JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Arkady Martine’s Teixcalaan series featured on endcap at today’s library destination. I loved her first book, A Memory Called Empire and how she made place a character, tho the character names challenging to follow. I lost patience with the second book. #Hugo #SciFi 030
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Old school Standard Station at the World’s Biggest Truck Stop, off I-80 in Iowa. 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Books open doors—not just to imagined worlds, but to stronger communities. Libraries make those doors available to everyone: places to learn, build skills, find belonging, and share ideas. A book may take us somewhere else. A library helps us find one another. #CommunityDevelopment #CivicLife 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 24/04/2026The Mariner’s Church of Detroit, consecrated in 1849. In 1955, the building was moved 880’ to make room for the Civic Center, when the tower was added. The Anglican Church sits at the top of the Detroit-Windsor tunnel. 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 12/04/2026Oh, Pioneers! Red Cloud, Nebraska, and her favorite daughter The small town of Red Cloud (pop. ~1,000) has transformed its economy by leaning into its literary and architectural heritage. medium.com/small-towns-... #WillaCather #SmallTowns #Nebraska #HistoricPreservation #econdev 030
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 21/02/2026Animal in The Muppets band (Animal is performed and voiced by Frank Oz while his drumming is performed by Ronnie Verrell) 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 06/12/2025Over on Apple Music I play more classic country… and the new AKUS. #Wrapped 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025David is working on a project with @colinwoodard.bsky.social & the Nationhood Lab. Woodard’s new book Nations Apart is waiting for me back home. 010
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025David McMahon, Kirkwood College, Iowa City, speaks on How Teaching #Midwestern Studies Can Save Democracy. He reminds us there are moser students in community colleges than in most university systems. They are certainly closer to the land. #MiddleWestReview 130
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Dedra Birzer, South Dakota State Historical Society Press and Hillsdale College on a Canon of the #Midwest. We’re making progress. 110
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Kevin Mason, University of Northern Iowa, speaks well on Finding an Audience for #Midwestern History. And he’s got a new book coming out, Retracing the Dragoon Trail' in Iowa; one more for the To Be Read pile! 100
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Patrick Garry, University of South Dakota, argues #Midwest Populism focused on political corruption in its many forms, especially in Dakota Territory. In many ways it was a revival of Jeffersonian democracy & civic virtue, rather than radical reactionary activism. #MiddleWestReview 130
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Michael Steiner, UCal-Fullerton zips thru a survey of #Midwestern Regional Thought. So many great thinkers & writers past, present, and future, from John Wesley Powell to those in attendance. 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Zachary Michael Jack, North Central College, examines the use of the term #Midwest. 100
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Bradley Birzer, Hillsdale College, gives an amazing ode to #Midwestern Science Fiction, with case studies of Ray Bradbury, Russell Kirk’s fiction, and August Derluth (Arkham House). #SciFi can be inspirational but also a warning. #MiddleWestReview 010
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Jason Phillips of Nebraska’s Peru State College gives a broad review of Modern Conservative thought & politics in the #Midwest. 100
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Paul Putz, Baylor University, applauds Sport in the #Midwest. From the Indianapolis 500 to #Big10 Football to Iowa Women’s Basketball and more. Who knew Willa Cather was a UNL college football fan? #MiddleWestReview 100
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Cody Norling, University of West Virginia, provided an appreciative review of #Midwestern Music, as afternoon sessions resume at The Lost Region Recovery Project conference in Sioux Falls. #Midwest #culture #music 100
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Douglas Reichert Powell, Columbia College, enthusiastically compares & contrasts Appalachia and the #Midwest. Similar in our differences. By the way, CSPAN is in the room recording for later broadcast. 📺 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Christopher Laingen, Eastern Illinois University, dives deep on challenges for regional geography. We need to understand where we live—understand the big picture—now more than ever. Can Academia be relevant for generalists? Sounds like a Midwest thing to me. 100
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Jeff Bremer, Iowa State University, finds the silk purse in the sow’s ear of #Midwest history. History enrollment falling: Colleges closing, etc. Conclusion: Modestly optimistic. Which is very Midwest in itself. 100
