Kerry Trask

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 from the 25th District in the 2010 general election.

Career

Kerry Trask was born in Orillia, Ontario, 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 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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, Minneapolis. 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 Academic Rights and Freedom Committee. He was named 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), ''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'' Volume 82, number 4, Summer 1999, accessed January 20, 2011. The American Historical Review,Trask, Kerry A.
James Marten. The Children's Civil War
', (book review), ''The American Historical Review''
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, accessed January 20, 2011. In addition, Trask has done work with Wisconsin Public Television. 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), ''Wisconsin Public Television'' - ''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
( transcript), ''Wisconsin Public Television'' - ''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 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.Library Resident Fellows - 2009-2005
, ''American Philosophical Society'', accessed January 19, 2011.

State assembly campaign

Trask ran as the Democrat in the 25th District race for Wisconsin State Assembly in the November 2010 general election. He was defeated in that race by Independent candidate Bob Ziegelbauer. Ziegelbauer won with 50% of the vote (9697 votes), while Trask managed 33% of the vote (6458). The Republican candidate, Andrew Wisniewski, collected 17% of the votes.You Decide 2010: Election Results from Around Wisconsin
, ''WNFL'', November 3, 2010, accessed January 19, 2011.

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

{{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