Kerry A. Trask (born October 17, 1941) is an American historian and author. Trask has worked as a history professor at the University of Wisconsin Manitowoc for more than thirty years. Trask was also the Democratic candidate for the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

from the 25th District in the 2010 general election.

Career

Kerry Trask was born in

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, to Victor Arnold and Lillian Trask. He worked his way through college in steel foundries, dairy farms, and as a ranger with the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests. Trask earned his B.A. in American History, from

Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

.
About U-W Manitowoc, Faculty and Staff, S-V
' , '' University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc'', accessed January 21, 2011. He went on to earn his M.A. and Ph.D. in American History from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. Shortly after earning his Ph.D. in American History, Trask joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin Manitowoc. During his 36 years at the UW Manitowoc, Trask served as history professor, History Department chair for all 13 University of Wisconsin Colleges, interim dean for the University of Wisconsin Sheboygan, chair of the Appeals and Grievances Committee for the UW Colleges, a member of the Board of Advisors to the UW System’s Institute on Race and Ethnicity. He was also a member of the

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

Academic Rights and Freedom Committee. He was named

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of history at the University of Wisconsin Manitowoc, and is a fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters,Wisconsin Academy announces 2008 Fellows
", (

Press release A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...

), ''Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters'', May 27, 2008, accessed January 20, 2011. and a scholar-advisor to the Black Earth Institute.Fellowship Program: Scholar-Advisor
", ''Black Earth Institute'', accessed January 20, 2011. Among other books Trask wrote ''Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America''.Trask, Kerry A. ''Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America'', New York, Henry Holt: 2007, (). He has also had his work published in magazines and scholarly publications including '' The Wisconsin Magazine of History'',Trask, Kerry A.
Making a Fire Within: The Writing of a Civil War Narrative from Wisconsin
, ''

Wisconsin Magazine of History The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

'' Volume 82, number 4, Summer 1999, accessed January 20, 2011.

The American Historical Review ''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association, for which it is an official publication. It targets readers interested in all period ...

,Trask, Kerry A.
James Marten. The Children's Civil War
', (

book review A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, an opinion piece, a summary review, or a scholarly view. B ...

), ''

''
Volume 104, Number 5
, December 1999, accessed January 21, 2011. and ''The William and Mary Quarterly'',Schweitzer, Mary McKinney, et al. ''Reviewed work(s): Paxton: A Study of Community Structure and Mobility in the Colonial Pennsylvania Backcountry by George W. Franz'',
JSTOR
, Third Series, Vol. 48, No. 1, January 1991, pp. 132-134, Trask review on p. 132. among others. He is the reviews editor for ''Voyageur: Northeastern Wisconsin’s Historical Review''.
", ''Voyageur: Northeast Wisconsin's Historical Review'',

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, accessed January 20, 2011. In addition, Trask has done work with

Wisconsin Public Television PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television or WPT) is a network of non-commercial educational television stations operated primarily by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It compri ...

. In 2009 he was a consultant and on-film commentator for ''Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Manitowoc and Two Rivers''.Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Manitowoc-Two Rivers
(

transcript Transcript may refer to: * Transcript (biology), a molecule of RNA transcribed from DNA * Transcript (education), a copy of a student's permanent academic record * Transcript (law), a written record of spoken language in court proceedings * Transc ...

), ''

'' - ''Wisconsin Stories'', accessed January 19, 2011. Two years prior he was featured as an on-film commentator for ''The Black Hawk War'', an episode of Wisconsin Public Television’s weekly program, ''In Wisconsin''.In Wisconsin Transcript #000533
" (

), ''

'' - ''In Wisconsin'', May 15, 2007, accessed January 19, 2011. His work has been awarded in several different forums. In 2006, he received the Benjamin F. Shambaugh Award from the

State Historical Society of Iowa The State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI), a division of the Iowa Department of Administrative Affairs, serves as the official historical repository for the State of Iowa and also provides grants, public education, and outreach about Iowa his ...

for ''Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America''.Recipients of the Benjamin F. Shambaugh Award
, ''Iowa Center for the Book'' - State Library of Iowa, accessed January 19, 2011. The same year he was named a Library Resident Fellow with the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

.Library Resident Fellows - 2009-2005
, ''

'', accessed January 19, 2011.

State assembly campaign

Trask ran as the

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

in the 25th District race for

in the November 2010 general election. He was defeated in that race by

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate

Bob Ziegelbauer Robert F. Ziegelbauer (born August 26, 1951) is an American politician from Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. He is the current county executive of Manitowoc County, serving in that role since April 2006. He previously served as a member of th ...

. Ziegelbauer won with 49.77% of the vote, while Trask managed 33.13% of the vote. The Republican candidate, Andrew Wisniewski, collected 17.06% of the votes.You Decide 2010: Election Results from Around Wisconsin
", ''

WNFL WNFL (1440 AM) is an American all-sports radio station located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The station is locally owned and operated by Midwest Communications, which owns six other stations in Northeast Wisconsin. WNFL simulcasts the programming ...

'', November 3, 2010, accessed January 19, 2011.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2010)

Wisconsin Assembly (2020)

Selected publications

Books

*''In the Pursuit of Shadows: Massachusetts Millennialism and the Seven Years' War'' *''Fire Within: A Civil War Narrative from Wisconsin'' ( Kent State UP, 1995) *''Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America'' (Henry Holt, 2006)

References

External links

Trask discusses ''Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America''
at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and research library for the study of military history located in a state-of-the art facility in Kenosha, WI. The institution was founded in 2003, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trask, Kerry Hamline University alumni University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni University of Wisconsin–Manitowoc faculty Wisconsin Democrats Writers from Wisconsin 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 1941 births Living people People from Orillia American male non-fiction writers