American Biographies - History Books

Victorine Quille Adams was a Baltimore native and the first African American woman elected to the city council. Born in 1912, she lived through stringent segregation, racial violence and economic turbulence

Victorine Quille Adams was a Baltimore native and the first African American woman elected to the city council. Born in 1912, she lived through stringent segregation, racial violence and economic turbulence.

Educated at Morgan State and Coppin State Universities, she took to the classroom and enriched the lives of her students. In 1946, she founded the Colored Women's Democratic Campaign Committee to educate African American women about the vote and the power of the ballot box. In concert with fellow educators Mary McLeod Bethune, Kate Sheppard and Dr. Delores Hunt, she persisted in educating and empowering voters throughout her life. Author Ida E. Jones reveals the story of this civic leader and her crusade for equity for all people in Baltimore.

Once a twenty-seven-thousand-acre parcel named for the hills it features, Rancho Los Cerritos is a place where the past meets the present and provides a fascinating glimpse into California’s history.

Home of the Gabrielino-Tongva for more than five thousand years, the land was claimed and colonized by Spain and then Mexico before it became part of the United States. New Englander John Temple, together with his wife, Rafaela Cota, bought the land in the early 1800s. Through a workforce of Indigenous laborers, he built a unique two-story adobe to be the headquarters of a large-scale cattle ranch, propelling Temple and Rancho Los Cerritos to the forefront of Southern California’s prosperity.

Over the next two centuries, the Rancho adobe was home to gold rush miners, Mexican vaqueros, Chinese cooks, and more. These intrepid individuals persisted through feasts and famine, floods, droughts, and even war. Today, the adobe houses a historic museum and connects visitors to those who left an indelible mark on the region.

Join Dr. Leslie Reese as she shares the stories of the people who called Rancho Los Cerritos home.

Set in the middle of a lush California valley, Danville, in the last century, has grown from an agrarian hamlet to a bustling town.

On land that once belonged to Native peoples whose lives were upended by Spanish conquest, pioneers came for the Gold Rush and stayed for the fertile land. Farms and ranches took root, and a community arose. The Danville Grange No. 85, Patrons of Husbandry, promoted better farming practices and spurred on the founding of the town’s first library. Nobel Prize–winning playwright Eugene O’Neill called Danville home when he wrote his final, great plays, including Long Day’s Journey into Night, twenty years before a brand-new freeway led the charge into the modern era.

Join local author Beverly Lane as she shares gems from Danville’s past.

A Presidential Love Story   

When a young officer newly graduated from West Point met the eldest daughter of a gruff Missouri slaveowner, farmer and land speculator, it was love at first sight. Ulysses Grant and Julia Dent courted at her family farm, White Haven, until he was called away to the Mexican-American War. Secretly engaged, Ulysses wrote tender letters to Julia between daring exploits in battle. Upon his return, they were married. Ulysses’s military career stagnated, and after a miserable period of separation while he was stationed on the West Coast, Ulysses resigned to join Julia at White Haven before his second stint during the Civil War. Authors Vicki and Jim Erwin relate the Grants’ early life, their courtship, their life in Missouri and how that life shaped their future.

Fiery suffragettes, unconventional first ladies, and rebellious socialites turning up their noses at ladylike behavior, these pioneering women of Washington, D.C., shattered the expectations of a tightly-corseted society.

Escaped slave turned spy Mary Touvestre risked it all to scuttle Confederate plans to break the Union blockade. Trading petticoats for trousers to work at the Union hospitals, Dr. Mary E. Walker was both the only female Medal of Honor recipient and the possessor of a police record for impersonating a man. During Prohibition, First Lady Florence Harding hosted jazz soirees and served up cocktails in the White House gardens. From pioneering photographers and newspaperwomen to enterprising madams and soldiers in disguise, author Canden Schwantes introduces readers to the decidedly daring and wild women of the capital.

Local Luminaries, Famous Passersby & Everyone in Between

Since its founding in the early 1800s, Kalamazoo has welcomed a variety of notable characters who have shaped the community’s legacy in their own special way. Some, like Orville Gibson and Derek Jeter, are nationally recognized, while others, such as Sue Hubbell or Donald Bonevich, may be lesser known. Abraham Lincoln and Flora Temple briefly passed through town, and Mary Jackson and Gwen Frostic were among those who came here to attend college. Others, like Darwin and Opal Brown (aka Santa and Mrs. Claus) or Gene Rhodes (aka Gene the Pumpkin Man), were lifetime residents.

From founding fathers to early innovators, groundbreakers to entrepreneurs, artists to authors and athletes to entertainers, author Dianna Higgs Stampfler celebrates fifty figures in Kalamazoo-area history.

Breaking Glass Ceilings in St. Louis

Erma Mary Bergmann was a generation ahead of her time. She was born in a cold-water flat over a shoe store on South Broadway in St. Louis’s Soulard area. Restrained by the Great Depression and the minority status of women in the 1930s

and ‘40s, she hoped someday to climb out of poverty. When she was recruited to play baseball with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, her life changed. She pitched a no-hitter in 1947. She parlayed her natural athletic ability into two successful careers, baseball and policing. She spent twenty-five years as a policewoman, serving on the dangerous Decoy Squad. Author Patricia Treacy details the history of a pioneering woman. 

