Local History

A Bygone Era. A time when one-room schools still populated the hills, and small-town teenagers in cars equipped with AM radios and stick shifts cruised Main Street after homecoming games. The Way We Were … Personal Reflections on Life in the Ozarks-Part 2 is a collection of articles from Lonnie Whitaker’s award-winning newspaper column in the Howell County News in Willow Springs, Missouri. Engaging anecdotes and colorful characters from the author’s life will transport you to a bygone era in the Missouri Ozarks of the 1950s and 60s.

Most Holocaust survivors who came to the US after WWII settled in big cities, but some chose an alternative way of life on American farms. More of these accidental farmers wound up raising chickens in southern New Jersey than anywhere else. Speaking Yiddish to Chickens is the first book to chronicle this chapter in American Jewish history when these refugees—including the author's grandparents—found an unlikely gateway to new lives in the US on poultry farms.

After Sir Walter Raleigh failed in his attempt to found a settlement at Roanoke, a colony on the Chesapeake Bay was successfully established. Primary source materials enhance lively text to give students an in-depth look at what led to the formation and success of the colony of Virginia. No other colony - except Massachusetts - was more influential in the formation of America as a nation.

The Natchez Indians: A History to 1735 is the story of the Natchez Indians as revealed through accounts of Spanish, English, and French explorers, missionaries, soldiers, and colonists, and in the archaeological record. Because of their strategic location on the Mississippi River, the Natchez Indians played a crucial part in the European struggle for control of the Lower Mississippi Valley.

Miami was never a town, not even a village; it sprang to life out of the tropical wilderness, as a fully formed magical city. London, Paris, and Rome are just three of the world’s cities that are crammed full of history; events, personalities, stories that never fail to fascinate and entertain. But they have had two-thousand years to evolve those stories. Miami is barely one-hundred years old but is already as full of history as any place else on the planet.

Explore the untold stories and pivotal moments in the history of the Philadelphia Police Department with The Unofficial History of the PPD. Authored by Gary Capuano, a lifelong South Philadelphia resident and decorated police veteran, this book offers an unparalleled glimpse into the heart of one of America's oldest and most complex law enforcement agencies.

Black Snake is the story of four leaders - LaDonna Allard, Jasilyn Charger, Lisa DeVille, and Kandi White - and their fight against the pipeline. It is the story of a new generation of environmental activists, galvanized at Standing Rock, becoming the protectors of America's natural resources.

This book is about the resort at Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee from 1900 to 1945. Also, there are articles about its many famous visitors including a Speaker of the US House, and a jazz legend. It also explores the search for mythical gold and silver mines there and an archeologist’s efforts to prove that Neanderthal man inhabited nearby caves. There are many other items mentioned as well.

We all know of Theodore Roosevelt the US president from 1901 to 1909, an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, and naturalist. But few know of him being an acclaimed historian. Roosevelt’s The Winning of the West quickly became a bestseller. The first edition of his book sold out in little more than a month and helped establish Roosevelt as a literary man and scholar, placing him on a path toward future greatness.

In 1867, less than three years after the Civil War left the city in ruins, Hungarian Jewish immigrant Morris Rich opened a small dry goods store on what is now Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Over time, his brothers Emanuel and Daniel joined the business; within a century, it became a retailing dynasty. Join historian Jeff Clemmons as he traces Rich's 137-year history.

John Muir, who was born in Scotland and emigrated to America in 1849, was an advocate of U.S. forest conservation and was largely responsible for the establishment of Sequoia and Yosemite national parks in California. Muir has emerged as perhaps the greatest prophet of an era which finds itself suddenly aware of the urgent need to care for our planet.

What dark secrets lie hidden within the heart of America's Dairyland? From the shadows of Milwaukee's urban landscape to the quiet forests of the Northwoods, this captivating true-story anthology explores the more sinister sides of Wisconsin's history. Uncover the twisted tales of notorious killers, delve into the unsolved mysteries of vanished souls, and journey through the haunted halls of some historical landmarks, where restless spirits linger and ghostly apparitions roam.

It has been called Robert E. Lee's supreme moment: riding into the Chancellorsville clearing...the mansion itself aflame in the background...his gunpowder-smeared soldiers crowding around him, hats off, cheering wildly. After one of the most audacious gambits of the war, Lee and his men had defeated a foe more than two and half times their size. The Federal commander, "Fighting Joe" Hooker, had boasted days earlier that his plans were perfect - yet his army had crumbled, and Hooker himself had literally been knocked senseless.

Prostitution, gambling, and saloons were a vital, if not universally welcome, part of life in frontier boomtowns. In Saloons, Prostitutes, and Temperance in Alaska Territory, Catherine Holder Spude explores the rise and fall of these enterprises in Skagway, Alaska, between the gold rush of 1897 and the enactment of Prohibition in 1918. Her gritty account offers a case study in the clash between working-class men and middle-class women, and in the growth of women’s political and economic power in the West.

An old farmer boasts that he has used the same ax his whole life -- he's only had to replace the handle three times and the head twice. In an eclectic, insightful meditation on the powerful impulse to preserve and restore, Howard Mansfield explores the myriad ways in which we attempt to reconnect with and recover the past -- to use the same ax twice.

Are you ready to uncover the secrets of Maine and embark on an unforgettable journey? "Exploring Maine: A Journey Through History and Must-See Destinations" is your ultimate guide, combining engrossing historical accounts with a comprehensive tour of the state's top attractions. Whether you're planning a trip or simply fascinated by this unique corner of the U.S., this book has something for everyone.

In Washington, award-winning author Fergus M. Bordewich turns his eye to the backroom deal making and shifting alliances among our Founding Fathers and in so doing pulls back the curtain on the lives of the slaves who actually built the city.

In The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory, James N. Leiker and Ramon Powers explore how the event has been remembered, told, and retold. They examine the recollections of Indians and settlers and their descendants, and they consider local history, mass-media treatments, and literature to draw thought-provoking conclusions about how this story has changed over time.

As a new president takes the White House, Just Cause returns to New York City for the first time in eight years, under the command of its newest leader: Mustang Sally. But not everyone is excited about the expansion of Just Cause. Senator Christine Goodwin, slighted by the team's leadership years before, has made it her mission to put all para-humans on a very short leash while, at the same time, creating her own super-powered militia.

When both levees and governments failed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, an organization calling itself the Common Ground Collective formed to become the largest anarchist inspired organization in modern US history. In solidarity with people in New Orleans, Common Ground built medical clinics, distributed aid, formed neighborhood assemblies and created food security through community gardens. The group also defied unjust laws by resisting home demolitions, and defended communities from white militias and police brutality.