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Alfred Howe Terry was born into a prosperous Connecticut family on this date in 1827. He graduated from Yale with a law degree and worked for a Connecticut Superior Court.

1919 was a year of great upheaval. Across the country, the working class rebelled against corporate greed by walking off the job. World War I had been over for only a year, and the world was still reeling from the 1918 flu pandemic. The cost of living had almost doubled. Workers’ pre-war dollars were now worth only 45 cents. Industrialists that grew rich from the war now wanted to cut wages and take away gains made by labor. Countless numbers of American workers went on strike, and conservatives feared a revolution similar to the Bolsheviks’ takeover of Russia.

Thursday, November 10, 2022 - Mark Schneider, a well-known North Dakota attorney and former head of the state’s Democratic-NPL party, died on Tuesday at the age of 74. In 2020 he was interviewed by Doug Hamilton, the former host of Main Street. Doug passed away earlier this year. In this encore conversation, they visit about Mark’s novel, “She Has the Right of It.” ~~~ TellTale: Dakota Folklife and Stores is a collection of oral histories from senior citizens. Today we share an episode titled “Eyes of an Angel,” as we hear an account of a blizzard from the Grassy Butte area. ~~~ Sue Balcom is here for Main Street eats with a discussion of cranberries. ~~~ Speaking of food, historian Tom Isern shares a Plains Folk essay titled “Second Rise” about bierocks, a characteristic folk food of the Volga Germans.

On this date in 1998 the front page of the Bismarck Tribune shared the sad news that John Odegard had died at age 57 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was the founding chairman of the University of North Dakota’s department of aviation.

Today we take another look at the typical newspaper content years past. On this date in 1943, the Fargo Forum carried a full-page ad from Osco Drug headlined “Make up your back-to-school shopping list!” It touted lead pencils with rubber erasers on sale for a penny each. A composition book was priced at four cents, sixty sheets of typing paper just seven cents, and a package of Crayola crayons were only eight cents a package.

Thursday, September 22, 2022 - Labor Day is an unofficial end to summer, but it is still nice enough for camping. Especially if you ’re in a van. Gone are the days of 1960’s VW van that barely went uphill and was always overheating. Perhaps waning are the days of the massive pull-behind campers. Today we learn about fully customizable high end vans with Moorhead’s Vanna Adventure Vans. We visit with Jason Gilbraith Co-founder and chief technology officer; and Benjamin Gleason, Co-founder and CEO. ~~~ Sue Balcom shares more tips on preserving the harvest. This time she talks about freezing and freeze drying food.

A documentary about two hockey towns in northern Minnesota

The year 1919 saw a lot of turbulence, in many ongoing matters, and especially politically in North Dakota. The North Dakota governor was Lynn Frazier, the Nonpartisan League was a major player in politics, and World War I had recently ended.

Friday, September 23, 2022 - Our summer intern, Nick Rommel is back at the University of Chicago, but he has a final piece we're sure you'll enjoy. Nick is a musician in his own right, and when he heard about a Metis fiddler on the Turtle Mountain reservation, he had to check it out. ~~~ Dave Thompson is here for our weekly news chat. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews Hockeyland, a documentary set in northern Minnesota.

Monday, September 26, 2022 - Prairie Public’s Emmy-nominated documentary “The Women of Alba Bales House” will be screened at the NDSU student union theater next Wednesday. It’s also available to view online. We play an excerpt of the story and visit with producer Matt Olien. ~~~ Tom Isern has this week’s Plains Folk essay, “Fox and Geese.” ~~~ Speaking of award-winning films, Cinema 100 October film series kicks off with the Academy Award nominated film "Flee" on Thursday. Here to discuss the new series of films are Brian Palecek and Anita Casey-Reed.