History Harvest Minute Radio Spots
Mengistu Kuwa - History Harvest Minute
Hello, and welcome to today's History Harvest Minute.
In this History Harvest Minute, we explore stories from around the nation, collected by students and community history harvesters.
Today we travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, where Mengistu Kuwa shared a portrait of his father, a high ranking leader in the SPLA, located in the Nuba Mountains.
Mengistu Kuwa is Sudanese but because of conflict in Sudan, he was born in Ethiopia and spent most of his childhood in Kenya before coming to Lincoln.
Showing off a bright smile, similar to the one in the portrait of his father, it is hard to believe Mengistu was raised in a time of unrelenting violence.
Mengistu says the key to his outlook on life is due to the teachings of his role models, most importantly his father, who taught him to fight for freedom and to help others.
Mengistu Kuwa: "People are always gon' be people. No matter the skin pigment, no matter, um, how they look like, and always always, give a hand, cos we never know who we gon' run into and when we're gonna fall. Cos that's just, just, human nature; we're made to love each other and work together to move ahead."
That's all for today's History Harvest Minute. For more information on this item and others like it, please visit www.historyharvest.unl.edu.
Bill Hayes - History Harvest Minute
Hello, and welcome to today's History Harvest Minute.
In this History Harvest Minute, we explore stories from around the nation, collected by students and community history harvesters.
Today we travel to Nebraska City, Nebraska, where Bill Hayes shares a letter written by Samuel L. Roberts, of the 15th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Robert's letter to his father gives special insight into soldier life during the Civil War. Written in July of 1864, near the site of the battle of [--] Mountain, the letter begins with an apology for not having written home in a while, because he did not have paper or stamps. But his letter is mostly filled with elaborate details of recent battles.
In four pages, Robert tells of each movement made by his regiment, the reactions of the Confederate soldiers and the wounds sustained by his comrades.
[battle sounds]
Narrator 1: "He describes the fighting, quite a bit what's going on, and describes who's wounded and everything. And he mentions people he knows and friends"
Narrator 2: "He does describe the fight. And he describes it in some horrifying detail. 'Our brave boys fell like grass before the [--]'"
Roberts ends the letter with a request to his father to write back soon.
That is all for today's History Harvest Minute. For more information on this item and others like it, please visit www.historyharvest.unl.edu.
Warren Taylor - History Harvest Minute
Hello, and welcome to today's History Harvest Minute.
In this History Harvest Minute, we explore stories from around the nation, collected by students and community history harvesters.
Today we travel to Omaha, Nebraska, where Warren Taylor shared his 1840 penny. The pennny once belonged to Mr. Taylor's maternal great-grandmother, and has been passed down from generation to generation as a symbol of liberty and the meaning of emancipation.
Taylor: "It's kinda unnusual for a slave to have a penny [in that period]. She hid it until [--] passed away."
Mr. Taylor also told us a little about what kind of penny it is.
Taylor: "[-----] and I don't know what that would be for this. I'll take it to a coin shop one of these days to see."
The penny is still in excellent condition and it's considered a braided-hair [--] style.
That is all for today's History Harvest Minute. For more information on this item and others like it, please visit www.historyharvest.unl.edu.
Janice Cleary - History Harvest Minute
Hello, and welcome to today's History Harvest Minute.
In this History Harvest Minute, we explore stories from around the nation, collected by students and community history harvesters.
Today we travel to Omaha, Nebraska, where Janice Cleary shared a piece of sheet music entitled "Omaha Blues".
As part of the great migration north by African Americans, blues songs like this one told the story of a journey, and the determination it took to leave home. Omaha Blues in particular, tells the story of a man's longing to his beloved hometown of Omaha and his parents, after a life of endless roaming. He describes the people of Omaha as nice and kind, and thinks of his sweetheart living there, who is as sweet as any peach from a tree. The man is so determined to return, he says that he would walk back if he had to.
This post World War One piece was written by the husband and wife duo Charles and [---] and was copyrighted in 1924 by the Clearance Williams Music Publishing Company.
That is all for today's History Harvest Minute. For more information on this item and others like it, please visit www.historyharvest.unl.edu.