All Non-Digital Titles

Utilizing photographs from the Historical Society of Temple City, Donna Georgino explores the history of Temple City.  

When Walter P. Temple’s oldest son, nine-year-old Thomas, discovered oil on the family’s property in the Montebello Hills, Temple used his newfound wealth to purchase 285 acres of the Rancho San Francisquito. Temple, along with his associates Milton Kauffman, George Woodruff, and Sylvester Dupuy, established the Temple Townsite Company in 1923 and began selling plots of land designed to form a new community for the middle class. With a park, a church, a central business district, and an extension of the Pacific Electric Red Car line, the town of Temple soon became a thriving community. In 1928, the town of Temple changed its name to Temple City to avoid confusion at the post office. In 1944, the Woman’s Club initiated the Camellia Festival, an event that is still celebrated today.

Author Donna Georgino grew up in Temple City, attended Temple City schools, and currently serves as the president of the Historical Society of Temple City. The historical society was formed in 1987 by longtime residents interested in preserving Temple City’s history. In 2006, the Woman’s Club gifted/deeded its building on the corner of Kauffman and Woodruff Avenues to the society as a permanent home for the museum. 

This pictorial history illustrates the Tennessee River's influence on Northwest Alabama and people, places, and events that have shaped the area’s cultural and natural history.

For centuries, the Tennessee River has shaped the lives of northwest Alabamians. Native peoples made their homes on its shores, living on the rich resources found in its waters and on its banks. Early Europeans and Americans recognized the river's importance in connecting east with west, although traveling the 40-mile stretch of rocky shoals between present-day Decatur and Florence was difficult. Overcoming that navigation challenge led to such 19th-century technological advances as the Tuscumbia, Courtland & Decatur Railroad—the first rail line west of the Appalachian Mountains—and the Muscle Shoals Canal. During the Civil War, skirmishes over control of factories, rail lines, and bridges characterized most military activity in northwest Alabama. In the 20th century, the construction of Wilson Dam and the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority improved the quality of life and increased economic opportunities in northwest Alabama.

Historian Jeff Sellers, director of education at the Tennessee State Museum and the state capitol, has compiled images from archives and private collections to showcase the history of the Tennessee State Capitol. He also introduces us to the individuals who have breathed life into what has become known as the people's house.

On July 4, 1845, an immense crowd gathered atop the highest hill in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The locals had known it as Campbell's Hill after its owner, Judge George Washington Campbell. Now it had a new name: Capitol Hill. It was on this day that the cornerstone of the new Tennessee State Capitol would be ceremoniously laid. Beneath it, a time capsule was placed with a scroll that read, Dum Tempus fugit, hoc Templum stabit, which translates to Though Time Passes, This Temple will Stand. For over 170 years, that phrase has held true. The building begun on that day and completed 14 years later is still Tennesseans' seat of government. It has seen wars, depressions, celebrations, funerals, demonstrations, debates, and compromise and remains a temple of democracy.

Images of America: Tennessee's Confederates draws upon photographs, many previously unpublished, to tell the stories of confederate soldiers from the Volunteer State.

Like other slave-holding border states, Tennessee initially elected not to join the newly formed Confederates States of America. However, with the attack on Fort Sumter and the call for troops to put down the rebellion, Tennessee governor Isham Harris telegrammed President Lincoln, ""Tennessee will not furnish a single man for the purpose of coercion, but 50,000 if necessary for the defense of our rights and those of our Southern brothers."" In early June 1861, the state voted to secede from the Union and soon joined the Confederacy. Ultimately, Tennessee provided nearly 187,000 men to the Confederate cause serving in 110 regiments and 33 battalions. Photographs are from the collections of the Tennessee State Museum, the Tennessee State Library and Archives, the Tennessee Historical Society, and private collections.

Terre Haute's storied past from 1811 to the present.

From the days of French explorers and the establishment of Fort Harrison in 1811 to the rise of the ""Pittsburgh of the West"" and beyond, Terre Haute's history is a study in paradox. Home to prominent schools, railroads, and distilleries as well as social reformers, national figures, and corrupt politicians, the city that grew up along the Wabash suffered devastating setbacks but also soared to spectacular achievements.

