H-Midwest

Given Oklahoma's Native American history and energy industry, I always thought of the state in the larger context of the West. If anything, it does raise (or repeat) a larger question regarding the study of American regionalism: to what extent can regions be defined by state boundaries? It's certainly convenient but, as works like Fischer's Albion's Seed or Woodward's American Nations show, things are not always so clearly defined.

Oklahoma is not included on the current States listed for the web page. Is Oklahoma considered South only ?

As a Minnesotan, I just had to share this book review from our friends at H-Skand. I've always enjoyed the strength of feeling aroused in Minnesotans by the Kensington Rune Stone and the story of Vikings settling in Minnesota. The feelings have always been strong, but divided: some still believe it, many do not, but both sides have always seemed surprisingly passionate. I remember meeting people who were taught about the Kensington Rune Stone in their history classes.

I am working on a scholarly project concerning the production, marketing, and pedagogy of history education in the mid-nineteenth century.  One of the authors in the study is Marcius Willson, probably the most prolific textbook writer (especially of school Readers) in this period, under contract with Harper and Brothers since 1860.  He and his rival authors were deeply involved with marketing their works through commission agents who fanned out across the midwest and South to secure adoptions by school districts.  In 1864, his Readers’ penetration into the midwest sparked a major war with t