New Article on the History of a Local Newspaper

Hello Everyone,

Recently, I was fortunate enough to be asked to write a history article for the local newspaper, Press & Guide, as part of their 100th anniversary. They are a great local paper servicing Dearborn, MI and the surrounding communities. I was very proud to know that my work as a historian was noticed by the newspaper's editor and honored that he chose me to write this article. 

In writing this article, I found that the history of many local newspapers is not well documented before becoming available digitally online. I think documenting local newspaper histories would be an excellent research interest and a great future project.

A link to the article is available below:

Then and Now: The Press & Guide 1994-Present

History Happy Hour with Prof Tric!

Hello Folks,

On September 7th, I was honored to be part of the Whaley Historic House's series of local history lectures known as History Happy Hour.

This is a great platform for historians to present little known local history in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. While the Whaley House has been under repairs the History Happy Hours have been hosted by Tenacity Brewing. Tenacity is a great place with a super-friendly staff that makes everyone feel like a VIP. They're very moderately priced and their menu has something for every taste.

http://www.tenacitybrewing.com/

For my presentation I choose the Lone Ranger's humble origins from right here in Michigan. The Lone Ranger has long been an icon of the American West. However, many do not realized that he was created for WXYZ radio by Michiganders and that the first person to voice this lawman was from Oxford, MI. 

The Whaley Historic House in Flint is an amazing place. Please consider donating to them and attending their fundraisers.
http://www.whaleyhouse.com/

"I Don't Teach History, I Make Historians"

I get a lot of requests regarding my teaching philosophy. As a graduate student, we were told to develop a philosophy regarding ourselves and how we planned to teach. Naturally, as a good grad student I thought the answer could be found by researching so I read A LOT of teaching philosophies from other masters and PhD recipients. All of them sounded the same. It wasn't until I actually began to teach in higher education that I realized what my teaching philosophy was...

"I don't teach history. I make historians."

When people think of history teachers they think of someone trying to get them to memorize dates, battles, and names. I like to think I make historians. Now, I don't expect everyone that takes my class to change their major to history but I inspire my students to think about history. I encourage them to consider what causes historical events to happen, what legacy it left, and how those events are similar to things taking place in our modern world. In my course, you will learn to look at history not as something that happened an eternity ago but how it affects us to this day.