In this region, houses of the wealthy sprang up alongside homes of workingmen as the city spread beyond the Wabash River banks and the downtown area. Its name comes from James Farrington, a banker and attorney who settled there in 1841. Over the years, Farrington's Grove residents have touched lives far beyond its boundaries. Max Ehrmann's poem "Desiderata" has inspired people worldwide to go placidly amid the noise and haste. The Coca-Cola bottle's shape owes its unique design to Earl Dean. Both racing fans and cooks owe a debt to Anton Hulman Jr., who resurrected the Indianapolis 500 and launched an advertising campaign that made Clabber Girl Baking Powder a household name. Farrington's Grove has been home to poets, political figures, industrialists, suffragettes, educators, artists, and college students.

Offering a unique historical account using only postcard images, this new book showcases the people, buildings, neighborhoods, schools and events that shaped the region.

For most of the 20th century, the ""Crossroads of America"" was literally at the intersection of U.S. 41 and the National Road, right at the corner of Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue in downtown Terre Haute, Indiana. Although the crossroads has shifted, Vigo County is still a major transportation center perched on the high side of the Wabash River, made famous by songwriter Paul Dresser.

Captured here in over 200 vintage images is the history of Terre Haute and Vigo County, chronicling the area's earliest days all the way through to World War One., including notables Eugene V. Debs, Chauncey Rose, Collett Park, and the 1913 Tornado and Flood.

Discover the history of Tewksbury through historic photographs from the Tewksbury Historical Society.

In 1689, Chief Magistrate Waitstill Winthrop appointed Samuel Hunt II to build a blockhouse to guard against Mohawk-affiliated Indians from Canada seeking to cross the Merrimack River to harm the English settlers and the Praying Indians of Wamesit. The crossing Hunt guarded is now known as Hunts Falls. By 1734, on a second attempt, Hunt and 41 settlers from around his site petitioned the legislature and succeeded to incorporate Tewksbury as a separate town from Billerica. Beginning as an agricultural community, along with fishing in the Merrimack, Shawsheen, and Concord Rivers, industries such as dairies, tanneries, furniture making, sawmills, blacksmith shops, and even a soap factory prospered during the 1800s. Greenhouses began to spring up in the late 1800s. In the 1970s, Tewksbury was deemed the Carnation Capital of the World for its production and cultivation talents. In 1934, at the town’s 200th anniversary celebration, citizens celebrated its beginnings and growth with pride and patriotism. Today, public art includes figures from Tewksbury’s past by renowned resident sculptor Mico Kaufman.

Rev. Douglas W. Sears, JD, and Nancy Reed, president and vice president, respectively, of the Tewksbury Historical Society, are longtime residents who have served on several town boards. Reed serves as Tewksbury’s town historian. The images in this book are from the Tewksbury Historical Society’s collection and other sources as noted.

This book documents the history of Thalhimers department stores, through stories and vintage photographs.

Thalhimers was founded in Richmond in 1842 by German Jewish immigrant William Thalhimer as a humble dry goods store. It expanded over the years to become a 26-store chain across the Southeast under the leadership of William's great-grandson, William B. Thalhimer Jr. It boasted the latest in clothing, shoes, and accessories for the entire family, the most modern of housewares, and gourmet foods and baked goods, including the iconic six-layer chocolate cake. Through decades of dramatic political and social change, Thalhimers stood strong, guided by the overarching philosophies of honesty, integrity, quality, and service. Loyal and devoted employees were the heart of Thalhimers, becoming part of the extended Thalhimer family. Sadly, in 1992, as a result of retail consolidation, the Thalhimer name was dropped and the flagship downtown Richmond store closed. A 150-year legacy ended, leaving behind cherished memories, stories, and images.

The town of Wellington was located by the Stevens Pass summit in the Cascade Mountains. During the last days of February in 1910, the snow was relentless in the Cascades, falling as much as one foot per hour and rising up to 20 feet deep in areas. Rotary plows could not keep the lines open as snow covered the railroad tracks almost immediately after being cleared. The Seattle Express, coming from Spokane, and a fast mail train were stranded just beyond the safety of the Cascade Tunnel, where they remained unmovable for almost a week under the snow packed mountains. On March 1, an avalanche swept away the tracks and passengers aboard the two trains as well as several of Wellington's buildings and homes. Almost 100 individuals were killed in just a few seconds, creating America's deadliest avalanche and train disaster in history. Today, the site is part of the Iron Goat Trail off Highway 2, east of Skykomish. The snowshed, the abandoned original Cascade Tunnel, and various scraps of the trains left in the ravine are the only evidence that remain of Wellington, its long-forgotten inhabitants, or the disaster.

All kinds of spurious rumors had swirled around the 1919 World Series.

