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Books > History > History of specific subjects > Local history
The Ozarks of the mid-1800s was a land of divisions. The uplands
and its people inhabited a geographic and cultural borderland
straddling Midwest and west, North and South, frontier and
civilization, and secessionist and Unionist. As civil war raged
across the region, neighbor turned against neighbor, unleashing a
generation of animus and violence that lasted long after 1865. The
second volume of Brooks Blevins's history begins with the region's
distinctive relationship to slavery. Largely unsuitable for
plantation farming, the Ozarks used enslaved persons on a smaller
scale or, in some places, not at all. Blevins moves on to the
devastating Civil War years where the dehumanizing, personal nature
of Ozark conflict was made uglier by the predations of marching
armies and criminal gangs. Blending personal stories with a wide
narrative scope, he examines how civilians and soldiers alike
experienced the war, from brutal partisan warfare to ill-advised
refugee policies to women's struggles to safeguard farms and stay
alive in an atmosphere of constant danger. The war stunted the
region's growth, delaying the development of Ozarks society and the
processes of physical, economic, and social reconstruction. More
and more, striving uplanders dedicated to modernization fought an
image of the Ozarks as a land of mountaineers and hillbillies
hostile to the idea of progress. Yet the dawn of the twentieth
century saw the uplands emerge as an increasingly uniform culture
forged, for better and worse, in the tumult of a conflicted era.
The north Cornwall seaside resort town of Bude has undergone quite
a transformation since its humble beginnings as Stratton's
unremarkable neighbour. As one local candidly put it, 'Stratton was
a market town when Bude was just a furzy down.' Initially known for
its beach sand properties, which worked wonders on soil and proved
favourable with many Cornish farmers, Bude expanded rapidly
following the construction of the sea canal in the early nineteenth
century. The Victorians sought it out as the ideal holiday resort.
Bude - known in the Cornish tongue as Porthbud - has proven a hit
with holidaymakers as an idyllic seaside destination. Whether
surfing at Widemouth Bay, exploring cliffs and hidden beach coves,
or simply enjoying a spot of fishing, the charming resort has
emerged as a tourist hotspot. Author Dawn G. Robinson has compiled
a captivating collection of postcards that capture the beauty and
charm of this seaside spot.
In the Victorian era, sensational ghost stories were headline news.
Spine-chilling reports of two-headed phantoms, murdered knights and
spectral locomotives filled the pages of the press. Spirits
communicated with the living at dark seances, forced terrified
families to flee their homes and caused superstitious workers to
down their tools at the haunted mines. This book contains more than
fifty hair-raising - and in some cases, comical - real life
accounts from Wales, dating from 1837 to 1901. Unearthed from
newspaper archives, they include chilling prophecies from beyond
the grave, poltergeists terrorising the industrial communities, and
more than a few ingenious hoaxes along the way.
Part of the Myths and Mysteries series, Myths and Mysteries of
Pennsylvania explores unusual phenomena, strange events, and
mysteries in Pennsylvania's history. Each episode included in the
book is a story unto itself, and the tone and style of the book is
lively and easy to read for a general audience interested in
Pennsylvania's history.
From eyewitness accounts of unexplained sightings to the search for
evidence of ghosts, this book features over fifty chilling tales of
ghostly encounters from around Wearside. Featuring the ghostly nuns
of Franklin Street, a headless horseman in Newcastle Road, and the
phantoms who haunt the Royal Infirmary, Haunted Wearside is
guaranteed to make your blood run cold. Richly illustrated and
drawing on historical and contemporary sources, this collection
will delight everyone interested in the paranormal.
