools, their families, and their children, Medicine River paints a stark portrait of communities still reckoning with the legacy of acculturation that has affected generations of Native communities. Through searing interviews and assiduous historical reporting, Pember traces the evolution and continued rebirth of a culture whose country has been seemingly intent upon destroying it"
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Remember us : American sacrifice, Dutch freedom, and a forever promise forged in World War II
by Robert M. Edsel
"Remember Us, by Robert Edsel . . . begins in the pre-dawn hours of Hitler's invasion of Western Europe on May 10, 1940, when his forces rolled into the small rural province of Limburg in the Netherlands shattering more than 100 years of peace. Their freedom gone, the Dutch lived through four-and-a-half years of occupation until American forces reached Limburg in September 1944, the last portion of Western Europe liberated by the Allies before their advance on Nazi Germany slammed to a halt. Like The Monuments Men, Remember Us is an ensemble piece that follows twelve main characters over a six-year span, zeroing in on ordinary people including Frieda van Schèaik, a teenager who falls in love with an American soldier; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole, the first member of the 101st Airborne to receive the Medal of Honor; and Sergeant Jeff Wiggins of the 960th Quartermaster Service Company, who escaped the poverty and racism of Alabama for yet another indignity--digging graves. Drawing on never-before-seen letters, diaries, and other historical records, Edsel shows the painful price of freedom, on the battlefields and inside American homes. In this rich, dramatic, and suspenseful story, he captures both the horrors of war and the transcendent power of gratitude, showing the extraordinary measures the Dutch have taken to thank their liberators. Remember Us is exactly the book we need--a reminder that grief is universal, that humanity knows no national or racial boundaries, and that we all want to be remembered, somehow, someway, by somebody"
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| Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline FraserIn her disturbing and well-researched true crime account, Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Fraser (Prairie Fires) examines the history of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest from the 1940s to the 1980s. For fans of: The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. |
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| The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück: How an Intrepid Band of Frenchwomen Resisted the... by Lynne OlsonHistorian Lynne Olson's (Empress of the Nile) disturbing yet inspiring latest focuses on four women French Resistance fighters who were captured and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, detailing how they worked together to survive World War II, help their fellow prisoners, and, post-war, seek justice for the atrocities they experienced. Further reading: The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany by Gwen Strauss. |
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| When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World by Jordan ThomasIn his unputdownable debut, anthropologist and former Los Padres Hotshot wildland firefighter Jordan Thomas recounts his experiences during the 2021 fire season in California, detailing how climate change, colonization, and political malfeasance have exacerbated the rise of megafires in the American West. Try these next: The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History by Manjula Martin; Wildfire Days: A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning American West by Kelly Ramsey. |
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| 1861: The Lost Peace by Jay WinikBestselling author Jay Winik's well-researched history explores the role President Abraham Lincoln played at the beginning of the American Civil War, including his attempts to avoid the conflict altogether. Try this next: Lincoln's Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War by Michael Vorenberg. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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New Carlisle-Olive Township Public Library
408 S. Bray St.
New Carlisle, Indiana 46552
(574) 654-3046ncpl.lib.in.us |
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