History 605: Recent Episodes
Ben Jones
History 605 explores the history of South Dakota, the northern Great Plains, and the Midwest. South Dakota’s State Historian Ben Jones will visit with guests about their books, museum exhibits and artifacts, and historic sites in the state and region. Along the way, you’ll learn how to think, not what to think, about history and the people of the past.The host is Dr. Ben Jones, State Historian and Director of the South Dakota State Historical Society. Ben grew up in Sioux Falls and De Smet, served in various locations around the world while in the USAF. He returned to South Dakota to become Dean of Arts and Sciences at Dakota State University, then served as South Dakota’s 15th Secretary of Education. Along the way, he earned his PhD in history and enjoys sharing history’s insights with all of you.
Corey Christianson joins Ben Jones on this edition of History 605 to talk about Alfred Dahlin who she chronicled in the most recent edition of South Dakota History
In this episode of History 605, Ben Jones speaks with Tom Hurlburt, President of the SD State Historical Society Trustees and principal architect of Co-op Architecture.
In this edition of History 605, Ben Jones talks with the South Dakota Secretary of Education Joseph Graves.
In this episode of History 605, Ben Jones talks with Lori Kent of the Local Lou Podcast to talk about how she has fun telling the deeper stories behind her town’s ubiquitous historical markers.
On this edition of History 605, Ben Jones speaks with Timothy Winegard about his fascinating new book, rich with epic tales and equine stories of man's dependency on one of the world's most amazing animals - the horse.
In this episode of History 605, Ben Jones sits down with Norman Matteoni, author of a new book, "A Phantom Storm: Sitting Bull, America, and the Ghost Dance."
Richard Carlson joins Ben Jones on the latest episode of History 605 to give an update on a collection of early and mid-20th-century photographs showing the life and history in the Black Hills.
The state's History Museum received an invaluable set of artifacts from two families that belonged to Sinte Gleska, often referred to as Spotted Tail.
Ben Jones discusses Philip Burnham's book, "The Education of Clarence Three Stars: A Lakota American Life" on the latest episode of History 605.
In this edition of History 605, Ben Jones discusses Ella Deloria's remarkable path from South Dakota to Columbia University, her training under the nation's first anthropologists, and her tireless work interviewing Lakota and Dakota people in the early 20th century with Thierry Veyrié.
On this edition of History 605, guest Blake Watson joins Ben Jones to discuss the sticky issue of how the US government bought and took land from Indians.
Historian Allen Guelzo joins Ben Jones on History 605 to discuss his new book, "Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and The American Experiment."
In this edition of History 605, Ben Jones speaks with Sean Vanatta, who describes how Citibank and South Dakota changed the credit card industry in the United States.
Ben Jones speaks with Coralie Hughes, the granddaughter of poet John G. Neihardt on the latest edition of History 605.
Mark Lempke joins Ben Jones on this edition of History 605 to discuss his book, George McGovern: My Brother's Keeper and Progressive Christianity
In this edition of History 605, Ben Jones talks with David Hosmer about interviewing combat veterans and oral histories.
Ben Jones speaks with Adrien Hannus, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Augustana University on the latest edition of History 605.
Ben Jones goes inside the National Music Museum with Dwight Vaught and Arian Sheets in this edition of History 605.
Joe Jackson discusses his biography about Black Elk, the Oglala wicasa wakan or holy man with Ben Jones on this edition of History 605.
Ben Jones discusses how the United States' grain production, telegraph system, and shipping dominance remade the world markets in the late 19th century with Scott Nelson.
In this best of episode of History 605, Ben Jones talks with Paul Wilson, one of George Mickelson's campaign staff during his run for Governor in 1986.
USD Knudson School of Law Professor Patrick Garry joins Ben Joins to discuss the history of South Dakota's state constitution.
On this edition of History 605, Ben Jones has a conversation with Anne Hyde who has written two prize-winning histories of how mixed-race families lived, worked, and changed in the turbulent 18th and the 19th century Great Plains.
In this episode, we speak to historian James H. Madison and discuss the question, how did the KKK become a popular Midwest organization in the 1920s?
In this episode of History 605, Ben Jones talks with Jacob Friefeld and Rebecca Wingo about their book, "Homesteading the Plains: Toward a New History."
In this episode of the 605 Podcast, Ben Jones talks to Kevin Kuchenbecker, Deadwood's Historic Preservation Officer.
