U of I Press celebrates 90th anniversary
Among the 120-150 books the University of
Illinois Press is publishing this election year
is "Women for President: Media Bias in Eight
Campaigns" by Erika Falk. More than a scholarly
tome for academics, "Women for President"
traces the campaigns of the eight women who
have run for president since 1872.
Others illustrating the Press' intellectual range
are "The Bluegrass Reader"; "Viva Baseball!
Latin Major Leaguers and their Special Hunger";
"The Complete Vegetarian"; and "The Moral
Menagerie: Philosophy and Animal Rights."
Areas of Press strength include African-
American and women's history, food, Chicago,
communications and Lincoln. The Press puts out
two catalogs per year with its new offerings.
The Press' first publications in 1918 were,
appropriately, a history of the first 50 years of the
University of Illinois and a study of Abraham
Lincoln. The Press' roots date back to a 1900
faculty treatise on Lincoln's literary style.
Part of the Press' mission statement is striking
for its parallel to the University's: "Through
its publishing programs, the Press promotes
research and education, enriches cultural and
intellectual life and fosters regional pride and
accomplishments."
Books published
by the Press have
won Bancroft
Awards (history),
a National
Book Award and
the Dunning
Prize. "The
Plains Across:
The Overland
Emigrants and the
Trans-Mississippi
West 1840-60"
(1979) by John D. Unruh Jr. won seven
awards and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
The Press' all-time top seller is "Thunder
Below! The USS Barb Revolutionizes
Submarine Warfare in WWII" by Admiral
Eugene B. Fluckey.
The Press is also home to a number of
academic journals. Some, such as The Journal
of English and Germanic Philology, predate
the Press' founding. More than 20 journals are
online. World History Connected, an openaccess
journal, for example, is available free
to history teachers and the public.
Readers can order books online from the
Press website: www.press.uillinois.edu.
By Mike Lillich
