|
Books > History > American history
Chicago has long been regarded as home to some of the world's most
impressive architecture. Responding to the Great Fire of 1871,
Chicagoans rebuilt the city, creating a radically new architectural
style. Chicago continued to grow and evolve through the 20th
century, but many of its architectural masterpieces have been lost,
some to modernization, and others simply to the ravages of time.
Forgotten Chicago preserves the unique story of many of Chicago's
famed architectural wonders. Included are the old Northwestern
Train station, the Coliseum, the Chicago Stadium, old Comiskey
Park, and Soldier Field. Many of the smaller treasures of the city
will also be found here, including some of Chicago's most famous
diners.
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Oscar Nominated For Best Picture and
Best Adapted Screenplay Set amid the civil rights movement, the
never-before-told true story of NASA's African-American female
mathematicians who played a crucial role in America's space
program. Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of
professionals worked as 'Human Computers', calculating the flight
paths that would enable these historic achievements. Among these
were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women.
Segregated from their white counterparts, these 'colored computers'
used pencil and paper to write the equations that would launch
rockets, and astronauts, into space. Moving from World War II
through NASA's golden age, touching on the civil rights era, the
Space Race, the Cold War, and the women's rights movement, Hidden
Figures interweaves a rich history of mankind's greatest adventure
with the intimate stories of five courageous women whose work
forever changed the world.
A strike gripped Winnipeg from May 15 to June 26, 1919. Some
twenty-five thousand workers walked out, demanding better wages and
union recognition. Red-fearing opponents insisted labour radicals
were attempting to usurp constitutional authority and replace it
with Bolshevism. Newspapers like the "Manitoba Free Press" claimed
themselves political victims and warned of Soviet infiltration.
Supporters of the general sympathetic strike like the "Toronto
Daily Star" maintained that strikers were not Reds; they were
workers fighting for their fair rights. What was really happening
in Winnipeg? In an information age dominated by newspapers and
magazines, the public turned to reporters and editors for answers.
The City by the Sea boasts an ambitious baseball history dating
back to the early days of America's favorite pastime. In 1897, the
Newport Colts became the first professional baseball team to ever
tie in a playoff series. By the 1900s, baseball was being played
daily on open fields and diamonds throughout Newport. The city has
sported six major ball fields, including Cardines Field, host to
the oldest continuously running amateur baseball team in the
country. Discover the humble beginnings of players like Newport
native Frank Corridon, who allegedly invented the now outlawed
spitball, and the legacy of the great Trojans baseball club. Team
up with baseball historian Rick Harris and walk through the history
of Newport baseball from amateur games to the major leagues and all
the strikes, homers and grand slams in between.
Since its establishment in 1683, Perth Amboy has been a progressive
and welcoming community. Residents have consistently made a stand
for equality--in the 1920s, riots at a local KKK meeting ousted the
Klan for good, and the nation's first African American vote was
cast here by Thomas Mundy Peterson. Another Perth Amboy first was
Dr. Solomon Andrews's flight over the town in 1863. Since 1853, the
Eagleswood School has hosted lectures from figures like Henry David
Thoreau. In 1968, the Perth Amboy basketball team swept the state
championship. These and Perth Amboy's other fascinating stories and
characters are chronicled by local author Katherine Massopust.
Explore Fairplay from the beginning with local historian Linda
Bjorklund as she traces the town s story through Spanish settlers,
early American government, Union-Confederate tensions and modern
development. Even though Fairplay s remarkable gold and silver boom
was reduced to ash overnight in 1873, a strong community overcame
history s challenges and preserved its treasures. From the popular
annual Burro Days to the Way of Life Museum, Fairplay gives folks a
chance to celebrate and relive its rich mining history through
festivities and time-capsule buildings such as the general store,
drugstore, bank, Summer Brewery and Summer Saloon.
The importance of fishing in Minnesota goes back thousands of
years: first as a means of critical subsistence and then, in the
last 200 years, as a major economic influence. In the 1800s,
anglers seeking pristine lakes with ample fish traveled to
Minnesota on the railroads. The widespread use of automobiles and
an improving road system rapidly increased the state's
accessibility in the 1900s, and resorts sprouted everywhere. During
the early tourist boom, the state was also home to countless boat
builders, tackle manufacturers, and other fishing-related
businesses. Images of America: Minnesota's Angling Past provides a
view of the time when boats were made from wood and propelled by
rowing; when great fishing spots were found through experience
rather than electronics; and, for some, a suit or dress was proper
attire for a day of fishing. This book includes rare images from
across the state that capture memorable days of angling, such as
the 1955 Leech Lake Muskie Rampage.
Violent bank heists, bold train robberies and hardened gangs all
tear across the history of the wild west--western Pennsylvania,
that is. The region played reluctant host to the likes of the
infamous Biddle Boys, who escaped Allegheny County Jail by
romancing the warden's wife, and the Cooley Gang, which held
Fayette County in its violent grip at the close of the nineteenth
century. Then there was Pennsylvania's own Bonnie and Clyde--Irene
and Glenn--whose murderous misadventures earned the "trigger
blonde" and her beau the electric chair in 1931. From the perilous
train tracks of Erie to the gritty streets of Pittsburgh, authors
Thomas White and Michael Hassett trace the dark history of the
crooks, murderers and outlaws who both terrorized and fascinated
the citizenry of western Pennsylvania.
Step across the threshold of a haunted hotel in California's
renowned Gold Country and encounter phantom figures of yesteryear.
Wispy apparitions of gentleman guests in Victorian coats and ladies
in fashionable flapper gowns glide through the walls, while
unexplained sobs and choking gasps disturb the night. There's Stan,
the Cary House's eternal desk clerk, and bachelor ghost Lyle, who
tidies the Groveland Hotel. Flo tosses pots and pans in the
National's kitchen, while the once-scorned spirit of Isabella ties
the Sierra Nevada House's curtains in knots. From suicidal gamblers
to murdered miners, the Mother Lode's one-time boomtowns are
crowded with characters of centuries past. Book your stay with
author Nancy Williams as she explores the history and haunts of the
Gold Country's iconic hotels.
New England stagemen followed thousands of bedazzled gold rushers
out west in 1849, carving out the first public overland
transportation routes in California. Daring drivers like Hank Monk
navigated treacherous terrain, while entrepreneurs such as James
Birch, Jared Crandall and Louis McLane founded stagecoach companies
traveling from Stockton to the Oregon border and over the
formidable Sierra Nevada. Stagecoaches hauling gold from isolated
mines to big-city safes were easy targets for highwaymen like Black
Bart. Road accidents could end in disaster--coaches even tumbled
down mountainsides. Journey back with author Cheryl Anne Stapp to
an era before the railroad and automobile arrived and discover the
wild history of stagecoach travel in California.
It's easy to get caught up in the hidden history of Ravenswood and
Lake View, like the Harm's Park picnic that lasted fifty-four years
or the political gimmickry of the "Cowboy Mayor" of Chicago. Who
can resist a double take over folk like the "Father of Ravenswood,"
who kept Chicago from falling to the Confederacy, or the "North
Side's Benedict Arnold," who was sent to the electric chair during
World War II? If you want to visit the days when the Cubs were the
Spuds or debate whether Ravenswood is an actual neighborhood or
just a state of mind, do it with longtime North Side journalist
Patrick Butler in this curio shop of forgotten people and places.
|
|