In 1994, when the National Air and Space Museum announced plans to
display the Enola Gay, the B-29 sent to destroy Hiroshima with an
atomic bomb, the ensuing political uproar caught the museum's
parent Smithsonian Institution entirely unprepared. As the largest
such complex in the world, the Smithsonian cares for millions of
objects and has displayed everything from George Washington's sword
to moon rocks to Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Why
did this particular object arouse such controversy? From an
insider's perspective, Robert C. Post's Who Owns America's Past?
offers insight into the politics of display and the interpretation
of history. Never before has a book about the Smithsonian detailed
the recent and dramatic shift from collection-driven shows, with
artifacts meant to speak for themselves, to concept-driven
exhibitions, in which objects aim to tell a story, displayed like
illustrations in a book. Even more recently, the trend is to show
artifacts along with props, sound effects, and interactive elements
in order to create an immersive environment. Rather than looking at
history, visitors are invited to experience it. Who Owns America's
Past? examines the different ways that the Smithsonian's
exhibitions have been conceived and designed-whether to educate
visitors, celebrate an important historical moment, or satisfy
donor demands or partisan agendas. Combining information from
hitherto-untapped archival sources, extensive interviews, a
thorough review of the secondary literature, and considerable
personal experience, Post gives the reader a behind-the-scenes view
of disputes among curators, academics, and stakeholders that were
sometimes private and at other times burst into headline news.
Do you think that legends are all about princes and princesses,
knights and heroes, giants and monsters? Well, they aren't always.
The stories in this book are about girls like you and girls you
might know: clever, strong, brave and resourceful. Here you can
read the story of Vasilisa, who wasn't afraid of the deep dark
forest; Mollie Whuppie, who knew how to trick a giant; Tipingi, who
was able to call on her friends to help her get out of trouble;
Seren, who used her love of singing to help others; and many more
fearless characters. Storyteller Fiona Collins has chosen the best
of the old tales from all around the world and reworked them into
new and exciting versions to be enjoyed by everyone, accompanied by
magical illustrations by talented artist Ed Fisher.
In his inimitable prose, master storyteller Peter Quinn chronicles
his odyssey from the Irish Catholic precincts of the Bronx to the
arena of big-league politics and corporate hardball. Cross Bronx is
Peter Quinn’s one-of-a-kind account of his adventures as ad man,
archivist, teacher, Wall Street messenger, court officer, political
speechwriter, corporate scribe, and award-winning novelist. Like
Pete Hamill, Quinn is a New Yorker through and through. His
evolution from a childhood in a now-vanished Bronx, to his exploits
in the halls of Albany and swish corporate offices, to then walking
away from it all, is evocative and entertaining and enlightening
from first page to last. Cross Bronx is bursting with witty,
captivating stories. Quinn is best known for his novels (all
recently reissued by Fordham University Press under its New York
ReLit imprint), most notably his American Book Award–winning
novel Banished Children of Eve. Colum McCann has summed up
Quinn’s trilogy of historical detective novels as “generous and
agile and profound.” Quinn has now seized the time and
inspiration afforded by “the strange interlude of the pandemic”
to give his up-close-and-personal accounts of working as a
speechwriter in political backrooms and corporate boardrooms: “In
a moment of upended expectations and fear-prone uncertainty, the
tolling of John Donne’s bells becomes perhaps not as faint as it
once seemed. Before judgment is pronounced and sentence carried
out, I want my chance to speak from the dock. Let no man write my
epitaph. In the end, this is the best I could do.” (from the
Prologue) From 1979 to 1985 Quinn worked as chief speechwriter for
New York Governors Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo, helping craft
Cuomo’s landmark speech at the 1984 Democratic Convention and his
address on religion and politics at Notre Dame University. Quinn
then joined Time Inc. as chief speechwriter and retired as
corporate editorial director for Time Warner at the end of 2007. As
eyewitness and participant, he survived elections, mega-mergers,
and urban ruin. In Cross Bronx he provides his insider’s view of
high-powered politics and high-stakes corporate intrigue. Incapable
of writing a dull sentence, the award-winning author grabs our
attention and keeps us enthralled from start to finish. Never have
his skills as a storyteller been on better display than in this
revealing, gripping memoir.
