Articles & News - Page 7 of 60

The Mt. Tabor African American Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in spring, 2022 (All photos by James and Deborah Fallows)

Deborah Fallows
April 28, 2022

This is the story of Elias Van Buren Parker and how today’s telling of his story has the power to pull the town of Mt. Holly Springs, Pennsylvania from its early glory days, then decline, back to new days of glory.

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Media

What Makes a City Great? – BYU Radio

Ben Speggen
April 25, 2022

Top of Mind with Julie RoseMillions of Americans move each year in search of a better house, neighborhood, job, or quality of life. Is leaving the only way to live…

Graphic featuring show title and photo of Jim and Deb Fallows

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Media

Write America: Deborah and James Fallows

Ben Speggen
April 25, 2022

Join Alice-Byrd’s Books for the fifty-seventh episode of “Write America,” featuring Deb and Jim Fallows, as they read and discuss their works intimating how the deep divisions in the country…

A laptop and studio microphone perched on an open drawer of a dresser to make a makeshift studio in a dorm room

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K-12

Real Mississippi podcasts: You Can Go Back Home Again

Raegan Calvert
April 21, 2022

Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science student Raegan Calvert explores the challenges and opportunities in her hometown of Wiggins, Mississippi

The Erie Depot in Kent, Ohio first opened its doors on June 1, 1875. It is stop No. 6 along "The History of Industry in Kent, Ohio" StoryMap walking tour. Photo courtesy of the Kent Historical Society & Museum.

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Citizen Engagement

Story Maps are at the Center of Community Collaboration in Kent, Ohio

Allie Kuroff
April 21, 2022

New digital tools give communities innovative and engaging ways to tell their own stories. In Kent, Ohio, a community-wide collaboration among Kent State University, Main Street Kent, and the Kent Historical Society & Museum uses story maps to teach residents about the town's rich history.

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Press

If Small Towns Want to Survive, They Need a Plan B

Shelli Stockton
April 20, 2022

Tim Holt, editor of the Northwest Review contrasts the effective “Plan Bs” of towns including Mount Shasta, CA and Ashland, OR with that of his own town, Dunsmuir, CA. He…

The Fisk/Burgess House in Redlands is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is one of 20 noteworthy sites fourth-graders experience along the Smiley Heritage Tour. (Courtesy A.K. Smiley Public Library)

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K-12

Never Too Soon: Engaging America’s Youngest Citizens Early and Often

Allie Kuroff
April 18, 2022

Americans know that retaining their young people requires getting them involved in the civic process early and often.

Old factory building, labelled Greenville SC

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Civic Life

Why Story Maps Matter

James Fallows
April 11, 2022

People understand the world through stories. People absorb their stories in ever-expanding ways. Here is a preview of a powerful, emerging form of digital story-telling, which we’ll be using frequently in this space.

The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science

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Education

Real Voices from Real Mississippi

Thomas Easterling
April 8, 2022

How podcasts are reshaping how high-school students research and tell stories of their hometowns throughout Mississippi.

Angela Zerad plays the Ukrainian national anthem at her assisted living facility

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Arts

Think Global, Perform Local

Ben Speggen
March 24, 2022

Troubled by the war in Ukraine, 100-year-old Angie Zerad wanted to do something. With help from her daughter, she began the daily ritual of playing the Ukrainian national anthem.

Baker Precision Cancer Medicine Building at Mission Bay on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, in San Francisco. (Photo by Noah Berger).

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Health & Well-Being

American Institutions That Still Work

Orville Schell
March 17, 2022

Everyone knows about the parts of America that are so polarized and divided that they have lost touch with their basic functions. Here’s a look at some of the people, institutions, and collaborative cultures that provide examples, and lessons, for the rest of us.

Bellevue, Iowa on the Mississippi River. (Courtesy Community Heart & Soul)

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Citizen Engagement

Fountains of Youth for Towns

Deborah Fallows
March 15, 2022

The life and spirit of any town or city depend on its ability to attract and retain people. In a time when many worry about brain drain, how communities keep their young people, or bring them back, or attract newcomers illustrates a place's sense of and attention to renewal.

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Media

James Fallows featured on ‘Stand Up with Pete Dominick’

Shelli Stockton
March 9, 2022

Jim joins host Pete Dominick for his podcast to discuss events of the day. The podcast features “brilliant guests daily.”

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Galesburg residents revitalize ‘Appliance City’ by focusing on ‘quality of life’

Allie Kuroff
March 8, 2022

The exodus of Galesburg, Illinois’ economic anchor in 2004 left the town in identity-crisis mode. Now, Galesburg residents are redefining the heart and soul of the town — which once centered around being a manufacturing hub — by bringing their unique history and heritage to the fore.

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Media

Looking at America from up high and on the ground, with Jim Fallows

Shelli Stockton
March 7, 2022

On this episode of the Vital Center, Jim and podcast host Geoff Kabaservice discuss Deb and Jim’s travels across the country and why politics so often works better at the…

A view across the Penobscot River, toward historic Fort Knox, from the waterside park and walkway in Bucksport, Maine. After its dominant paper mill closed, Bucksport went through a process of local renewal known as Community Heart & Soul, or CH&S. Our Towns is pleased to announce a partnership with CH&S to tell more of it stories and connect renewal-minded communities across the country. (Photo: Deborah Fallows)

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Citizen Engagement

A New Partnership: Community Heart & Soul

James Fallows
March 3, 2022

Community Heart & Soul and Our Towns Civic Foundation are collaborating to bring national attention to the stories of innovation and renewal in small cities and towns across the United States.