In this episode of the 605 Podcast, Ben Jones talks to Mark Van de Logt, author of "Between the Floods: A History of the Arikaras.
Julie Breu joins the 605 Podcat to discuss some of the recent projects at the Lake County Museum.
In this episode, Ben Jones talks with Linda Clemmons to discover how did the Dakota-French families navigated the complicated and rich cultures in Dakota Territory and Minnesota in the mid-nineteenth century.
In this episode, Ben Jones speaks with University of South Dakota Law Professor Tom Simmons to see what happened when angry investor Peter Wintermute and Acting Territorial Governor Edwin McCook have a shootout and brawl in the midst of a Yankton public meeting.
Jon Schaff joins the 605 Podcast to discuss how movies and TV shows represent South Dakota.
Paul Horsted joins the 605 Podcast to talk about the US Army's 1874 Black Hills Expedition and explain how the forest, roads, and buildings all mark historical change
Bill Hoskins joins the 605 Podcast to discuss the history of Minnehaha County and the Sioux Falls community.
Jeanne and David Heidler join the 605 Podcast to talk about their book, "Washington's Circle: The Creation of the President."
Historian David Wolff joins the 605 Podcast to discuss the Deadwood fires of 1879, 1889, 1894, and 1987 and how the responses to these fires made modern city.
Nancy Koupal joins the 605 Podcast to talk about her book Pioneer Girl: The Path Into Fiction .
David C. Posthumus joins the 605 Podcast to talk about his book Lakhota: An Indigenous History
Daniel Burge joins the 605 Podcast to talk about his book, "A Failed Vision of Empire: The Collapse of Manifest Destiny, 1845-1872."
Valerie Sherer joins the History 605 Podcast to talk about the Women’s National Indian Association and the political clout they wielded to raise money, establish hospitals and schools, and live out their view of the Christian gospel.
Pulitzer Prize winning author Stacy Schiff joins the History 605 Podcast to discuss her book, The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams.
David Grabitske joins the History 605 Podcast to discuss the past and future plans for the South Dakota State Historical Society.
Jason Steinhauer joins the History 605 Podcast to discuss his book History, Disrupted: How Social Media and the World Wide Web has Changed the Past/
Joe Jackson joins the History 605 Podcast to discuss the book Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary.
Jon Lauck joins the History 605 Podcast to talk about this book The Good Country: A History of the American Midwest.
Will McClay, a Professor of History at Hillsdale College is the guest on this episode as we talk about his book, “Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story”
Dr. Ashley Rogers Berner, Director of Education Policy at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland discusses the history of teaching in the United States.
In this episode, we discuss the book, The Great Plains which defined how we think about the region.
During the “dirty thirties,” Earl Neller took six children hitch hiking 850 miles from Sioux Falls, to the Black Hills and then to Hebron, North Dakota.
How can political candidates win in South Dakota? To answer that, one has to know something about the state's complicated political culture, traditions, and voting habits. Some of those answers can be found in our just-released book, "Plains Political Traditions," edited by Jon Lauck and Paula Nelson.
On this edition of History 605, we speak to author April White who brings us back to the high society of the Sioux Falls’ Cataract Hotel and how it became the place where certain women from the east coast could escape a bad marriage.
In today's episode, we discuss Akim's book, "Ruling Pine Ridge: Oglala Lakota Politics from the IRA to Wounded Knee" published by Texas Tech University Press.
Writer Joseph Starita joins us to talk about his book "I am a Man" where he shares the remarkable story of how Standing Bear defeated General George Crook in 1879, not on the battlefield, but in federal court.
Who were the Lakota Code Talkers? What kind of language is Lakota? What can go wrong when two very conceptually different languages such as English and Lakota try to communicate in treaties?
How can we know what happened in the past? Historians use a wide variety of sources in order to answer that question. But how do we know what happened when there was no written language?
What prompts revolution and calamity? A sudden and sharp rise in grain prices, claims historian Scott Nelson, the UGA Athletics Association Professor of the Humanities at the University of Georgia. Nelson chatted with us about his book, Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World.
Today we talk to Joseph Daniels about how history and heritage will be used to commemorate and celebrate the nation's Semiquincentennial, or the 250th year since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Daniels is the CEO of the America 250 Foundation charged with supporting the nation's celebration.