"I am here. You will never be alone. We are dancing for you." So
begins Cutcha Risling Baldy's deeply personal account of the
revitalization of the women's coming-of-age ceremony for the Hoopa
Valley Tribe. At the end of the twentieth century, the tribe's
Flower Dance had not been fully practiced for decades. The women of
the tribe, recognizing the critical importance of the tradition,
undertook its revitalization using the memories of elders and
medicine women and details found in museum archives,
anthropological records, and oral histories. Deeply rooted in
Indigenous knowledge, Risling Baldy brings us the voices of people
transformed by cultural revitalization, including the accounts of
young women who have participated in the Flower Dance. Using a
framework of Native feminisms, she locates this revival within a
broad context of decolonizing praxis and considers how this
renaissance of women's coming-of-age ceremonies confounds
ethnographic depictions of Native women; challenges anthropological
theories about menstruation, gender, and coming-of-age; and
addresses gender inequality and gender violence within Native
communities.
Norfolk's Deep History Coast is a place of unique archaeological
discoveries of international significance. Spectacular finds have
transformed our understanding of the first human occupation of
northern Europe. Fossilised human footprints show people were here
nearly one million years ago. This is the only part of Britain to
have evidence for four species of humans. It has also been home to
giant prehistoric creatures, including four species of mammoth.
This book will take you on a journey through time, looking at the
geology, natural landscape and the creatures that have inhabited
the area. Here you can explore the fascinating and beautiful sites
around the 150km of Deep History Coast and see how you can share in
this exciting adventure of discovery.
One of England's most outstanding areas of natural beauty, Cumbria
has charmed visitors for centuries, and this collection of
intricate illustrations is a celebration of the county's unique
appeal. Featuring a range of picturesque vistas, from majestic
mountains and picturesque lakes to rugged coastlines and grand
architecture, each stunning scene is full of intriguing detail sure
to fire the imagination and make you reach for your colouring
pencils. There are absolutely no rules - you can choose any
combination of colours you like to bring these images to life.
Suitable for children. If you love Cumbria, then you will love
colouring it in!
Storyteller Sheila Kinninmonth brings together stories from the
coastal fishing villages, rushing rivers, magical green farmland
and rolling hills of Fife. In this treasure trove of tales you will
meet Scottish Kings and Queens, saints and sinners, witches and
wizards, ghosts and giants, broonies, fools and tricksters - all as
fantastical and powerful as the landscape they inhabit. Retold in
an engaging style, and richly illustrated with unique line
drawings, these humorous, clever and enchanting folk tales are sure
to be enjoyed and shared time and again.
The decapitated Lord: Medieval slaughter at the castle! Yellows vs
Blues: Coventry's most violent elections revealed! Kings,
rebellions and rioters! Civil war comes to the city! Boiled in
beer! Baked in his oven! The most dreadful Christmas calamities in
Coventry's history are inside! Coventry has one of the darkest
histories on record. With sieges, battles, crimes, riots,
disasters, all-out attempts at demolition and some truly dreadful
punishments to boot, you'll never see the city in the same way
again.
Beginning in the 1970s Chicana and Chicano organizers turned to
community radio broadcasting to educate, entertain, and uplift
Mexican American listeners across the United States. In rural
areas, radio emerged as the most effective medium for reaching
relatively isolated communities such as migrant farmworkers. And in
Washington's Yakima Valley, where the media landscape was dominated
by perspectives favorable to agribusiness, community radio for and
about farmworkers became a life-sustaining tool. Feminista
Frequencies unearths the remarkable history of one of the United
States' first full-time Spanish-language community radio stations,
Radio KDNA, which began broadcasting in the Yakima Valley in 1979.
Extensive interviews reveal the work of Chicana and Chicano
producers, on-air announcers, station managers, technical
directors, and listeners who contributed to the station's success.
Monica De La Torre weaves these oral histories together with a
range of visual and audio artifacts, including radio programs,
program guides, and photographs to situate KDNA within the larger
network of Chicano community-based broadcasting and social movement
activism. Feminista Frequencies highlights the development of a
public broadcasting model that centered Chicana radio producers and
documents the central role of women in developing this
infrastructure in the Yakima Valley. De La Torre shows how KDNA
revolutionized community radio programming, adding new depth to the
history of the Chicano movement, women's activism, and media
histories.
