Professor Berman

Behind the scenes of Minnesota history, by way of the engaging life story of the states best-known and beloved political observer Professor Hy Berman (19252015) was, by most accounts, the face of public history in Minnesota for many decadesa peerless political observer and labor historian, popular lecturer and university professor, and familiar presence on the Twin Cities PBS show Almanac, dependably interpreting Minnesota historyand making some of his own. In Professor Berman: The Last Lecture of Minnesotas Greatest Public Historian, readers encounter the Hy Berman audiences and students loved, telling stories as only he couldstories that are at once a close-up view of Minnesota history and a conversational self-portrait of a man who often found himself in the middle of that history even as it was unfolding. Berman came by his passion for history and politics naturally: as the red diaper baby of left-wing, Yiddish-speaking Polish immigrants in New York. With humor, sharp wit, and the insight of wisdom acquired over ninety years, he takes us back to that heady 1920s milieu that set him on a path that would one day lead to, among other adventures, a brush with the House Un-American Activities Committee, a role in a black student takeover on the University of Minnesota campus, and a lifelong alliance with Minnesotas Happy Warrior for civil rights, Hubert Humphrey. Featuring an all-star cast of the states politicians (from Humphrey to Rudy Perpich, Harold Stassen, Arne Carlson, and Jesse Ventura) and full of engaging, often surprising anecdotes, Bermans last lecture describes a rich life devoted to teaching that reached far beyond the classroomand that found the professor translating history for an avid TV audience, helping to appoint the states first female Supreme Court justice, and testifying at Minnesotas landmark tobacco trial. Edited and with an Introduction and Afterword by long-time Twin Cities journalist Jay Weiner, Hy Bermans final lecture is a strong and powerful contribution to Minnesotas story.