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Kristan Cockerill, Appalachian State University, discussed the idea of the #Midwest as “Flyover Country”. Spoiler: we do it to ourselves… so go ahead and embrace it. Like “Nebraska… we’re not for everyone”. 100
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025Jon Lauk, University of South Dakota, opening The Lost Region Recovery Project conference on #Midwest Studies in Sioux Falls. Sponsored by Middle West Review & National Endowment for the Humanities. 101
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 15/10/2025Jeff Barnes presents on Forts of the Missouri River Valley at Hruska Library, David City, Nebraska. Sponsored by Humanities Nebraska. #NE #History #CulturalHeritage 010
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 11/09/2025#Americana Music Association winners. Country music for people who can read. 010
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 29/06/2025Escape into Adventure: Six Authors Who Bring the Great Outdoors to Life! ⛰️🎣🏕️ Loved your Scouting days dreaming of the wilderness? So did I. Discover some of the authors who ignited my passion for conservation and the beauty of public lands. #books jcshepard.com/2025/06/grea... 110
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 28/06/2025Humanities Nebraska is hosting Zahn McClarnon in Omaha come October. (Screenshot from FB) 120
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 19/06/2025Pony Express is back in action this week with the re-ride west to east thru Nebraska. Alexandria memorialized the 100th anniversary ride here back in 1960. 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 08/06/2025The Antiquities Act was signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt on 8 June 1906. I’m writing about #Conservation & the Great Outdoors this month. jcshepard.com/2025/06/cons... 020
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 01/06/2025Wrapping May #PreservationMonth Rural Cultural Heritage: Strategies for Strong and Resilient Communities jcshepard.com/2025/05/rura... 010
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 27/05/2025King John of England's coronation was 27 May 1199, on the death of his brother King Richard the Lionheart. Best known to my generation as cruel Prince John, nemesis of Robin Hood. Walt Disney Company defined the crooked politician in their 1973 cult classic animated film. 100
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 22/05/2025On this date 22 May 1804, the Lewis and Clark "Corps of Discovery Expedition" officially began, departing from St. Charles, Missouri. In two years they covered 8,000 miles. They returned in September 1806. The Missouri River pictured here has changed some since then. The landscape even more. 010
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 20/05/2025New: Saving Rural Identity: How Old Buildings Shape Strong Communities Considering how vernacular architecture and traditional construction can inform modern design and development strategies. jcshepard.com/2025/05/savi... #PreservationMonth 010
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 19/05/2025Atop Scotts Bluff National Monument, the view towards old Fort Mitchell on the Oregon Trail. #Nebraska 010
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 27/04/2025Happy birthday to my 4th cousin 3x removed Frederick Law Olmsted, born 26 April 1822 at Hartford, Connecticut, to John Olmsted (1791-1873) & Charlotte Law Hull (1800-1826). As a young man, he engaged in many different occupations, such as farming while attending lectures with his brother at Yale. 110
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 27/04/2025Farm homestead (circa 1915) SW of Johnson, Nebraska. In collection of Nemaha Valley Museum, Auburn, Nebraska #rural 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 07/04/2025Happy #TartanDay! The Shepard Check Plaid is among the oldest Tartan patterns. The simple black dye on white wool—fragments have been found near Falkirk dating to Roman Britain. Tartan Day is held on 6 April in honor of the Declaration of Arbroath which was signed on this date in 1320. 110
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 02/04/2025Denver Civic Center & Cherry Creek from on top of the Denver Art Museum. 020
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 02/04/2025Cardinal directions of Denver’s Civic Center. We once built beautiful places to live. 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 30/03/2025The new History Colorado museum is very well done. www.historycolorado.org/history-colo... 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 30/03/2025Back on Auraria campus after 33 years. #CUDenver alumn. 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 16/03/2025Brackloon StreetView 2009 - We don't know exactly when my ggg-grandpa Thomas William Maloy was born—he chose #St.PatricksDay, 17 March— 1827. He (and his bride Anna) were natives of County Roscommon. One cousin says he was from Bellanagare, near Castlerae, Roscommon, Ireland. 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 16/03/2025Some men see things as they are, and say why. I dream of things that never were, and say why not. George Bernard Shaw (21st cousin 8x removed) 000
JC Shepard @jcshepard.bsky.social · 06/03/2025You can tell a lot about a community by their library. #WorldBookDay cityofkearney.org/1475/Library 010
