|
Local
authors record history
of Clark County, Ind., in new book
The
coffee table style book
contains more than 600 pages
By
Amy Casebier
Contributing Writer
(July 2008) – Carl Kramer and Mary
Kagin Kramer teamed up as husband and wife to create “This
Place We Call Home: A History of Clark County, Indiana,”
a coffee table book full of photos and historical information
about the county the Kramers call home.
The writing process began in 1999 with a proposal that Carl
submitted to community leaders who had also been clients of
the Kramers’ business. Kramer Associates Inc. serves
the community with historical research and writing.
 |
|
Carl
and Mary Kagin Kramer
|
Carl’s original plan had been to release
the book in conjunction with the bicentennials of Clark County
in 2001 and Jeffersonville in 2002. However, with delays related
to the publisher and a complex researching and writing process
that took more than three years, the book was finally released
in 2007.
Carl wrote all of the prose in the book, while Mary selected
and edited the 241 photographs and nearly 15 maps they included
with the text.
Mary, who is also a photographer, took 35 of the photos in
the book. The couple split researching duties and helped each
other with the captions for the pictures. Mary was also able
to help Carl put anecdotes, history and locations into context
for a broader readership than just natives from Clark County,
since she did not grow up there.
“I’m a Clark County native, so I had that personal
interest,” Carl said.
One of the most challenging parts of undertaking this project
was “trying to condense the whole history of the county
in” the photos that they did choose, Mary said.
The Kramers work off of the understanding that a coffee table
book cannot weigh more than the coffee table on which it resides.
Even with their limitation, the book weighs in at just shy
of six pounds, they said.
Part of Carl’s interest in the project stemmed from him
being a professional urban historian.
 |
“I was living and working for two years
in Chicago, becoming fascinated with cities,” he said.
Carl did his doctoral dissertation on the history of Louisville,
Ky.
Another reason for creating this book was a lack of many others
like it, Carl said. While there are many historical books
written about large and mid-sized cities such as New York
City, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and Milwaukee, small towns have
been neglected. Smaller cities are still important in their
own rights and fit into the grander scheme of our lives and
communities, Carl said.
In addition to focusing on the urban, Carl is also a social
and political historian.
“The most interesting thing to me was what I learned
about the New Deal in Clark County,” Carl said. Through
his research, Carl discovered that Jeffersonville created
a National Recovery Administration Army, organized by men
and women to get local businesses and the community to support
the NRA. The organizers were a part of a bipartisan grassroots
movement to help improve the economy, Carl said.
Carl’s biggest challenge to overcome was “to write
a manuscript that appealed to the average, informed citizen
interested in understanding how the community developed over
time without getting into theory or historiography,”
he said. “It was a challenge knowing where to strike
the balance.”
So far, the couple says they have received positive feedback
from the community they covered. The book has also garnered
favorable responses from local reviewers.
The Kramers’ book is available at several locations in
Clark County, including the Howard Steamboat Museum gift shop,
the Clark County Historical Society, the Southern Indiana
Visitor’s Center in Jeffersonville, Walden Booksellers
in Green Tree Mall and Destinations Booksellers in New Albany,
Ind. The book is also available online through the Indiana
University Press website and other internet booksellers such
as Amazon.com.
|
