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By Justin Lafeen
"All aboard!" Trains, planes, and automobiles have played a significant part in American history, and in a new book, On the Move: Transportation and the American Story, Michael S. Sweeney, associate professor of journalism at Utah State University, along with co-author Janet F. Davidson of the Smithsonian, take us on a joy ride from past to present. On the Move was written to provide context and explain in greater detail the history of about 300 transportation artifacts in the exhibit, "America on the Move," which will open to visitors at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History on Nov. 22. The main goal of the book is to demonstrate "how transportation has changed our lives," Sweeney said in an interview. Writing the book made a big impact on Sweeney's life. "They flew me out to the Smithsonian. Getting to poke around in the basement and attic was wonderful, exciting, and fun," said Sweeney. "As a historian, I cherish primary sources and artifacts -- the actual physical objects of history that have survived through the ages." On the Move, Sweeney's third book, was released Nov. 3, and is the first-ever published collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society. Because Sweeney's expertise is mass media history, he need to do extensive research to fully understand the subject material. "I learned a lot of things," said Sweeney, "However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn how much the two [mass media and transportation] overlap." Sweeney, who co-authored the 22,000-word book in about four and a half months, described the great changes in Americans' lives because of improvements in transportation over the decades. "I've lived in Wisconsin, Maryland, Nebraska, Missouri, Texas, Ohio, and now Utah -- 150 years ago people couldn't do that!," he said. Sweeney was chosen to co-author for On the Move because of his previous work with National Geographic -- another book entitled From the Front, commissioned after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "It was 77,000 words in five and a half months, and they were happy with it," said Sweeney. "When another project (On the Move) came along with a serious deadline, they thought of me," commented Sweeney, "I said, 'Sure, I'd love to do it.'" In addition to the text, the book features full-color maps and pictures of transportation artifacts such as the John Bull, a locomotive that ran on the Camden and Amboy (New Jersey) Railroad in the 1830s, and a Peterbilt 18-wheeler from the 1980s. During the Smithsonian visit Sweeney said he got "the biggest kick" from getting to handle the goggles worn by Bud the bulldog on the first transcontinental auto trip. "Horatio Nelson Jackson drove from San Francisco to New York in a two-cylinder Winton Touring car," said Sweeney. "During the drive, the car kicked up a lot of alkali dust, which irritated the eyes of Jackson and his ride-along mechanic, Sewall Crocker. So, they wore goggles. When Bud's, eyes got inflamed from the dust, Jackson bought a pair of goggles for [him].
The "America on the Move" exhibit will be at the Smithsonian for at least the next 30 years, and though On the Move is the official book of the display, it will allow readers to understand the history of transportation in America for much longer. The official website of the exhibit is: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/ The book, On the Move, can be purchased on amazon.com.
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