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“Upper Beacon Hill” chronicles the drama and excitement of an intriguing and little-known community on top of Boston's Beacon Hill. Separated by the Massachusetts State House and Bowdoin Street from the hill's western residential area, the upper summit and its lower eastern slope formed a magnet for power and change in the century from 1850 to 1950. Period photographs from leading Boston institutions and museums uncover the community's celebrations,...
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A photographic history of the family-owned Pennsylvania company that became a household name and a global success story.
The Zippo Manufacturing Company was founded in 1932 in Bradford, Pennsylvania, by George G. Blaisdell, who designed the first Zippo lighter in 1933; since then, Zippo has produced nearly four hundred million lighters. The product line eventually expanded to include tape measures and pocket knives. Zippo entered the specialty advertising...
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A photographic history of one of America's oldest and best-loved companies, and a study in how to "do the common thing uncommonly well."
In 1869, the American diet was a dreary affair. Kitchen staples included bread, potatoes, other root vegetables, and meat. Tomatoes-at the time called "love apples"-were an exotic fruit. Then, twenty-five-year-old Henry J. Heinz helped to change all of that.
Heinz established his company based on a single premise:...
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A treasury of photos and stories celebrating this historic landmark and Detroit's Italian-American community. The traditions of the Sicilians and Italians have been a part of Detroit since the early 1900s, and Holy Family Church represents the very root of this community's soul, maintaining the culture and the rituals their ancestors brought with them to America over a century ago. Some of these customs date back hundreds of years in their homelands...
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Ghost towns and mining camps are the last remaining vestiges of the Old West; there is a mystique surrounding these places that has made exploring them a pastime for many in the western United States. Nevada has more than a thousand of these boom-and-bust towns. Some are completely abandoned, while some still struggle to survive and even serve as county seats. Sadly, these wonderful places, including those covered in this volume, are constantly in...
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The Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906 is an unparalleled disaster in the history of San Francisco. More than 4.5 square miles of San Francisco burned and crumbled into a windswept desert of desolation. We will see this scene from behind the camera, covering before the earthquake through the fire and into the rebuilding of the city. The waterfront in the east to Golden Gate Park in the west and the marina in the north to Mission District in the south...
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Discover the darker side of New York City history with this collection of stories and photos. Amid the bustle of the city's ever-changing landscape, Manhattan's past still whispers. At Fraunces Tavern, George Washington's emotional farewell luncheon in 1783 echoes in the Long Room. Gertrude Tredwell's ghost appears to visitors at the Merchant's House Museum. Long since deceased, Olive Thomas shows herself to the men of the New Amsterdam Theatre, and...
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A treasury of photos celebrating over a century of Girl Scout history in DC, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Girl Scouting came to Washington, DC, in June 1913, when Juliette Gordon Low decided her new girls' empowerment movement needed a national headquarters. Although the headquarters moved to New York City in 1916, the council in Washington, DC, is still actively involved in the programs, and Girl Scouts of the Nation's Capital chronicles...
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This history of the iconic piano brand chronicles the story of an immigrant family, American ingenuity, and more than a century of musical excellence.
The legendary piano maker Steinway & Sons holds a unique place in American history. The name alone conjures many things: a symbol of class and elegance, an American success story, an area of New York City, and the height of craftsmanship. From their factory in Queens, located on Steinway Place, the...
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In 1942, at the beginning of World War II, the US Army built its most unusual military post for its most unusual division in a high, remote, Rocky Mountain valley 100 miles west of Denver, Colorado. Located at 9,250 feet above sea level, Camp Hale was the training home of the famed 13,459-man 10th Mountain Division, which trained in mountain warfare techniques for two years--and almost missed the war. After they were finally deployed for combat in...
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Most histories of Acadia National Park chronicle the contributions of men in acquiring land, and while these contributions were critical, women also played a pivotal role. Some funded memorial paths, others facilitated George Dorr's acquiring land, and still others donated land. For people to enjoy the park and to find respite required developing infrastructure that provided easy access--a goal of Dorr, John D. Rockefeller Jr., and National Park Service...
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Round Top's African American pioneers came into Texas in 1825 when Stephen F. Austin brought in 300 Anglo-Americans, and the people they enslaved, for the purpose of colonizing the area. Soon afterward, more slaves were bought in from other slaveholding states. After the Civil War ended, the descendants of these original Round Top pioneers began building their own community. Many earned money by toiling away in the cotton fields for the very men who...
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In all aspects of life, from politics and education to religion and business, the Black Baltimore community has been a leader for civil rights. From the 19th century until the 1970s, Baltimore has been at the forefront of various civil rights movements. Black Baltimoreans helped establish the Niagara Movement, the precursor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and had one of the most active NAACP branches, counting...
14) Brentwood
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The beautiful Brentwood area of Contra Costa County is the oldest continuously populated community in California inland from the great coastal centers. Californios eschewed this challenging portion of the Central Valley, so pioneering physician John Marsh established a permanent settlement here in 1837 at his Rancho Los Meganos. Soon, the burgeoning viniculture, wheat, orchard, and cattle operations attracted many Gold Rush miners back to their original...
15) Buffalo Art Deco
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Several movements helped to define the era known as the Roaring Twenties. Prohibition brought about the speakeasy, moonshine, the flapper, and the arrival of the jazz age, while the elegance and glamour of the period permeated design and architecture in the Art Deco or Moderne style. During this time, Buffalo was a hub for transportation, design, music, and manufacturing. Some of the world's finest Art Deco buildings were constructed, and today, Buffalo...
16) Catholic Utah
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In 1776, two Mexican Franciscans trekked into what is now the state of Utah. While they said the rosary and offered litanies to the saints, they did not linger in what was to them unknown territory. It would take almost 100 years for the first parish church of St. Mary Magdalene to be built in 1871 and a Catholic community established. The small number of Catholics maintained and cultivated their religion in a territory dominated by the Latter-day...
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Colorado troops were vitally important for the Union in the quest to win the Civil War. They served throughout the American West from Missouri to Utah, and their enemies were not only ordinary Confederate troops but also fearsome guerrillas under William Quantrill and "Blood Bill" Anderson. Vital Western transportation routes--like the Santa Fe, Oregon, Smoky Hill, and Cherokee Trails--were guarded by the Coloradans. Tragically, actions by Colorado...
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Arthur Gaulker, a successful real estate scion, gathered investors to create Electric Amusement Park in 1906. Gaulker's park was located near the Belle Isle Bridge just a few miles from downtown Detroit. Morris Wolff opened his Wolff's Park in 1906 directly across the street from Electric Park. Both parks spent lavishly and went bankrupt within a few years; however, other parks replaced them. By 1927, city officials had grown tired of the noise and...
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As early as the Civil War, a dozen Filipino men living in Massachusetts enlisted in the Union army. In the 1900s, Filipino pensionados studied at Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other colleges. After the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Filipino medical, military, and other professionals settled in and around Greater Boston in Cambridge, Lexington, Malden, and Quincy. To support their communities, Filipino immigrants...
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Several Georgia cities had already served as capital when in 1868 the controversial decision was made to move the seat of state government to the upstart city of Atlanta, a move that became permanent in 1877. When government offices outgrew temporary quarters, a grand new structure was commissioned. Designed to emulate the new US Capitol Building in Washington, DC, the Georgia State Capitol building plans carried an unheard-of price tag of $1 million,...
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