Allegations about a fixed game between the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies on August 31, 1920, began a chain of events that led to a grand jury indicting eight White Sox players for conspiring to throw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds the year before.Outside the courtroom, Shoeless Joe Jackson, just coming off his best overall offensive season with .382 average, was reportedly confronted by a young fan pleading for a denial from his hero.Jackson would later deny the encounter ever occurred and also deny any guilt in the World Series fix.In the almost 100 years since eight White Sox players were banned for life, there has been little historical closure due to a fleeting consensus on a scandal that almost took down Major League Baseball.

Documenting the destruction caused by the 1938 hurricane along New England's coast and the ways in which victims united to rebuild their communities.

The Hurricane of 1938 was one of the most devastating storms to strike New England's Atlantic coast. It forever changed the landscapes of cities and towns in its path. Throughout the hurricane, the Coast Guard worked tirelessly to provide aid to countless displaced residents. Entire communities were leveled by the hurricane's powerful winds and waves.

After the storm subsided and the destruction was evident, the enormous task of rebuilding and reuniting the community began.

Bill Cotter is a longtime world's fair enthusiast and his collection of world's fairs photographs, the world's largest, has been featured in museum exhibits.

After enduring 10 harrowing years of the Great Depression, visitors to the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair found welcome relief in the fair's optimistic presentation of the ""World of Tomorrow."" Pavilions from America's largest corporations and dozens of countries were spread across a 1,216-acre site, showcasing the latest industrial marvels and predictions for the future intermingled with cultural displays from around the world. Well known for its theme structures, the Trylon and Perisphere, the fair was an intriguing mixture of technology, science, architecture, showmanship, and politics. Proclaimed by many as the most memorable world's fair ever held, it predicted wonderful times were ahead for the world even as the clouds of war were gathering. Through vintage photographs, most never published before, The 1939-1940 New York World's Fair recaptures those days when the eyes of the world were on New York and on the future.

Falling in between the dark days of the Great Depression and World War II, the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair offered a refreshing prediction for the World of Tomorrow.

There were exciting demonstrations of robot servants, computerized highways, color photography, and a new invention called television. Visitors could tour the latest in model homes, enjoy the marvel of air-conditioning, and watch the newest streamlined steam locomotive in action. America's largest corporations joined forces with nations from around the world to showcase the wonders of a future that was sure to come. There were also displays of past technical marvels, international culture and cuisine, and plenty of the innovative architecture that is a large part of these international expositions. Vintage photographs, most never published before, showcase what has been lauded as the most memorable world's fair of all time.

The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair was the largest international exhibition ever built in the United States.

More than one hundred fifty pavilions and exhibits spread over six hundred forty-six acres helped the fair live up to its reputation as "the Billion-Dollar Fair." With the cold war in full swing, the fair offered visitors a refreshingly positive view of the future, mirroring the official theme: Peace through Understanding. Guests could travel back in time through a display of full-sized dinosaurs, or look into a future where underwater hotels and flying cars were commonplace. They could enjoy Walt Disney's popular shows, or study actual spacecraft flown in orbit. More than fifty-one million guests visited the fair before it closed forever in 1965. The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair captures the history of this event through vintage photographs, published here for the first time.

The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair: Creation and Legacy uses rare, previously unpublished photographs to examine the creation of the fair and the legacies left behind for future generations.

When the gates of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair swung open on April 24, 1964, the first of more than 51 million lucky visitors entered, ready to witness the cutting edge of worldwide technology and progress. Faced with a disappointing lack of foreign participants due to political contention, the fair instead showcased the best of American industry and science. While multimillion-dollar pavilions predicted colonies on the moon and hotels under the ocean, other forecasts, such as the promises of computer technology, have surpassed even the most optimistic predictions of the fair.

In June 1972, Hurricane Agnes hit the East Coast with a monstrous and devastating force, bringing a deluge across multiple states and slamming four counties in the Southern Tier: Steuben, Chemung, Tioga, and Broome.

Dozens died and property damage ran into the millions as Corning, Elmira, Owego, Binghamton, and other communities suddenly found themselves under water. The flood destroyed the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, staggered the Penn Central, shut down Corning Glass Works for weeks, and devastated the Corning Museum of Glass--a major cultural resource. Lives and landscapes were forever changed when homes and businesses washed away in a matter of minutes. Henceforth, the region's history became permanently divided into the times before and the times after the 1972 flood. Through stunning images, The 1972 Flood in New York's Southern Tier chronicles the extraordinary destruction of twisted rail lines, devastated streets, exhausted recovery workers, rivers bursting their banks, cars on houses, and houses on cars

In 1984, the city of New Orleans hosted the last world's fair held in the United States.

