American Biographies - History Books

Ghost stories from Ellicott City, Maryland have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery! 

The haunted history of Ellicott City comes to life—even when the main players are dead. Visit the Third Ellicott City Firehouse and catch a glimpse of the people who died in the tragic fire that occurred there. Or step inside the ruins of Patapsco Female Institute, and be sure to keep an eye out for the ghoulish girls that may be running around! Dive into this spooky chapter book for suspenseful tales of bumps in the night, paranormal investigations, and the unexplained; just be sure to keep the light on.

Detailing the salacious history of Baltimore and its denizens from the city's earliest history up to and through Prohibition.

With nicknames such as ""Mob Town"" and ""Syphilis City,"" no one would deny that Baltimore has its dark side. Before shows such as ""The Wire"" and ""Homicide: Life on the Streets"" brought the city's crime rate to national attention, locals entertained themselves with rumors surrounding the mysterious death of writer Edgar Allan Poe and stories about Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who spent time in a Baltimore area sanitarium in the 1930s.

Tourists make the Inner Harbor one of the most traveled areas in the country, but if they would venture a few streets north to The Block on Baltimore Street they would see an area once famous for its burlesque shows. It is only the locals who would know to continue north on St. Paul to the Owl Bar, a former speakeasy that still proudly displays some of its Prohibition era paraphernalia.

This is the second book from Arcadia Publishing that covers the history of the Eastern Shore Baseball League (ESHL). Eastern Shore baseball fans watched over three eras of class "D" professional baseball for 15 years, from 1922 to 1949. Many players, such as Don Zimmer, Mickey Cochrane, Red Ruffing, and Sid Gordon, came through the ESHL on their way to the major leagues. There were also many players that played and managed in this league who were former major-league players, including Gene Corbett, Ducky Detweiler, Val Picinich, and Joe Becker, to name a few. Eastern Shore League: Extra Innings, along with Eastern Shore League, will give baseball and history fans a more comprehensive understanding of the league.

Michael J. Lisicky, the author of several critically acclaimed department store history books, brings out charming stories about this beloved Baltimore institution.

For 132 years, Hutzler Brothers Company was a beloved part of the Baltimore retail and cultural scene. Charm City natives still recall with nostalgia the distinctive Art Deco design of the Downtown store, the glitter of the fashion shows, the unforgettable Christmas celebrations and the chocolate chiffon pie served in the store's Colonial Restaurant. Local author Michael J. Lisicky pays tribute to Hutzler's as he chronicles the rise of the family-run department store, its growth into Towson and other Maryland cities and its eventual and much lamented passing. Interviews with John Waters, former Hutzlerites and statesmen provide a glimpse into the role that Hutzler's played in the lives of so many Baltimoreans. With his vivid prose and some classic Hutzler's recipes, Lisicky brings to life this lost Baltimore institution.

Truth lies behind the grim and grisly legend of Patty Cannon.

Using surprise and treachery, Cannon even employed a free African American accomplice to lure her unsuspecting prey. Captives who survived confinement in Patty's cells were sold south. The position of the Cannon home on the shadowy border between Delaware and Maryland allowed her to dodge the law until a local farmer unearthed the remains of her victims in 1829. Patty mysteriously died in jail awaiting trial. Author Michael Morgan investigates the chilling history of one of the nation's first serial killers.

Murder on Maryland's Eastern Shore, by former Worcester County, Maryland State's Attorney Joseph E. Moore, explores the racially charged case of Euel Lee, alias Orphan Jones, an African American worker accused of murdering his white employer and family. Moore reconstructs the crime and ensuing trial of Orphan Jones against the backdrop of Jim Crow politics, which was very much a part of America in the 1930s. Moore provides accurate detail, local color and an enlightening empathy with all the participants in the saga of Euel Lee. He has sought out and mastered the available evidence, even to the extent of locating the two confessions of the convicted murderer. The Euel Lee case as explored by Joe Moore is more than good, readable, local history. It is about the stresses and strains in American society in the Depression, from the radicalism of a young Communist lawyer to the conscious efforts of a rural community to contain violence, confront or at least deal with their prejudices and see that justice was served for a senseless murder in their midst. Moore sets a high standard of factual accountability and entertaining narrative based upon oral history and archival research. General readers and scholars alike will not be disappointed.

Explore the fasciniating history of Prohibition in one of the places where it was most defied-- Baltimore, Maryland.

