New Publications from the ND Institute for Regional Studies

"You Have Been Kind Enough to Assist Me": Herman Stern and the Jewish Refugee Crisis by Terry Shoptaugh
The story about how one man managed to pluck more than a hundred German Jews away from the clutches of the Nazis. Close to one hundred thousand European Jews found refuge in the United States before the onset of the Second World War. This story is about how one man living in a small town in North Dakota, by dint of his energy, determination, refusal to be discouraged, help at critical moments (for he well knew that he could never have succeeded as he did without the help of a special friend in Washington), he managed to pluck more than a hundred German Jews away from the clutches of the Nazis. It was a remarkable achievement. Then when, after the Holocaust, historians argued, with justice, that America could have done more, this man was content to express his gratitude that with help he was able to do something. Hardcover. $24.95

Quentin Burdick: The Gentle Warrior by Dan Rylance
Quentin Burdick: The Gentle Warrior is based on interviews with Burdick, his family, Senate colleagues and many North Dakotans. As the son of Congressman Usher Burdick, Quentin Burdick became the first Democrat in North Dakota to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, in 1958. Two years later, he won a surprise victory over Governor John Davis for the U.S. Senate, where he served continually until his death in September 1992. The book reveals many tragedies in Burdick’s life: the pain of his parents’ divorce, the crippling football injuries, the death of his first wife, the mental breakdown of his first son and the tragic loss of his second son in a freak accident in Fargo at age 16. Late Democratic Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana called Burdick “the quiet senator.” Hardcover. $28.95

Nature of Eastern North Dakota: Pre-1880 Historical Ecology by Kieth Severson and Carolyn Hull Sieg
How abundant were bison on the prairies of eastern North Dakota and how did they move over the grasslands? Did prairie dogs live on this eastern edge of the Great Plains? How about wolves, elk and prairie chickens? Was the influence of Native Americans so strong that the Great Plains wilderness described by early European travelers was already far from "natural"? Were fires common before Euro-American settlement, and were Native Americans the only ones setting them? Were trees present? If so, where did they occur and how did they exist in the presence of droughts, fire and widespread grazing? How often did the flooding occur and how common were droughts? How did they compare in intensity and duration to the drought of the 1930s? Such questions are the foundation of The Nature of Eastern North Dakota. Price: $21.95

From the Banat to North Dakota: A History of the German-Hungarian Pioneers in Western North Dakota by David Dreyer and Josette Hatter
In the spring of 1889 a young family of German colonists struck out on a solo journey to America from their home in the Banat region of Austria-Hungary. Within days of their arrival at the Port of New York, Johann Braun filed a homestead claim in Stark County, North Dakota, establishing with his wife, Anna, and their two small daughters, the first German-Hungarian homestead in North Dakota. What forces led them to leave their colonial home in the Banat? Why, within a few years, did other families sell their famrs and follow the Brauns to southwestern North Dakota? Price: $19.95

The Last Buffalo by Bruce Roseland. Contemporary poetry from the farms and ranches of the Dakotas. Striking insights into 21st Century rural life. Price: $11.95 softcover.

Greetings from North Dakota; An Address and Date Book from the postcard collections of Lawrence Aasen and Ronald Olin; historical information written by John Bye and John Hallberg An address book that features historic North Dakota postcards and short historical notes regarding the towns that they represent. Greetings from North Dakota was compiled by the professionals of the Institute from the postcard collections of Lawrence Aasen and Ronald Olin. They are uniquely North Dakota. Price: $13.95 softcover.

Bitter Harvest: Gordon Kahl and the Possee Comitatus; Murder in the Heartland, by James Corcoran with a new foreword by Mike Jacobs. Corcoran tells the story of Gordon Kahl and the Posse Comitatus, using captivating narrative with vivid imagery. Sunday, February 13, 1983, was a sunny day in Medina, North Dakota--a seemingly peaceful church-going winter day. But hate politics was broiling in secret locations and the Heartland provided cover for those who wanted to take the law into their own hands. "Something terrible, and terribly important, was taking place," writes Corcoran. Ever a page-turner, reflect again on this story of violence and how a group of people can construct an alternative version of the law and the truth. Price: $25 hardcover.

The Institute for Regional Studies has published its first children's novel, Tori and the Sleigh of Midnight Blue by Margo Sorenson. In this work of fiction for young readers, eleven year-old Tori and her family are struggling with the Great Depression in North Dakota and the death of Tori's beloved papa. When a Norwegian bachelor-farmer begins courting Mama, Tori writes in her journal that her life is about to be ruined. Price: $6.95 paperback.

The Promise of Water; The Garrison Diversion Project by Wayne Gudmundson and Robert Silberman is now available. Surprisingly, few people have seen the existing sections of the Garrison project, in spite of the controversy's long history. Wayne Gudmundson's photographs provide for the first time a representation of the full scope of the Garrison Diversion. They also reveal a love of the North Dakota landscape in all its forms. Robert Silberman's essay provides an up-to-date history of the project and the heated political conflicts it has aroused. He also discusses the distinctive character of Gudmundson's photographs. Price: $12.95 paperback; $19.95 hardcover.

Prairie Populist, The Life and Times of Usher L. Burdick by Edward C. Blackorby is now available. Blackorby's biography of Usher L. Burdick tells the story of this engaging, outspoken son of the plains from his early upbringing on Graham's Island to this role as a senior legislator in the U.S. Congress. Blackorby has written a fascinating and valuable analysis of the forces at work in Usher Burdick's public and private history. Available in area bookstores or from the ND Institute for Regional Studies. Price: $28.95

Jay Leitch, former Dean of the College of Business Administration at NDSU, is editor of the Institute's publication, Science and Policy: Interbasin Water Transfer of Aquatic Biota. The book is the result of the Interbasin Water Transfer Study Program and involves researchers from NDSU, UND, the University of Manitoba, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Price: $19.95.

Tom Isern, Professor of History at NDSU, is author of - Dakota Circle: Excursions on the True Plains. The book is a wry, sometimes humorous, always insightful description of the people and things that make up the Great Plains. This hardcover book is available for $19.95 at local bookstores or from the ND Institute for Regional Studies at NDSU.

Unwanted Bread, The Challenge of Farming and Ranching by Concordia College faculty Sheldon Green and James Coomber is now available. Farmers talk of their frustrations and opportunities in this personal glimpse into rural life today. Available in area bookstores or from the ND Institute for Regional Studies. Price $24.95

For more information, contact the ND Institute for Regional Studies at 231-8338 or e-mail Nancy.Nelson@ndsu.edu


Archaeology Lab
Dr. Jeffrey Clark (Department of Sociology/Anthropology) and Dr. Thomas Riley (Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) received an EPSCOR technology grant for the purchase of an Dell 610 Workstation and a Minolta Vivid 700 laser, non-contact 3D digitizer.  This new equipment will be used to research 3D modling and imagery (as well as digital curation) within the field of archaeology.