Conceived as part of an ambitious effort to revitalize a dilapidated section of the city and establish New Orleans as a year-round tourist destination, it took more than 12 years of political intrigue and design changes before the gates finally opened. Stretching 84 acres along the Mississippi River, the fair entertained more than seven million guests with a colorful collection of pavilions, rides, and restaurants during its six-month run. While most world's fairs lose money, the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair had the dubious distinction of going bankrupt and almost closing early. However, the $350-million investment did succeed in bringing new life to the area, which is now home to the city's convention center and a bustling arts district.

How the Adirondack region was first discovered, then explored and eventually maintained- all of which helped shape what it is today.

The East's greatest wilderness, the Adirondack region of New York State, shares its history and lore with Native Americans, early settlers, artists, writers, sportsmen, professors and others. The Adirondacks are known to outdoor lovers, skiers, and year-round visitors for their 46 high peaks, 100-mile canoe route, 133-mile Northville-to-Lake Placid Trail, 30,000 miles of mountain streams, and 3,000 lakes.

In addition to its finding, The Adirondacks: 1830-1930, shows how the six-million-acre Adirondack Park, which is the largest park in the contiguous United States and a patchwork of public and private lands governed by one of the largest regional zoning plans in the country, was preserved. With over 200 stunning photographs and fascinating tales of the region, it traces the development of the hamlets, the great camps, the guides, and the furniture and tanning businesses.

For decades, the vast Adirondack wilderness has beckoned.The Adirondacks: 1931-1990celebrates the years in which the six-million-acre preserve truly became a people's park.

Some, familiar with Adirondack-inspired art and literature, are drawn in by its spectacular beauty; many are lured by its year-round sports and recreational opportunities; others are enticed merely by its natural beauty-the clear air, sparkling waters, and dense woodlands. With some 200 rare images, the book includes photos of the Winter Olympics held at Lake Placid in 1932, attended by thousands from the world over, and pictures of American boys working in the CCC camps in the Adirondacks during the Great Depression. Follow the progression of history as steamboats ply Lake George and the Fulton Chain and other lakes, then as the railroads as they bring in more and more visitors, and trace the rise and fall of the grand hotels and their successors: the cabins, motels, cottages, second homes, and campsites of the motoring public.

Beginning in the latter half of the 19th century, individuals identifying themselves as Poles, Slovaks, Carpatho-Rusyns, Ukrainians, and others began what would eventually become a mass influx of eastern and central Europeans into Pennsylvania's anthracite coal mining region.

These people brought with them languages and customs quite alien to the longer-established groups that had settled the area many years earlier. At times the Slavs clashed with these groups, as well as among themselves. Eventually, however, they wove their way of life indelibly into the multiethnic fabric of the growing region. The Anthracite Coal Region's Slavic Community presents a pictorial history of Slavic people in hard coal country, conveying the unique and rich culture brought to the area with the arrival of these diverse communities.

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh details the often eccentric history of this unforgettable school.

In the early 1920s, a young Pittsburgh artist and designer, Willis Dresdale Shook, recognized the need for a two-year course in commercial art. Within two years, the name changed to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. On October 1, 1921, the Artist's League of Pittsburgh held its first class of nine students in one room of the Fulton Building. Almost 90 years later, Shook's vision has grown to a community of more than 13,000 students and alumni of over 55,000 making their mark on the art, design, advertising, motion picture, entertainment, business, fashion, and culinary industries worldwide. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh inspires pride in the accomplishments of students, faculty, and alumni, along with chuckles at the outrageous memories that define the school's unmistakable essence and personality.

The Babies Hospital, now known as Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, was founded in 1887 by Drs. Sarah and Julia McNutt in a brownstone on Fifty-Fifth Street and Lexington Avenue.

The hospital is the first freestanding children's hospital in New York City and the fourth oldest in the United States. However, the hospital traces its roots to the establishment of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, then King's College, more than 250 years ago. In 1929, the hospital relocated to a new 204-bed facility as part of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. The New York Times referred to the new Babies Hospital as "the last word in hospital design and equipment." Under the leadership of Rustin Mcintosh from 1931 to 1960, the hospital became a beacon for discovery and innovation, assembled a department of noted subspecialists, and was one of the first children's hospitals to develop programs in neonatology, surgery, radiology, neurology, hematology-oncology, and psychiatry.

