The 981 Project Podcast

Read Part One of Flood to Food Banks here. By the spring of 1937, the Ohio River had retreated to its banks, but the questions it left behind were harder to contain. Across the valley, local officials and federal administrators began asking what might happen if the same machinery that fed the stranded could be used to feed the poor. That question found its first real test in Pittsburgh, a city sti...

This is Part One of “Flood to Food Banks,” a three-part exploration of how the Ohio River became America’s testing ground for social uplift. With American hunger back in the national headlines, I’ve been thinking about how this story of hunger relief began. I was surprised to learn it wasn’t with pantries and food drives, but with the Ohio River’s most devastating flood at the start of Franklin De...

I don’t mind embracing my age, so I’ll confess to watching The Daniel Boone TV show (1964–1970). I can even sing the theme song. If you’re a youngster, you may have seen it on cable reruns: Boone as the all-around good guy and frontier hero, conducting surveys and expeditions around Boonesborough, running into both friendly and hostile Indians, before, during, and even after the Revolutionary War....

I rode my motorcycle to Athens, Ohio, for a BMW Riders Association rally over the Labor Day weekend. Some of my non-riding friends assume rallies are always boozy events with wet T-shirt contests, but rallies are as diverse as the people who sponsor and attend them. The quieter variety just doesn’t make the headlines. The BMW rallies I attend feel more like family reunions—the chance to connect wi...

Between 1915 and 1970, the Ohio River was more than a border between North and South—it was a corridor of change. As millions of African Americans left the rural South in what came to be called the Great Migration , cities like Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Cairo became places of arrival where new communities took root. Why did so many leave? Some were pulled northward by wartime jobs th...

I felt like I was twenty again, introducing my boyfriend Matt to my parents in a rush of hope they would like him. But this time, Matt was my spouse of 40 years and I was introducing him to Pittsburgh. From our Airbnb on Mt. Washington, the whole city lay at our feet—426 bridges, mostly yellow, strung across rivers like necklaces, glass towers glinting where smokestacks once stood, and of course P...

After the Civil War, industrial giants along the Ohio River—think Carnegie Steel, the railroads, and early electrical firms—began sponsoring baseball and football teams as part of a larger push to shape worker behavior, boost morale, and anchor company loyalty. Before jumping into the quiz, here’s some background. Industrial Culture Loved “Manly” Sports In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, s...

Next week I’ll be fulfilling a 30-year dream: a week at the Chautauqua Institution. The main lecture series focuses on The Middle East: The Gulf States’ Emerging Influence , which promises to explore the region’s histories, demographies, and shifting power dynamics—especially among the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran, and Iraq. It’s an ambitious and timely program, centered on unders...

When I started poking around for significant historical events in our region that took place in July, I came upon The Great Railroad Strike. “Huh?” Same here. Lately I’ve been diving into railroad history, thanks to a few of my spring motorcycle stops out West. My father’s family worked for the Santa Fe (now part of BNSF) and in a fascinating twist, his family tree contains union men and union bus...

Hello friends, My personal update is short and sweet: I am now a mother-in-law. My eldest son tied the knot on June 6 in a lovely garden ceremony. Arizona-based family joined us in North Carolina and we played cards, had a cookout, and sorted through a big box of family photos. Oh, the memories—remembered and made! Life is short, my friends. Give love the room it needs to overcome your fears. June...

I recently visited a restored archeological site in the Sonoran Desert. Today it’s known as Besh Ba Gowah, a term roughly translated from the Apache meaning “place of metal.” Besh Ba Gowah made me realize how little I knew about native people in the Ohio River Valley, and that’s what inspired this month’s trivia quiz. Did it ever occur to you that there are no Indian reservations in the Ohio River...

I’m sending this from somewhere between North Carolina and Phoenix, Arizona during my trip to visit family. I had to delay my motorcycle trip by five days waiting for the turbulent storms to dissipate in the lower Midwest and upper South, which has led to extremely high waters along our beloved Ohio River. The Associated Press has revived historical memories of the Great Flood of 1937, which kille...

In 2023, I wrote about the flood wall murals in Covington, Kentucky , and the stories they tell have stayed with me. Robert Dafford, a historical muralist, led the team that painted scenes capturing the city’s development along the Ohio River as well as similar projects in Paducah, and in Portsmouth, Ohio. From the first Americans to call the region home and the colonists who displaced them, to th...