Our images of the big names and places of the Old West often come
from the tales of gunfights and violence that were sensationalized
by dime novels and yellow journalism in the 19th century and the
myths that came from those stories live on today. But in reality
many of these fabled characters of the Wild West were gamblers
first and gunfighters second- more invested in poker than in the
momentary fury of the shootout. Aces and Eights tells story of the
role of poker in the lives of these legends, and offers a portrait
of the places where they lived and frequently died. This book
offers both the "facts" of these lives and the true tales of the
game and the gamblers-and the entertaining "tall tales" that have
survived to this day.
It Happened in Connecticut tells twenty-seven true tales of
famous--and infamous--people and events from the state's past,
ranging from witchcraft trials to the Wiffle ball, from mass murder
for profit to the modern game of football.
In Freedomland, Annemarie H. Sammartino tells Co-op City's story
from the perspectives of those who built it and of the ordinary
people who made their homes in this monument to imperfect liberal
ideals of economic and social justice. Located on the grounds of
the former Freedomland amusement park on the northeastern edge of
the Bronx, Co-op City's 35 towers and 236 townhouses have been home
to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and is an icon visible to
all traveling on the east coast corridor. In 1965, Co-op City was
planned as the largest middle-class housing development in the
United States. It was intended as a solution to the problem of
affordable housing in America's largest city. While Co-op City
first appeared to be a huge success story for integrated,
middle-class housing, tensions would lead its residents to organize
the largest rent strike in American history. In 1975, a coalition
of shareholders took on New York State and, against all odds,
secured resident control. Much to the dismay of many denizens of
the complex, even this achievement did not halt either rising costs
or white flight. Nevertheless, after the challenges of the 1970s
and 1980s, the cooperative achieved a hard-won stability as the
twentieth century came to a close. Freedomland chronicles the
tumultuous first quarter century of Co-op City's existence.
Sammartino's narrative connects planning, economic, and political
history and the history of race in America. The result is a new
perspective on twentieth-century New York City.
How did a tiny wren manage to be crowned King of the Birds? Why did
giant Finn McCool's favourite dogs change into mountains? What
happened to turn a friendly cat into a cruel fiend who plotted to
destroy mankind? Irish Animal Tales for Children is packed with
ghostly goings-on, weird characters and wonderful animals.
Irreverently told by award-winning storyteller Doreen McBride,
these stories are not for the faint of heart!
The Roots of Educational Inequality chronicles the transformation
of one American high school over the course of the twentieth
century to explore the larger political, economic, and social
factors that have contributed to the escalation of educational
inequality in modern America. In 1914, when Germantown High School
officially opened, Martin G. Brumbaugh, the superintendent of the
School District of Philadelphia, told residents that they had one
of the finest high schools in the nation. Located in a suburban
neighborhood in Philadelphia's northwest corner, the school
provided Germantown youth with a first-rate education and the
necessary credentials to secure a prosperous future. In 2013,
almost a century later, William Hite, the city's superintendent,
announced that Germantown High was one of thirty-seven schools
slated for closure due to low academic achievement. How is it that
the school, like so many others that serve low-income students of
color, transformed in this way? Erika M. Kitzmiller links the saga
of a single high school to the history of its local community, its
city, and the nation. Through a fresh, longitudinal examination
that combines deep archival research and spatial analysis,
Kitzmiller challenges conventional declension narratives that
suggest American high schools have moved steadily from pillars of
success to institutions of failures. Instead, this work
demonstrates that educational inequality has been embedded in our
nation's urban high schools since their founding. The book argues
that urban schools were never funded adequately. Since the
beginning of the twentieth century, urban school districts lacked
the tax revenues needed to operate their schools. Rather than
raising taxes, these school districts relied on private
philanthropy from families and communities to subsidize a lack of
government aid. Over time, this philanthropy disappeared leaving
urban schools with inadequate funds and exacerbating the level of
educational inequality.
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Locality
Enoch Olade Aboh, Maria Teresa Guasti, …
Hardcover
R3,994
Discovery Miles 39 940
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