Award-Winning Books

Winner of the Association of New York Public Historians 2023 Excellence in Local History Award

Winner of the American Legacy Book Award 2024 for United States History

Winner of the NYC Big Book Award 2024 for Regional-Nonfiction

Winner of the IAN Book of the Year Award 2024 for Outstanding Non-Fiction: History 

The Van Wyck, the Major Deegan, the Jackie Robinson, the Hutch, the Merritt, FDR Drive, or the Henry Hudson...you might drive them regularly, without really noticing that those road names are, well, names. But, who were these people?

New York's many roads, bridges, tunnels, neighborhoods and institutions bear the names of a diverse cast of characters. The Kosciuszko Bridge honors Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish American Revolutionary War hero and fervent abolitionist. The Outerbridge Crossing, named after the Port Authority's first chairman, Eugenius Outerbridge, is called a crossing because Outerbridge Bridge sounded absurd. Shirley Chisholm State Park celebrates the first Black woman elected to Congress, the larger-than-life Shirley Chisholm. Clifford Holland originally designed his tunnel under the Hudson River to accommodate horse carts. These place names embody the rich history of the city that never sleeps, yet few know their true stories. Author Rebecca Bratspies uncovers the vibrant personalities behind the names that have become New York's urban shorthand for traffic jams, culture and recreation.

Winner of the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance Authors Award for Nonfiction

New Jersey's land records and deeds are unlikely sources for a thrilling tale but reveal little-known, fascinating history. A detailed story of the founding of the Garden State 350 years ago is preserved in these papers. The state's boundaries were drawn in such documents centuries ago, even if the authors never stepped foot in North America. The archives hide heroes, like the freed African Americans who fought for their right to own their piece of the state. And of course, there are the bizarre and mysterious tales, like the silk baron's castle and the assault against a sixteen-year-old maiden during the throes of the American Revolution. Join land title expert Joseph Grabas as he combs through these all-but-forgotten stories of the pursuit of happiness and property in early New Jersey.

Explore the summertime traditions and discover all the ways that Lackawanna County's Italian community seeks to preserve its heritage.

Boasting one of the nation's largest and most diverse Italian-American populations, Lackawanna County in Northeastern Pennsylvania joins old and new generations alike. With events such as La Corsa dei Ceri - commonly referred to as St. Ubaldo Day - in Jessup on Memorial Day Weekend and La Festa Italiana on downtown Scranton's Courthouse Square over Labor Day Weekend, every town in the county with an Italian population has its own story. Whether the people can trace their origins to Guardia or Gubbio, Felitto or Perugia, the Italians of Lackawanna County all share one thing in common: a strong sense of pride in their ethnic origins.

Chesapeake oysters are part of the legacy of the area, history on the half-shell. Read of their beginning (foot-long bivalves!) through cultivation today.

The eastern oyster, the humble bivalve and delicous treat, are the living bones of the Chesapeake, as well as the ecological and historical lifeblood of the region. When colonists first sailed these impossibly abundant shores, they described massive shoals of foot-long oysters but the bottomless appetite of the Gilded Age and great fleets of skipjacks took their toll. Disease, environmental pressures and overconsumption decimated the population by the end of the twentieth century. While Virginia turned to bottom-leasing, passionate debate continues in Maryland among scientists and oystermen whether aquaculture or wild harvesting is the better way forward. Today, boutique oyster farming in the Bay is sustainably meeting the culinary demand of a new generation of connoisseurs. With careful research and interviews with experts, author Kate Livie presents this dynamic story and a glimpse of what the future may hold.

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.”