At the height of racial and political tensions in early twentieth-century Houston, two unlikely figures became allies. Dr. William M. Drake, a pioneering surgeon and Black community leader, and Joseph Cullinan, a white oil magnate and founder of the company that became Texaco, united in a desperate effort to save a hospital that symbolized hope. The Houston Negro Hospital was born from America’s Black hospital movement. Dedicated on Juneteenth 1926, it embodied a bold experiment to bring dignity and health care access to a community that was systematically denied both in the Jim Crow South.

Long before the Outer Banks became a premier vacation destination lined with rental palaces, boutique hotels and upscale eateries, it was something entirely different—wild, remote, windswept, and largely unknown. Picture miles of open dunes, a few hardy family-run motels, and barely a phone in sight beyond the payphones outside small stores. A few thousand visitors came each year. Most of America had barely heard of the place.

So how did the Banks transform from an isolated stretch of sand into a world-class getaway that now welcomes more than five million visitors annually? The answer begins with one remarkable, nearly forgotten man.

Aycock Brown—slight in build, enormous in heart—was the visionary who almost singlehandedly introduced the Outer Banks to the world. From his wartime work during the World War II U-boat attacks just offshore to the vivid images he captured through the 1980s, Brown shaped the national imagination of what the Banks could be. His photographs didn’t just document the region—they sold its magic.

Enslaved on the Trail of Tears

During the era of Indian Removal, scores of men, women and children of African descent were forced west alongside the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole Nations. 

Remarkable Women of Indianapolis

A diverse group of incredible women shaped Indianapolis as we know it today. But they’ve often been omitted from its history books—until now. These women include Civil War heroes, suffragist leaders, trailblazing educators like Eliza Blaker, famed entrepreneurs like Madam C.J. Walker and Christel DeHaan, and unsung heroes like Madge Oberholtzer. Women founded community cornerstones like the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Children’s Museum. One Indianapolis woman was the “mother of science fiction,” one wrote every episode of I Love Lucy, and another was a palm reader with a celebrity clientele. Other women in the Circle City have been pioneering athletes, trend-setting artists, and fierce community organizers, including the woman who saved the Indiana Pacers.

A Guide to Historic Alexandria 

From lands once traveled by Indigenous peoples to the surveying of its streets by a young George Washington, Alexandria has long been shaped by the Potomac River’s pull. As the nation grew, its proximity to the Federal City placed it at the center of political, economic, and social change from the American Revolution through the civil rights movement and beyond. Today, Alexandria’s neighborhoods reveal this history. From Gadsby’s Tavern Museum in Old Town to Ben Brenman Pond in the West End, each neighborhood has important landmarks, big and small. Incorporating the newest research with historic and modern photographs, this updated edition reveals Alexandria’s evolution across centuries and celebrates a city whose past continues to shape the character of the Commonwealth and the nation.

The Anaconda Copper Mining Company of Great Falls

Along the north bank of the Missouri River, in Great Falls, Montana, there was once an industrial complex: the Great Falls Reduction Department of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. From 1892 to 1982, it was a definitive silhouette on the skyline, used as a sign that travelers were close to home. 

At its peak, one-third of the world’s copper was smelted, refined, and molded here for direct consumption in line with the Anaconda Copper Mining Company’s slogan, “From Mine to Consumer.” Today, its existence has been wiped from the landscape, leaving a Superfund site that will take several decades to restore. Though the buildings, machinery, and workers are now gone, the memory is still imprinted heavily on the community.

Local History is Meant to Be Read

These new titles represent exactly why local history publishing matters now more than ever. Books like Remarkable Women of Indianapolis, The Houston Negro Hospital, Aycock Brown on the Outer Banks, and Enslaved on the Trail of Tears do not just document the past. They restore dignity, preserve memory, and give readers a deeper understanding of the places and people that shaped their world.

If you are looking for new local history books to add to your collection, to share with your library, or to gift to someone who loves regional American history, today is the perfect day to order. Browse all of our new releases, sign up for our newsletter to be notified when the next titles publish, and help us make sure these stories reach the readers who need them most. History this important should never stay out of print.