Women Writing the West 2024 WILLA Award for Creative Nonfiction

Prudery, Polygamy and Politics

Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon was no hands-on-the-plow pioneer. She was no stereotypical polygamous wife. Nor was she a prim lady who blushed at the word “legs.” Victorian Mormons were proud to lead the way in empowering women. “Verily the world progresseth,” exclaimed the Deseret Evening News on March 17, 1869, celebrating a Congressional bill to give Utah women the vote. But the federal intention to have female suffrage in Utah destroy polygamy failed. The 1882 Edmunds Act made “cohabitation” a felony. To protect her polygamous husband, she fled to England with their infant daughter. Upon her return, she reestablished her medical practice and opened Utah’s first training school for nurses. Nominated by local Democrats, Mattie ran against her husband for state senate in 1896 – beating him by four thousand votes. Author Joan Jacobson chronicles an extraordinary life remarkably relevant for today.

Everyone loves an underdog who succeeds against the odds. CCNY Made. Profiles in Grit is the story of City College of New York alumni who beat the odds to reach the pinnacle of their professions and in the process transformed our world. Here are just a few:lAndrew Grove, hearing impaired and a survivor of Nazi occupation and Communist rule became the visionary CEO of Intel Corporation, the manufacturer of the semiconductor chip found in most personal computers today.lYip Harburg, the son of immigrants, wrote the lyrics to countless music standards, including “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” one of the most celebrated songs of all times.

lJonas Salk, facing antisemitism and the rebuke of the scientific community, developed the Salk Vaccine that irradicated polio from the face of the earth.

lFelix Frankfurter, who came to America at 12 speaking no English, would be appointed a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and help write the unanimous opinion in Brown v. the Board of Education declaring school segregation in the United States illegal. In “CCNY Made. Profiles In Grit,” the stories of CCNY alumni are recounted who exemplify the promise of Townsend Harris, founder of CCNY and The Ephebic Oath affirmed by graduating students every year.

“We will strive unceasingly to quicken the public’s better, of civic duty; and thus, in all these ways we will strive to transmit this city not only not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.”

Wyoming History Enshrined/Created in 1871, Lakeview Cemetery serves as a repository of local and state history. Resting in the historic grounds are eleven of Wyoming’s governors, including the first woman governor in the nation. Other hallowed, eternal residents include a wild west showman, the namesake of a military base, and a famed photographer of the west. Suffragists, Japanese railroad workers, and a young range war victim are buried here too. Authors Starley Talbott and Michael Kassel explore the rich past of the famous and not-so famous citizens of Lakeview Cemetery.

"Fascinating information…little-known facts about remarkable Texans and events across the state.”—North Dallas Gazette

Texas is renowned for its legendary and colorful history—but even the state’s famous storytellers don’t know it all. Ever hear about the escaped ape in the Big Thicket? Or the "Interplanetary Capital of the Universe" that sat on the Gulf Coast? Does the cowboy hat that warmed U.S.-China relations ring a bell? 

From the Staked Plain Quakers to the Kaiser Burnout, E.R. Bills delves into some of the most fascinating chapters of overlooked Texas lore.

Breaking glass ceilings, organizing clubs, and making history as the first in their fields, these trailblazing Black women paved the way for new generations.

From Nettie Craig Asberry, founder of the Tacoma NAACP, to Dr. Dolores Silas, now honored by a school bearing her name, these women forged a path amid adversity. Black women were crucial to the war effort, working as Rosies at Boeing during World War II, and in the post-war years, Seattle musicians like Edyth Turnham and Her Knights of Syncopation were in high demand. These teachers, scientists, and politicians served on boards, led protests, and fought for civil rights across the state.

Join author and historian Marilyn Morgan as she chronicles the incredible lives and contributions of Washington's Black women.

From the opera house and movie palace to the modern multiplex, the big screens in Delaware have been delighting moviegoers for more than a century.

Hollywood legend Cary Grant visited the Playhouse Theater in 1955, fondly recalling his days on its stage as a child actor. Clint Eastwood came to Wilmington for a secret test screening of his film The Gauntlet at the Branmar Cinema. The groundbreaking history of Star Wars includes a Delaware theater that was one of only forty-five in the country to open the film. Author Michael J. Nazarewycz recounts the cinematic history of Delaware’s grand movie theaters.

Go inside the making of the 2018 Clemson Tigers football team, the one that vaulted to the top and became the biggest thing in college football.

From the beginning of the season, head coach Dabo Swinney's rallying cry was "joy." Each week for opponents, though, was another joyless occasion against a big orange machine that found its high gear midseason. The results shook the foundation of college football. In 2015 and 2016, the Tigers needed to bring their own guts to achieve great things. In Swinney's 10th season, they brought their own sledgehammers. Author Larry Williams, who has covered Clemson and Swinney since 2004, unearths revealing anecdotes from Dabo's tenure like you've never seen before and shares how a season dominated by Alabama hype ended up overwhelmed by a Clemson tide and a new college football dynasty.

