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In 1917, Pastor Schnücker published Die Ostfriesen in Amerika: Eine illustrierte Geschichte ihrer Kolonien bis zur Gegenwart (The East Frisians In America: An Illustrated History of Their Colonies to the Present Time). An empathetic storyteller, Pastor Schnücker chronicled the lives of East Frisian settlers during their first six decades in the United States. It is hoped that this new English version will inform more recent generations of their ancestors’ hardships, struggles, perseverance, and triumphs.
Realizing there are few books that specifically cover the unique intricacies of East Frisian genealogy, Groenhagen decided to share what he has learned about East Frisian genealogy during the past 30 years. In Finding Your East Frisian Ancestors and Cousins, Groenhagen discusses techniques and sources you can use to find your ancestors and cousins in both the United States and East Friesland. Groenhagen shares online and print resources he used to find his own ancestors and cousins, discusses the practice of patronymics, and includes a chapter on genetic genealogy, which has introduced science to the art of genealogy. Groenhagen also includes a chapter on how to write and publish a book about your ancestors and cousins after you have done your research.
Neva “Grandma” Burright was born on a race track in 1883, and her 57-year career as a harness racing driver spanned the county fair circuit to the early years of pari-mutuel harness racing after World War II. During the 1940s and 1950s, major newspapers from Boston to Honolulu reported on Grandma Burright’s exploits as a harness racing driver. In 1943, she became the first woman to win a Grand Circuit race. In doing so, she defeated the legendary Sep Palin, “the aristocrat of drivers,” who had the financial backing of automobile heiress Frances Dodge Johnson. During that Grand Circuit race in Delaware, Ohio, Grandma Burright and Luckyette, her bay gelding, also shocked the harness racing world by setting a record for women drivers over a half-mile track with a time of 2:04 ¾. In addition to Grandma Burright’s victories on race tracks, general audience magazines such as Coronet, Esquire, Hit!, Life, and Look magazines featured her in articles. She also appeared before millions on national television in 1954 and stumped the panelists on What’s My Line? In Grandma Burright: The Queen of Harness Racing, Kevin Groenhagen explores Grandma Burright’s legacy as a wife, mother, grandmother, and, of course, as a harness racing driver. He examines how a diminutive woman of modest means overcame numerous tragedies (the death of a husband, two grandsons, and two sons, all within 12 years) to become known as “The Queen of Harness Racing.”
A History of Lawrence, Kansas: From the First Settlement to the Close of the Rebellion. Reprint of Richard Cordley’s 1895 book on the founding of Lawrence, Kansas, and Quantrill’s Raid of August 21, 1863. New edition includes an editor’s introduction, photos added from the Library of Congress, recent photos taken in Lawrence and Lecompton, recent articles on the Eldridge Hotel and the House Building, and a comprehensive index (the original lacked an index).
In 1916, Landers and Loomis made up Oregon (Ill.) High School’s track and field team and made newspaper headlines throughout the United States. They won 13 scholastic meets during their senior of high school. In addition, Landers set a high school record of 12’ 8” in the pole vault. This was during the bamboo pole era.
After high school, they went their separate ways but were reunited for the Seventh Olympiad in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1920. The Sixth Olympiad, scheduled to take place in Berlin in 1916, was canceled due to World War I. In addition to being the first Olympics after World War I, the Seventh Olympiad featured a few other firsts. The Olympic flag was introduced at the Antwerp Games with its five interlaced rings representing the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes worldwide. The Antwerp Games were also the first to feature the reading of the Olympic oath and the release of doves, a symbol of peace.
Landers placed fifth in the hop, skip, and jump (triple jump) at the Seventh Olympiad and defeated a former world record holder in that event. Loomis won a gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles and set a world record of 54 seconds.
Landers & Loomis: Oregon’s Olympians tells the story of how and where the athletes met and became friends, how they came to compete for Oregon High School, and their lives both on and off the track field.