Friday, January 31, 2020

Unreasonable Men by Michael Wolraich


The Book Club will meet in one week to discuss Unreasonable Men by Michael Wolraich on Friday, February 7th at 10:00 am.

If you have not already done so (and you know who your are), 
please let me know whether or not you plan to attend.

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Friday, January 24, 2020

The Book Club will meet in two weeks to discuss Unreasonable Men by Michael Wolraich on Friday, February 7th at 10:00 am.

If you have not already done so, please let me know whether or not you plan to attend.

1. President Roosevelt waited until after the election to order the dishonorable discharges (Page 85).
From Wikipedia: The Brownsville affair...was an incident of racial injustice that occurred in 1906 in the southwestern United States due to resentment by white residents of Brownsville, Texas, of the Buffalo Soldiers, black soldiers in a segregated unit stationed at nearby Fort Brown. When a white bartender was killed and a white police officer wounded by gunshots one night, townspeople accused the members of the African-American 25th Infantry Regiment. Although their commanders said the soldiers had been in the barracks all night, evidence was planted against the men.
As a result of a United States Army Inspector General's investigation, President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the discharge without honor of 167 soldiers of the 25th Infantry Regiment, costing them pensions and preventing them from ever serving in federal civil service jobs. The case aroused national outrage in both black and white communities. After more investigation, several of the men were allowed to re-enlist.
Following publication of a history of the affair in the early 1970s, a renewed military investigation exonerated the discharged black troops. President Nixon pardoned the men in 1972 and restored their records to show honorable discharges, but it did not provide retroactive compensation to them or their descendants. Only one man had survived to that time; Congress passed an act to provide him with a tax-free pension. The other soldiers who had been expelled all received posthumous honorable discharges.

One of the most significant events during the time period of the book (May 18, 1904 through March 4, 1913) was the Panic of 1907. The following links help explain the economic activity during this period.

2. Trading in the Curb (Page 94).

3. Moore & Schley brokerage house (Page 102).

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Thursday, January 16, 2020

Welcome back, everybody!

The theme for the first three books of the year is American Presidents. We start the new year with a discussion of Unreasonable Men: Theodore Roosevelt and the Republicans Who Created Progressive Politics by Michael Wolraich. 

The Book Club will meet on Friday, February 7th, 2020 at 10:00 am. Please let me know whether or not you plan to attend.

1. I had the following email exchange with the author, Michael Wolraich.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Michael Wolraich
To: "tciarriocco@yahoo.com"
Sent: Monday, December 30, 2019, 12:31:17 PM PST
Subject: Re: Form Submission - - Unreasonable Men

Hi Tony, thank you for choosing Unreasonable Men for your book club. I hope that your members enjoy it.

To answer your first question, there are many lessons to be taken from the Progressive Era. The question that I focused on was, “How does political change happen?” In the early 1900s, the U.S. emerged from a long period of political stasis and entered one of the most dynamic political periods in American history. How did the early progressive leaders help bring this transformation about?

To your second question, I focused on two leaders in particular: President Theodore Roosevelt and Senator Bob La Follette of Wisconsin. Both were progressive Republicans, but they had very different styles and strategies. TR was cautious and pragmatic; La Follette was audacious and defiant. In the book, I explored which strategy was more effective for creating change. (I should also note that I meant the term “unreasonable men” ironically. It’s a reference to a famous line from playwright George Bernard Shaw: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”)

On the third question, the Progressive Movement was certainly a reaction to the Gilded Age, but the term “excesses” makes the issue seem simpler than it was. The problem wasn't simply that some people had become extravagantly rich. Progressive reformers were also responding to political corruption, predatory business practices, deplorable working conditions, environmental degradation, and other social ills associated with the Gilded Age.

I hope these answers are helpful. Thank you again for choosing Unreasonable Men.

Best regards,
Michael Wolraich


On Dec 30, 2019, at 10:38 AM, Squarespace <no-reply@squarespace.info> wrote:
Name: Tony Ciarriocco
Email Address: tciarriocco@yahoo.com
Subject: Unreasonable Men
Message: Your book, Unreasonable Men, will kick off the new year for the Homestead Museum's Nonfiction Book Club. In 2020 the Book Club will discuss books about Presidents, Women's Suffrage, and local, southern California history. 

The Homestead Museum is in the City of Industry, CA, where I am a docent and book club facilitator. The Museum covers local and American history from 1830 to 1930 through the lives of the Workman and Temple families.

Progressivism had a major impact on California history in the early 20th century and has evolved into the 21st century.

What are the main lessons from this era of U. S. history? 
Is there a specific "unreasonable man" that we should consider?
Did Gilded Age excesses contribute to the development of progressivism?

Thank you for your book and any additional thoughts that you may have.
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2. "Uncle" Joe Cannon - Speaker of the House

3. Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904

4. Railroad Regulation

5. Link to TR Center
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