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Posts by Jacob K. Friefeld

Cover of Lingering Inland

Cover of Lingering Inland

Andy Oler joins Middle West US, writing about _Lingering Inland_ essays about the Midwest.

Oler writes: “_Lingering Inland_ sets out to provide the space and time for Midwesterners to explore their stories as well as their places.”

middlewest.us/lingering-ov...

2 weeks ago 0 0 0 0
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Lingering over Midwestern Stories, in Midwestern Places, by Midwestern People - Middle West US March 25, 2026 By Andy Oler My introduction to the field of Midwestern literature centered on the fiction and poetry published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The authors typical...

Check out this little teaser for Lingering Inland posted at Middle West US (thanks for the opportunity, @friefeld.bsky.social!) middlewest.us/lingering-ov...

4 weeks ago 3 2 0 0
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Opinion | I Predicted the 2008 Financial Crisis. What Is Coming May Be Worse.

“I Predicted the 2008 Financial Crisis. What Is Coming May Be Worse.”www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/opinion/finan...

1 month ago 3 2 0 0
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Lincoln and the Living Declaration By Jacob K. FriefeldBetween August and October 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engaged in seven debates during their U.S. Senate campaign. These debates were a prelude to a showdown in the 1...

I recently wrote a short post on Abraham Lincoln, the nation's founders, and the Declaration of Independence for Lincoln250.org

www.lincoln250.org/post/lincoln...

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A bit late sharing my review of Jon White and William Griffing’s _Great and Good Man:First-Hand Accounts of Abraham Lincoln._

2 months ago 1 0 0 0
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Opinion | Mitt Romney: Tax the Rich, Like Me

Mitt Romney: Tax the Rich, Like Me www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/o...

4 months ago 2 0 0 0
Lincoln’s last decree

Lincoln’s last decree

Public historian and museum educator Ashlee Anderson joins Middle West US to talk about what might be Abraham Lincoln's last decree, currently in the collection at History Nebraska.

Hear the story at middlewest.us/podcasts/

(photo courtesy of History Nebraska)

6 months ago 1 0 0 0
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Winner of the 2024 Nebraska Book Award, THE FIRST MIGRANTS, by Richard Edwards and @friefeld.bsky.social weaves together the narrative histories of the six most important Black homesteader communities.

Save 40% during our Bison Books Sale: bit.ly/BisonBooksSa...

6 months ago 7 4 0 0
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The Midwest in Artifacts: The Clovis Point

Brooke Morgan, Curator of Anthropology at the Illinois State Museum, joins me to discuss a Clovis point from Illinois, a Midwestern artifact that is approximately 13,000 years old.

open.spotify.com/episode/6aMe...

7 months ago 0 0 0 0
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Middle West US Home - Middle West US Middle West US explores the history and culture of the Midwest by sharing the region's latest writing and engaging podcasts.

Sarah E. Lirley shares the story of Estelle Johnson's suicide from her new book _Sudden Deaths in St. Louis: Coroner Bias in the Gilded Age_.

Check it out at MiddleWest.us

7 months ago 0 0 0 1
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The untold story of the first Black families who claimed a piece of the American West against all odds. @friefeld.bsky.social , University of Illinois Springfield , UIS Center for Lincoln Studies , discusses: faculti.net/the-first-mi...
#history

7 months ago 0 1 0 0

Always nice to receive a good review!

8 months ago 1 0 0 0
Family sitting around the table with Jake Friefeld

Family sitting around the table with Jake Friefeld

Family sitting around the table with Jake Friefeld

Family sitting around the table with Jake Friefeld

Jake Friefeld

Jake Friefeld

Hey! Episode 2 of #BackToTheFrontier dropped today—how do ya think our families are doing?

9 months ago 3 0 0 0
Jacob Friefeld in the frontier

Jacob Friefeld in the frontier

The first episode of Back to the Frontier dropped—a show available on HBO Max and the Magnolia Network that challenges 3 families to live like 1880s homesteaders. It was an absolute joy to be part of this production!

9 months ago 5 0 0 0
Monument of Johann Strauss

Monument of Johann Strauss

Strauss by night

10 months ago 1 0 0 0
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It was a pleasure presenting at the Midwest History Conference on Black Freedom in Illinois with Brian Mitchell and John Lupton.

We lamented not getting a photo of our panel, so I had fun with ai. May I present the bizarro-world Brian, Jake, and John presenting to a large but oddly small audience.

11 months ago 0 0 0 0
Friefeld posing between two Wild West characters

Friefeld posing between two Wild West characters

I had a great time presenting on Black Homesteaders in photographs at the South Dakota State Historical Society Conference in Deadwood last week!

I’m terrible at getting photos while I present, so here is a picture of me with Wild Bill Hickok and Jack McCall.

11 months ago 1 0 1 0
Historian and a musician on a stage in a bar.

Historian and a musician on a stage in a bar.

Historian and a musician on a stage in a bar.

Historian and a musician on a stage in a bar.

Last week historian Christian McWhirter and musician Randy Erwin put on a great show, playing Civil War Era music and providing historical context for the songs. The Springfield community is so lucky to have a knowledgeable Lincoln scholar like McWhirter to guide us through the Civil War Era.

1 year ago 4 0 1 0
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"US companies legally collecting digital advertising data are also providing the world a cheap and reliable way to track the movements of American military and intelligence personnel overseas, from their homes and their children’s schools to hardened aircraft shelters"

1 year ago 563 199 14 7
A group of scholars gathered around a Lincoln statue

A group of scholars gathered around a Lincoln statue

A group of people at a banquet

A group of people at a banquet

Every year I look forward to the Lincoln Forum. The engaging presentations by first-class scholars are a big part of that, but getting to spend time talking about Lincoln, his era, and his legacy with friends and colleagues makes it truly special.

1 year ago 5 0 0 0
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Campus in autumn

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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Last month I had the pleasure of attending the Nebraska Celebration of Books and accepting the Nebraska Book Award for Nonfiction History. I had a great time answering audience questions and talking with talented authors! Always a joy to be back on UNL’s campus.

1 year ago 1 0 0 0

Great to be recognized for this exhibit. Was a joy working with Christian and the exhibits team.

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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Virtual Author Series: Jacob Friefeld & Angela Bates | National Willa Cather Center - Red Cloud, NE Immerse yourself in Great Plains and homesteading history during our first author series of 2024! Join us as we talk with Jacob Friefeld, author of The First Migrants: How Black Homesteaders' Quest fo...

Join me tomorrow for a virtual book talk with the National Willa Cather Center!

2 years ago 2 0 0 0
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Last week I had a wonderful time with good friends and colleagues at the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg. Thoroughly enjoyed my panel on Black life after emancipation. Here I’m pictured with dear friends at the spot Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address 160 years ago.

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