American History Books

Check out some of the newest books from Arcadia Publishing & The History Press. [View all American History books]
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Martinsville Postcard History Series cover with a vintage barber shop photograph
Martinsville
Paperback
$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%
Cover image for The Trout Valley Hertz Estate, and Curtiss Farm, isbn: 9780738561608
The Trout Valley Hertz Estate, and Curtiss Farm
Paperback
$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%
Book cover showing a group of African American men and women posing in front of a wooden building
Lincoln in Black and White
Paperback
$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Martinsville

9780738552309

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%
Based on vintage postcards, this new book is a unique and welcome addition to the small number of works devoted to the history of Martinsville.

Captured here in more than 220 postcard images is an important chronicle of the past 100 years in the "City of Mineral Water." This visual record showcases the sanitariums--including the glorious Home Lawn and its sibling, the Martinsville--industries and businesses, buildings and people, courthouse square, and special events that shaped the past and influenced the present. This fascinating retrospective is an indispensable companion to and expansion of Morgan County, the authors' first book in Arcadia's Postcard History Series.

Martinsville Postcard History Series cover with a vintage barber shop photograph

The Trout Valley Hertz Estate, and Curtiss Farm

9780738561608

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

John D. Hertz, of rental car fame, discovered Trout Valley (then a part of unincorporated McHenry County) in the 1920s.

He built a mansion, barns, and polo grounds on the banks of the Fox River, calling his new country estate Leona Farms. Famous landscape architect Jens Jensen designed its scenic landscape, fishing streams, and ponds. Here Hertz raised racehorses, including two Kentucky Derby winners, and hosted Gatsby-like parties for the rich and famous, including Myrna Loy, Will Rogers, and Walt Disney. Eleanor Roosevelt was once a guest too. In 1943, Hertz sold his estate to Otto Schnering, of Baby Ruth and Butterfinger fame, who transformed the grounds from a lush playground to the headquarters of a 10,000-acre farming operation. Old-timers still remember Schnering's six-pony hitch carrying joy-filled passengers down Main Street, the state-of-the-art livestock arena, and the trophy-winning cattle raised at Curtiss Farm.

Cover image for The Trout Valley Hertz Estate, and Curtiss Farm, isbn: 9780738561608

Lincoln in Black and White

9780738561622

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%
Lincoln, Nebraska's capital, grew from 45,000 to 55,000 residents in the years 1910-1925. The state's second-largest city, Lincoln was also home to Nebraska's second-largest African American community--a "small town" within the midwestern city. Local race relations were a study in contradictions. Public education and residential neighborhoods were relatively integrated; employment and social institutions were increasingly restricted. Within this setting, a laborer named John Johnson--a native of Lincoln and son of a black Civil War veteran--produced remarkable images as an itinerant photographer of the Lincoln scene, especially of its black community. Johnson left very little written record, so knowledge is fragmentary of his working techniques and of his collaborators or assistants. But his visual legacy takes people through the streets, onto the front porches, and into the backyards and living rooms of a vibrant community.
Book cover showing a group of African American men and women posing in front of a wooden building