What do Concord, N.H., Capitan, N.M., Dayton, Ohio and St. Louis, Mo., have in common?

They are all destinations that appear in “Progressive Nation: A Travel Guide with 400+ Inspiring Landmarks and Left Turns” (softcover; Chicago Review Press; $18.95).

The guide takes readers to places coast to coast that “represent monumental change and social progress for American society,” according to author Jerome Pohlen.

“I’ve always been interested in progressive movements and had visited some of these places in my previous travels,” said the 44-year-old who lives near Chicago, but was often required to pack a suitcase for previous jobs. “(My employer) would send me to conferences all over and I’d enjoy visiting strange and off-beat places.”

Here a few:

Warren Harding High School, Des Moines, Iowa. In 1965, students were suspended for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. That eventually led to a ruling by the Supreme Court that students don’t give up their right to freedom of expression at the schoolhouse door.

Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, S.C. Its benefactors were the first to place sculpture in a natural setting for the public to enjoy. (I’ve been there and it’s ever-so-lovely.)

The home of Mary McLeod Bethune, Daytona Beach, Fla. The daughter of former slaves rose to become a noted educator and advisor to presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

“Progressive Nation” is Pohlen’s 10th guide book; the path to travel author was a bit convoluted.

After graduating with a degree in engineering, he spent two years with the Peace Corps in West Africa. Then he returned to school to become an elementary school teacher. Following that, he wrote math books and entered educational publishing, a job that demanded a lot of travel.

Those many miles were parlayed into his first nine books, the “Oddball Series,” in which Pohlen provides readers with fascinating lists of obscure, weird and wacky facts, sights and events in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas and Wisconsin. So if you’re in the neighborhood, you can join the great Tug Fest, an annual competition between the citizens of Le Claire, Iowa, and Port Byron, Ill., towns that sit on opposite banks of the Mississippi River. The winners pull the opposing team into the river.

Hungry? Visit a shop in Terre Haute, Ind., where you can buy square donuts.

And should you be in Wisconsin, don’t miss the giant embalmed worm at the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and the world’s biggest corkscrew.

As for “Progressive Nation,” there are more than 400 destinations listed in the book, and you don’t really have to go anywhere to enjoy reading the entries. They are full of trivia like:

Playwright Lorraine Hansberry of Chicago was only 29 years old when she wrote “Raisin in the Sun.”

Mr. Rogers (“charmingly subversive and militantly decent”) was a strict vegetarian, a committed pacifist and rarely watched television.

Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel, who lived in La Jolla) received 27 rejections before his first book was published.

All the people, places and destinations included in his book have had “a profound impact on the way you live your life today,” Pohlen said. “I wrote this book because sometimes history gets lost in the usual travel books, so I wanted to focus on that.”

As the title indicates, “Progressive Nation” has a distinctly leftist bent and Pohlen doesn’t miss the opportunity to editorialize. He can’t help it, though; it’s second nature. The author is running for the House of Representatives as a Green Party candidate.