Representing lawmakers and lawbreakers, artists and adventurers or scholars and activists, the women of Utah defied stereotypes.

At the crossroads of the West, they found new challenges and opportunities to forge their own paths. Emma Dean explored the Rocky Mountains with her famous spouse, John Wesley Powell. Martha Hughes Cannon defeated her husband to become the first female state senator. Maud Fitch drove an ambulance under German artillery fire to rescue downed pilots in World War I.

Author Emily Brooksby Wheeler celebrates the remarkable Utah women who, whether racing into danger or nurturing those who fell behind, changed their world and ours.

Around the horn in the Mahoning Valley

The history of baseball in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley has been, to say the least, eventful. Murder, the Civil War, the hot dog, a presidential assassination and one of the deadliest known volcanic eruptions all shaped America’s pastime in the Valley. African American baseball pioneer and Hall of Fame inductee Bud Fowler began his professional baseball career in the area, and the first ceremonial celebrity first pitch came from the arm of a prominent local. The area also contributed to Cleveland professional ballclubs like the enigmatic 1883 Blues and the 2016 Believeland Indians, which included numerous players from the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, a minor-league team with its own rich heritage.

Digging up little-known facts about Fowler and sundry other colorful stories, local author and creator of Eastwood Field’s Days Gone By exhibit PM Kovach celebrates the proud history of baseball in northeast Ohio.

Chippewa Falls' First World War II Casualty

Young Harry Wellington Kramer was looking for adventure and a leg up in Depression-era Wisconsin. He found both aboard the Navy battleship USS California. Traveling across the western United States and the Pacific Ocean, Harry was quick to share his experiences with family and friends in Chippewa Falls. As he realized his dreams and served his country, his parents anxiously followed the developments that would lead to America’s involvement in World War II. All of these events converged with the attack on Pearl Harbor, in which Harry was tragically killed fulfilling his duties. Though gone, Harry W. Kramer is not forgotten.

Compiling thirty-three letters between Harry and home, local author and history teacher John E. Kinville tells the story of a life cut short but well lived.

Discover Sensational Personalities from Throughout Garden State History

New Jersey has long punched above its size in producing some of America's leading figures, but for every household name are dozens of unforgettable yet overlooked colorful characters. Jersey City's treasurer, Alexander D. Hamilton, fled the state in 1894 with over one hundred thousand dollars and was apprehended by a Jersey City police sergeant after a stint with a band of outlaws in Mexico. Mary Teresa Norton overcame prejudice to be elected the first woman from the state to serve in Congress, becoming a powerful chair of three Congressional Committees over five terms. Infamous Newark Gangster Abner "Longie" Zwillmann ran gambling circles, labor rackets and prostitution rings while hobnobbing with Joe DiMaggio and stuffing ballot boxes for local politicians.

Joseph Bilby and Harry Ziegler present profiles of memorable characters from the Garden State.

“Recounts all the twists and turns of the case . . . two jury trials, a surprising appellate court ruling . . . and, decades later, a shocking development” (Visalia Times Delta).

One October morning in 1979, a stamp and coin dealer was gunned down in his Visalia shop. There were no witnesses. Persistent police efforts across jurisdictional lines connected it to another death. Two months earlier, the body of a Fresno coin dealer was found locked in the trunk of his car. The trail of evidence led to a most unlikely suspect.

Author Ronn M. Couillard, retired judge and former Visalia district attorney, lays out the facts in this compelling case from the investigation to the court proceedings and the surprise that almost derailed the conviction.

Harry T. Burn’s great-grandnephew, Tyler L. Boyd, chronicles the life and legacy of a Tennessee legend in this never-before-told life story.

After reading a letter from his mother, Burn cast the deciding vote to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting suffrage rights to millions of American women. Born and raised in McMinn County, he served in Tennessee government in various capacities for many years, including terms in the state senate and as delegate to state constitutional conventions. His accomplishments include helping secure universal suffrage rights, drafting clean election laws and leading successful careers in law and banking. He encountered more controversies in his career, such as an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid, election fraud and implementation of state legislative reapportionment.

Honoring the legacy of the Madison County veterans that gave the ultimate sacrifice...

Madison County answered the call to service and has left behind a generation of those who served in World War One and World War Two and lost their lives in service to the nation and freedom around the globe. This harrowing title covers the lives and stories of those service members.

Enjoy a fun look at behind-the-scenes politics and personalities in the history of Harrisburg and the Keystone State.

Pennsylvania, first home of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, has a tradition of political progress. However, along with the good, the political playground of Pennsylvania has also seen the brazenly bad behavior of its political leaders. For over twenty-five years, political columnist John Baer has had a front-row seat to the foibles and follies of the Keystone State's political system. Baer takes readers through his memories of covering state politics for the last quarter century, from Democratic governor Milton Shapp's short-lived run for president--in which he finished behind no preference in the Florida primary--to highlights of some of the game-changing campaign missteps and maneuvers that moved administrations in and out of the capital. With a delightfully gruff wit, Baer gives readers a behind-the-scenes view of the politics and personalities that have passed through Harrisburg.