In this episode of History 605, I spoke with Roger Grant, a historian of the American railroad. Roger has had a long career teaching at Clemson University and has written several books. I spoke with him about his book, "Railroads and the American People," and his forthcoming essay on South Dakota's railroads with the Center for Western Studies. As Roger reminds us, "An idea is what an idea does," and the railroads were a practical idea that met a need — but also a source of great fascination with a profound influence on America. In this episode, you'll hear how the railroads shaped so much of South Dakota.
In this episode we ask, "how can we represent and best commemorate the Rapid City Flood?" Troy Kilpatrick and Corey Christianson of Rapid City's Journey Museum and Learning Center talk with us about how they answered that question with their current exhibit.
Much of history is an attempt to understand culture, and language is a window to culture like nothing else. So how can we understand the immigrants on the Northern Plains if we don’t speak their language? In the late 19th century, Germans left Europe in massive numbers and thousands settled in what is now South Dakota. What kind of culture did they bring with them? What kind of culture was created by them mixing with other cultures on the Northern Plains? German newspapers provide a great deal of insight on that and Istvan Gambocz has the rare talent to understand this aspect of South Dakota’s history. His article in the Fall 2021 South Dakota History won the Herbert S. Schell Prize for the best essay of the year.
The breaking of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty and the creation of several smaller reservations in western South Dakota is often thought to have been President Ulysses Grant’s intent. However, historian Mary Stockwell argues in her book that Grant attempted to pursue a different policy, which included citizenship for American Indians. But despite his wishes, he was unable to make that happen. Understanding his circumstances is key to understanding a great deal of South Dakota’s history. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Mary Stockwell, the author of “Interrupted Odyssey: Ulysses S. Grant and the American Indians.”
The guest this time is you and me. We thought we’d wrap up the first season of History 605 with a review of how far we’ve come since we launched the podcast last July.
Where did the first Americans come from? Language similarities has pointed toward a link between the Dakota and certain Asian people groups for over a century. But a new book by paleogeneticist Jennifer Raff shares the state of knowledge known and debated by current archeologists and anthropologists. Specifically that the peopling of the Americas happened earlier than previously thought and in a more complicated way than what we've been taught in school. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jennifer Raff, of the University of Kansas, about her new book, "Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas." See Twelvebooks.com
In this episode of History 605, historian Kurt Kemper shares with us that today's "March Madness" is a product of the arguments between schools on the purpose of athletics, cheating scandals, racial tensions, and even fights over the dribble rule. Kemper's curiosity about how the University of South Dakota won the 1958 national championship started him down the path resulting in this book. Kemper's book can be found here: www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p085185
In this episode of History 605, Dr. Jones has a conversation with the accomplished historian of the Dakota Indian tribe, Gary Clayton Anderson. His most recent book is "Massacre in Minnesota: The Dakota War of 1862, The Most Violent Ethnic Conflict in American History." Guided by over twenty years of research about the era and the people involved, Anderson seeks to overcome the bias of so many other versions of this tragic event so that we can understand why it happened. A copy of the book can be found here: oupress.com/9780806164342/massacre-in-minnesota/
As we hear much about voting rights in the news, it's worth looking back at how women got the vote in the northern Plains. In this episode of History 605, we talk to historians Molly P. Rozum and Lori Ann Lahlum about their book, Equality at the Ballot Box. The book discusses how women's voting rights came about in North and South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. The fascinating people and complicated politics of the era provide some wisdom for us today. The book is published by the South Dakota Historical Society Press and can be found at: sdhspress.com/books
How did George S. Mickelson come from behind to become Governor of South Dakota? In this episode of History 605 we speak to Paul Wilson who worked on Mickelson's campaign staff for both the 1986 and 1990 campaigns for Governor. His use of short but effective commercials speaking to voters and focused campaigning in selected parts of the state won the election for Mickelson. Wilson also crafted the 1990 State of the State address Mickelson introduced the Year of Reconciliation. The episode is based on Wilson's essay in the coming Plains Political Traditions, Vol 4, edited by Jon Lauck and Paula Nelson.