Hello, friends. For my personal update, I’ve been working with Joan Lunden on her legacy memoir, which will be published in March of 2026. Joan was the longest-running female host ever on early morning television, and her post- Good Morning America career has been equally fascinating and full. I’ll let you know when she settles on a title and cover design. Next week, I’m headed out on my motorcycl...

Hello friends! I don’t often share personal news here, but exceptional times call for exceptional correspondence. As I mentioned in my other newsletter , I’m taking comfort in simple pleasures these days, including knitting and crocheting while binge listening to the Thursday Murder Club series. The movie adaptation is coming out on Netflix this year . Here’s an afghan I finished (left) and anothe...

I’m officially an old timer, since I can give you a first-hand account of the 1977 & ‘78 blizzards. Technically, the ‘78 blizzard was more intense because of the record-breaking snowfall and extreme winds. I grew up in Central Ohio, about 30 miles east of Columbus. After a good week or so at home, we ventured out to the grocery store and were shocked that the snow reached power/phone lines. The we...

December 16 marked the anniversary of the 1967 collapse of the bridge that crossed the Ohio River between Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio. The Point Pleasant Bridge is usually called the Silver Bridge, and its collapse is often associated with the Mothman , a creature reportedly sighted in the area leading up to the disaster. The devastating event took place at rush hour, on a...

Hello, Readers. In an effort to give you something neutral to discuss at Thanksgiving gatherings, I give you River Trivia. You’ll find questions on hydrology, dams, locks, dredging, flood management, plus specific questions about the Ohio River in the aftermath of the Great Flood of 1937. Try them out at “the kids’ table” too. Thanks to everyone who reached out about October ‘24 Trivia. I love kno...

Last summer, after touring the floodwall murals in Covington, Kentucky, I ate at a pizza joint called The Gruff, situated close to the Roebling Bridge . While the bar filled up with Cincinnati Reds fans, I had my first encounter with bacon-apple pizza at the recommendation of my winsome waitress. As we chatted, I learned she’d just finished high school and was figuring out her next move in life. I...

Did you know we’re in a bicentennial year? From now until September, 2025, historical sites in the nation’s first 24 states will be commemorating the Marquis de Lafayette’s Farewell Tour. Planned as a three-month tour, Lafayette was celebrated by all as the “Nation’s Guest” for 13 months. Honestly, it amazes me how Lafayette Fever swept the nation in the 1800s, with crowds thronging to catch a gli...

I hope you’ve already read my last newsletter about Illinois’ Little Egypt, because this one builds upon it. We’re going to explore the region’s history with legalized slavery. As a reminder, Illinois and Indiana were once called the Illinois Country when first settled by the French, and it was the French who brought the first enslaved African workers there in 1720. The Illinois Country became par...

Southern Illinois is where we find Egyptian city names like Carmi, Cairo, Thebes, Karnak, Goshen, and Dongola. Why? Because llinoisans call the lower 16-17 counties “Little Egypt” (see map below). Americans have been very creative in naming places, but I’m certain that no one who claimed Southern Illinois resembled Egypt had ever been to North Africa beforehand. I went in search of plausible answe...

This month, at the half-year mark, I’m re-asking quiz questions you’ve already seen. You should nail these! If you’re one of my new subscribers, I welcome you, and don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t get a perfect score. We’re here to have fun! Ready? Answers are in the footnotes. QUESTIONS * On February 13, 1861, delegates representing all counties in Virginia met to decide how the state would...

WELCOME NEW SUBSCRIBERS! Last summer I spent a couple of days in Louisville at the Filson Historical Society doing archival research on Cave Hill Cemetery. I have never done this kind of research before and the Filson staff patiently taught me the ins and outs of choosing boxes from its vast collection that might have artifacts that would shed light on burial regulations from the cemetery’s earlie...

When people hear the word “reparations” today, it’s usually in a context of compensating African-Americans or Indians for damages they suffered, including forced and unpaid work, or for theft of their land and livelihoods among other harms. As a reminder, Japanese-Americans received reparations after they were deprived of their liberty (internment) and for property that was confiscated from them d...