Iowa History Journal Volume 5, Issue 3, Now Available

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments

Adrian Anson was born and raised in Marshalltown…..and learned how to play baseball there, as well. In fact, he became so good at the sport that he played 27 years in the major leagues and was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Known as Cap Anson, the native Iowan was also a controversial figure due to his stance on race relations in baseball. Don Doxsie, one of Iowa’s top sportswriters of the past thirty years, offers a penetrating look at the life and career of Cap Anson.

Today, the town of Sheldon, in the northwest corner of the state, is best known for being the hometown of Olympic wrestlers Tom and Terry Brands. Back in 1961, however, Sheldon made national headlines when one of its citizens was arrested for embezzling over $2,000,000! The story of Burnice Geiger and her shocking theft – in her own father’s bank – was front page all over the state and much of the country.

The gunfight at the O.K. Corral took place in 1881 in Tombstone, Arizona, and has since become a part of Old West folklore. Little known is the fact that the majority of the principals involved in that legendary event had Iowa backgrounds. Writers Kyle Martin and Mike Chapman offer an intriguing look back into the past.

Click to see the full contents of the issue…

Tags: Adrian Anson, Bob Feller, Burnice Geiger, Cap Anson, Claire Dodd, Herbert Hoover, Jacobson, Kinnick Autograph, Ok Corral, Sheldon

Iowa History Journal Volume 2, Issue 4 Now Available

Friday, July 9th, 2010 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments

Iowa is known for the “Field of Dreams” movie starring Kevin Costner in which the ghosts of major league baseball players emerge from an Iowa cornfield near Dyersville. But the original “field of dreams” was built near Van Meter, in central Iowa, by Bill Feller and his son, Bob – who went on to become the greatest baseball player ever produced in this state!

This issue has a long feature article – written by Buck Turnbull, retired award-winning sportswriter of the Des Moines Register – on Bob Feller’s amazing career with the Cleveland Indians. Also, publisher Mike Chapman writes about the Fellers’ field of dreams and the beautiful Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter.

There is also Part Two of the John Wayne story, based in Winterset, Iowa.

The magazine has other outstanding articles on a wide range of topics – including Glenn Miller, king of the Big Band era; a magician from Marshalltown who was so famous that even Harry Houdini listened to him, and a forgotten Utopian society named the Icarians.

All of this plus columns by John McNeer and Arvid Huisman and a book review, Iowa History Quiz and What’s In a Name, telling about the historic past of Iowa’s third largest city, Davenport.

Read more to see what’s inside this issue…

Tags: Bob Feller, Field of Dreams, Glenn Miller, John Wayne