How did South Dakota's state Constitution come together? What is the state's basic law? How did South Dakota become the first state in the nation to enshrine the popular referendum and how often have the people used this power? In this episode of History 605, Dr. Jones discusses the state's constitution with the former South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson. His expertise in the state and tribal law make for a great conversation. To read the hand written original constitution, see this link at the State Archives: https://sddigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/government/id/751/rec/1
In this episode, we speak with Historian Sean Flynn from Dakota Wesleyan University about his biography on Ben Reifel. How does a boy born into poverty on the Rosebud Reservation become a man who advocates for Indian education and an Indian policy that is, "Without Reservation"? I hope you'll join us for this discussion on how one South Dakota leader sought to manage the challenges of two different cultures. Sean Flynn's book is available here: https://sdhspress.com/books/without-reservation
Dakota Territory was settled by thousands of Civil War veterans. As Dr. Jones discusses with History 605 guest, USD Provost, and Professor Kurt Hackmer, those vets had a higher rate of combat experiences than the typical Civil War veteran. While the details are murky due to having no medical terminology at that time for conditions such as PTSD, many of those who experienced a great deal of combat dealt with it in interesting ways for the rest of their lives.
With Veteran's Day in view, Dr. Jones speaks with filmmaker John Mollison about what he's learned about character from veteran aviators or, as he says, "old guys and their airplanes." John is the recipient of the SD Governor's Award for History and his documentary films of WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans are made with K-12 audiences in mind. John has produced very effective "educator kits" about these aviators' actions. We also discussed their views on character, courage, and service. For more information about John Mollison's work go to: DFCSociety.org or JohnMollison.com.
Special Edition: We’re pleased to have the exhibit, “No Child’s Play” come to Sioux Falls and Rapid City in the first two weeks of November 2021.
How did Laura Ingalls Wilder come to be one of the nation's best-selling children's writers? By failing to get her autobiography published. In today's episode, Dr. Jones speaks with editor Nancy Koupal on the new book Pioneer Girl: The Revised Texts.
In this episode of History 605, Dr. Jones speaks with Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Historic Preservation Officer Dianne Desrosier. She shares the meaning and the history of the Wacipi, which is Dakota for "They all dance." Listen in to their discussion on the local meaning of what is commonly referred to with the Algonquian words, Pow Wow.
State historian Ben Jones talks with Dakota State University Professor Justin Blessinger about General William Henry Harrison Beadle. It's all part of the podcast project History 605.
How did Clarence Three Stars, a son of the Lakota warrior Yellow Knife, navigate the profound cultural transition from the 1860s to the 1920s?
History 605 host Dr. Ben Jones talks with author Jerome Greene about his book, All Guns Fired at One Time.
Votes for women passed in 1918, after failing several times before. But amidst a World War, a global pandemic, and anxious national discussions about immigrants, South Dakota's suffrage leaders changed their tactics and carried the day in a rapidly changing electoral environment. How did they pull it off? Gerry Boychuck shares the story with History 605 listeners. The South Dakota History issue is available with membership in the SDSHS or by ordering the issue directly here: https://sdhspress.com/journal/south-dakota-history-50-3. For membership in the South Dakota State Historical Society see: https://history.sd.gov/membership.aspx
General Custer is one of the most written about people in American history. Author Sandy Barnard has spent many years researching his life, the US Army in the Plains Indian wars, and worked with the National Park Service on a number of projects about this history. He recently wrote a new biography and Dr. Jones was pleased to have this conversation about Custer's controversial life and what it means to America and the Great Plains. The book is available at: sdhspress.com/books/george-armstrong-custer
Recently re-released, Historian Andrew Isenberg's book, "The Destruction of the Bison, 1750-1920" was the topic of conversation in the 3rd episode of History 605. Dr. Jones and Professor Isenberg discuss the series of events that rapidly altered the Great Plains' environment and led to the near extinction of the bison. For copy of the book see: https://tinyurl.com/37w8twnz
Deadwood epitomizes the wild west. But had it remained as it was in 1876, it wouldn't be here today. It took more than gold, gambling, and gunfire for the town to survive and thrive. In this episode, Dr. Jones talks to Historian David Wolff about his newly released book, "The Savior of Deadwood: James K. P. Miller on the Gold Frontier." Copies of the book are available at: sdhspress.com/books/the-savior-of-deadwood
History 605 explores the history of South Dakota, the northern Great Plains, and the Midwest. South Dakota’s State Historian Ben Jones will visit with guests about their books, museum exhibits and artifacts, and historic sites in the state and region. Along the way, you’ll learn how to think, not what to think, about history and the people of the past.