history
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The Seven Wonders of Portsmouth
Post by honorary shipmate Andrew Feight Shanty Dotty on the Ohio, tied up at the Anchor Pad in Portsmouth, Ohio (18 July 2019). Earlier this week I had the pleasure of sitting for an interview with Wes Modes. Funded with a grant from the Ohio Humanities Council, Wes and his two shipmates (production assistants) are…
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The sprawling discussion with Andrew Feight, professor of history at Shawnee State
I had a chance to interview Andrew Feight, professor of history at Shawnee State University. We had a sprawling discussion about the nature of history, who gets to tell it, and whose history gets told. We also talked about Portsmouth history, its role in the Underground Railroad, labor history, and integration, the Shawnee people who…
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A push to remove the homeless from the American River
To follow up on our visit to the American River on our 2017 summer fieldwork, you may remember that we interviewed Bar who lived along the river. While we were in Sacramento, we explored the American River north of town. One evening, we camped near a fellow in a neat temp compound a short walk…
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River Voices (Unofficial Cut) – 2018 Trailer
Our 2018 trailer video featuring river people from 1250 miles of the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers.
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A Word About Process
A word about process. And an exploration of the dérive, the Situationist practice of an unplanned journey through an urban landscape, where wanderers abandon their preconceptions and “let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there”
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What This Means
Sometimes as the world falls apart, as the drumbeats of war sound, as ubiquitous corruption exposes the true values of capitalism, as the torrential rain of violence exposes America’s racist foundations, as people here and elsewhere suffer and hunger and thirst and die, why should my life’s work come to this? Is it conscionable to…
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River Voices – 2017 Trailer
After 3 years of fieldwork, 1000 river miles, 15,000 road miles, 85 interviews, and now 1 month of combing the archive, and innumerable editing hours, we are extremely excited to present the new trailer.
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The adventures of Peggy Sanford’s Aunt Jonnie
My Aunt, Jonnie Ruff Vailes, taught in a one room schoolhouse on Island 40, located near Memphis on the Mississippi River. Although Island 40 was in Tennessee the only way to get there by road was by going through Arkansas.
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An Interview with the Arsenal Archaeologist
I had the opportunity to interview Ben Hoksbergen, archaeologist for the Redstone Arsenal. He took us upriver in his boat to several artifact sites and up to Paint Rock near the Guntersville Dam to see prehistoric paintings on the rock.
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Sam Houston and the Secret History of Hiwassee Island
He ran away from home and lived with an eccentric Cherokee tribe of about 200 on Hiwassee Island around 1808. He lived with them for two years, during which time he was known as The Raven. He read long passages from the Iliad, which the Cherokee reportedly followed with great interest.
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Adventures on the Other Side
In which we reveal a possible obsession with bridges to complement our well-known obsession with personal narrative
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Mini Stories from Clinton, Iowa
Clinton Marina History My Grandmother owed and operated the Marina that you are at right now until the 1970s. It was called the Anchorage then. Her name was Agnes (Schrader) Lutz. Everyone called her “Aggie”. She fished, hunted, made her own fish nets and decoys. She was named the first queen of our 4th of…
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A Brief Visit to Harper’s Ferry and a Mysterious Man
We meet a mysterious man in a historic town, but not the one you are thinking of.
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Karen Galema, Mississippi River fisherman
Karen Galema in her life has been a fisherman, an EMT, a bookkeeper for the large fish market in Lansing, and finally the manager of the Lansing River History and Commercial Fishing museum. This is an excerpt from our interview in Lansing, Iowa along the banks of the Mississippi River.
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Maiden Launch (vintage remix)
The shantyboat Dotty’s maiden launch. Dropping a completely untested boat into one of the largest rivers on the continent.
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Jessica Bierbrauer and the Future River
Jessica Bierbrauer, director of the Great River Road Visitor & Learning Center in Prescott WI, talks about the future of the river.
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John Sullivan and Fish Kills
John Sullivan, retired DNR officer in La Crosse WI, talks about river water quality and battling sources of pollution.
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Jessica Bierbrauer and Lost History
Jessica Bierbrauer, director of the Great River Road Visitor & Learning Center in Prescott WI, talks about personal stories that are lost or buried.
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Kali Arlene and Latsch Island
Kali Arlene, Latsch Island boathouse resident in Winona MN, talks about living on the river and interactions with the people who live in town.
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Experiments with Multimedia
The production team and I are working on cutting various transitions between segments in the Secret History Web Documentary. Here is a sweet river moment I wanted to share. It makes a nice soothing backdrop for a nap.
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Lauren Donovan and the Creepy Guy
Lauren Donovan, who kayaked the length of the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca to New Orleans, talks about an unexpected meeting while camping along the river.
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History of Flatboating and a Charming Educational Film
A very brief history on the evolution of river craft from flatboats, store boats, and shantyboats.
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Peter Rachleff on the Creativity of Poor People
Peter Rachleff, Professor of History, talks about how poor people in the Twin Cities have historically used the sawn ends and off cuts from the sawmills to build shanties.