In this inaugural Missouri Historical Review Author Series program, Larry Gragg, PhD, profiles George E. Ladd, the strong-willed director of the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (MSM) at the turn of the twentieth century.
Drawing from his October 2020 article in the Missouri Historical Review, Gragg explores how Ladd's determination to transform MSM into a first-rate technological institution created powerful enemies that led to a contentious investigation. He discusses why he chose to delve deeply into this particular incident while also putting it within the broader context of his research on the school and its history for his newly released book Forged in Gold: Missouri S&T's First 150 Years (available at SHSMO's Richard Bookstore).
Larry Gragg, PhD, is the Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus of History at Missouri University of Science & Technology. He is interviewed by Kathleen Seale, Senior Archivist at SHSMO-Rolla. For questions about his article or book, Gragg can be reached at LGragg@mst.edu.
Gragg's article is titled “From the Hell’s Brew of Malice, Hatred, and Vindictiveness”: The 1906 Investigation of George E. Ladd, Director of the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy and it is published in the Missouri Historical Review, Vol. 115, No. 1 (October 2020).
Music from Phil and Vivian Williams Collection (CA6217) which is held at the State Historical Society of Missouri.