Michael Weiner, MD, Hettinger professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, is a vice chair of pediatrics, former director of the Division of Pediatric Oncology, and an author of Living Cancer: Stories of an Oncologist, Father, Survivor and a Philanthropist. Stephen E. Novak has been the head of Archives & Special Collections at Columbia's Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library since 1997. The images in the book come from the rich photographic resources of the library.

Incorporated in 1827, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad  was one of America's first railroads, and Maryland was its heart and soul.

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad’s (B&O)   creation was a tangible symbol of the Industrial Revolution, representing commerce and progress to towns along its route. Its headquarters and operations, centered in Baltimore, provided years of economic growth for the port city. This book contains images of well-known stations in Maryland, including Ellicott City Station, Gaithersburg Station, Camden Station, and the Mount Clare Shops—a self-contained industrial city, now home to the B&O Railroad Museum. Some stations still exist and are home to small museums or restaurants; others no longer stand, but images of them will remind even the casual historian of a time when railroads were a part of everyday life in America.

Take a step back in time and revisit the sites, stations, and trains of the B&Othat were once part of everyday life in Maryland and remember the glory of a bygone era.

The innovative Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge, was constructed to connect the cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey.

For a time after its opening on July 1, 1926, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of 1,750 feet. The Benjamin Franklin Bridge contains many rarely seen images of the bridge's planning and construction, the individuals who helped make the concept of the bridge a reality, and the workers who built it. The bridge has undergone many changes in the decades since its opening, and these vintage photographs trace its evolution, illustrating the bridge's endurance as a symbol of the Philadelphia-Camden metropolitan area.

A beautiful vacation destination today, the Berkshires has been the chosen enclave for many influential and artistic notables since the 18th century.

Those hustling to find lodging in the Berkshires today may not know they are repeating a two-hundred fifty- year-old ritual. In the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries, the Berkshires played host to some of the most fascinating characters in American literature, politics, business, and the arts. They came with the warm breezes and left when they felt the first cold snap in the autumnal air. The Berkshires: Coach Inns to Cottages is a photographic record of Berkshire dwelling places from the rough simplicity of stagecoach inns to the glittering luxury of Gilded Age cottages. Come inside the Berkshire coach inns where ""one might be subjected to disagreeable exposures,"" as Timothy Dwight noted in 1823. Come inside the Berkshire cottages where the rich and powerful were entertained according to the precepts of fashionable society. Use this volume as a guide to the many structures that have been preserved.

Hundreds of ornately decorated rooms, gardens and greenery and more--Walk through the history of the Biltmore Estate, one of America's many displays of personal wealth and decadence.

In the spring of 1888, George Washington Vanderbilt returned to New York after spending weeks exploring the countryside near Asheville, North Carolina. Thinking it was the perfect place to build his home, Vanderbilt promptly sent his agent to begin quietly buying contiguous tracts of land until he had several thousand acres. Soon, he began constructing what would become America's largest private residence. He commissioned two of America's preeminent designers, architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, to collaborate with him in planning his estate, which he named Biltmore. To complement the 250-room French Renaissance-style chateau, Olmsted worked closely with Hunt to create a vast landscape of pleasure gardens and grounds with miles of scenic drives through parklands, productive farms, and the country's first scientifically managed forest. Today, Biltmore is a National Historic Landmark privately owned by Vanderbilt's descendants.

Join Author Rodney T. Cohen as he reveals the history & beginnings of the Black Colleges of Atlanta and the distinguished alumni they shaped.

By 1865, although Atlanta and the Confederacy still lay wounded in the wake of the Union victory, black higher education began its thrust for recognition. Some of the first of the American colleges formed specifically for the education of black students were founded in Atlanta, Georgia. These schools continue, over a century later, to educate, train and inspire. Through an engaging collection of images and informative captions, their story begins to unfold. Atlanta University was the pioneer college for blacks in the state of Georgia. Founded in 1865, it was followed by Morehouse College in 1867, Clark University in 1869, and Spelman and Morris Brown Colleges in 1881. By 1929, Atlanta University discontinued undergraduate work and affiliated with Morehouse and Spelman in a plan known as the ""Atlanta University System."" A formal agreement of cooperation including all of the Atlanta colleges occurred in 1957, solidifying the common goal and principles each school was founded upon-to make literate the black youth of America. Today, the shared resources of each institution provide a unique and challenging experience for young African Americans seeking higher education. The schools boast a long and distinguished list of alumni and scholars, including W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, Martin Luther King, Henry O. Tanner, and C. Eric Lincoln.