There was perhaps no region more opposed to Prohibition than Baltimore and Maryland. The Free State was defiant in its protest from thoroughly wet Governor Albert Ritchie to esteemed Catholic Cardinal James Gibbons. Maryland was the only state to not pass a baby Volstead enforcement act. Speakeasies emerged at Frostburg's Gunter Hotel and at Baltimore's famed Belvedere Hotel, whose famous owls' blinking eyes would notify its patrons if it was safe to indulge in bootleg liquor. Rumrunners were frequent on the Chesapeake Bay as bootleggers populated the city streets. Journalist H.L. Mencken, known as the Sage of Baltimore, drew national attention criticizing the new law. Author Michael T. Walsh presents this colorful history.

On July 9, 1864, young Mamie Tyler crouched in a cellar as Union sharpshooters above traded volleys with Confederate forces. After six excruciating hours, she emerged to nurse the wounded from the Battle of Monocacy. This was life in a border state and the terrifying reality for the women of Maryland. Western Maryland experienced some of the worst carnage of the war, and women turned their homes into hospitals for the wounded of Antietam, South Mountain and Gettysburg. In Baltimore, secessionists such as Hetty Carry fled arrest by Union troops. The Eastern Shore's Anna Ella Carroll plotted military strategy for the Union, and Harriet Tubman led hundreds of slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Author Claudia Floyd draws on letters and memoirs to chronicle their stories and present a fascinating and nuanced portrait of Maryland women in the Civil War.

Discover Maryland's legacy of daring women who made their mark on history as spies, would-be queens and fiery suffragettes.

Maryland's history is punctuated by women who refused to be forgotten.  Sarah Wilson escaped indentured servitude in Frederick by impersonating the queen's sister. In Cumberland, Sallie Pollock smuggled letters for top Confederate officials. Baltimore journalist Marguerite Harrison snuck into Russia to report conditions there after World War I. From famous figures like Harriet Tubman to unsung heroines like Lady Law Violet Hill Whyte, author Lauren R. Silberman introduces Maryland's most tenacious and adventurous women.

Before outdoor films, mouth watering cuisine and the spectacle of bocce brought thousands of visitors to its streets, Baltimore's Little Italy was a haven for generations of immigrants.

With Saint Leo's Church at its heart, The Neighborhood is a place where lifelong friendships are forged and nicknames are serious business. The community still celebrates the Feast of Saint Anthony Italian Festival in tribute to the saint who was credited with saving the neighborhood from the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904. As sons went to the front during both world wars, families pulled together during the hard times. With memories of beloved local figures like Marion Mugs Mugavero and artist Tony DeSales, interviews with lifelong locals and a few classic recipes, author Suzanna Rosa Molino creates a spirited history of this enduring Italian community.

Michael J. Lisicky is the author of several bestselling books, including Hutzler's: Where Baltimore Shops.

In demand as a department store historian, he has given lectures at institutions such as the New York Public Library, the Boston Public Library, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Milwaukee County Historical Society, the Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Jewish Museum of Maryland. His books have received critical acclaim from the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Pittsburgh Post Gazette. He has been interviewed by national business periodicals including Fortune Magazine, Investor's Business Daily and Bloomberg Businessweek. His book Gimbels Has It was recommended by National Public Radio's Morning Edition program as One of the Freshest Reads of 2011. Mr. Lisicky helps run an Ask the Expert column with author Jan Whitaker at www.departmentstorehistory.net and resides in Baltimore, where he is an oboist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Kent County, located on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, is noted for its farms, outdoor recreation, architecture, and its people. Legendary Locals of Kent County recognizes only a handful of the many Kent County people who deserve to be noted. Included are Tony Award nominee Mark Bramble, who is a director, author, and producer; controversial and colorful Evelyn Harris, also known as the Barter Lady, who gained fame during the Depression when she proposed a system of swapping to overcome the shortage of money; elected official, school principal, minister, and artist Clarence Hawkins; Sheriff Bartus O. Vickers, who earned the respect of prisoners, lawyers, other law enforcement officers, and citizens; game warden Bozy Robinson, friend of both the hunter and the hunted; and writer Gilbert Byron, who detailed life on the Chesapeake Bay throughout the 20th century.

Residents of Bel Air, a small county seat located in northern Maryland, played inordinately large roles in the evolution of the state and nation. Bel Air boasts two Maryland governors, William Paca and Augustus Bradford; the fi rst woman elected to the Maryland State Senate, Mary Risteau; as well as Milton Reckord, whose 65-year military career is unequaled. Other local legends include radio personality Diane Lyn, artist Jim Butcher, and Kimmie Meissner, the youngest member of the 2006 US Olympic team. There are villains as well. The civil rights era brought the mysterious 1970 explosion that rocked the town on the eve of H. Rap Brown's scheduled trial in the Bel Air Courthouse. Peruse the pages of Legendary Locals of Bel Air and fi nd generations of talented and passionate people who turned a wilderness town into a thriving suburban center that still manages to maintain its unique beauty and sense of community.

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.