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Brimming with the heart of Portland's Chinese American culture, Portland's Chinatowns demonstrates resilience, family, and the importance of the history behind the community of immigrants that made Oregon their home.

Portland’s early Chinese Americans faced exclusion laws, racial discrimination, and forced relocation, leading to the New Chinatown/Japantown Historical District in downtown Portland. From modest beginnings in labor intensive industries such as hand laundries, restaurants, and agriculture, many were able to eventually own property when the city laws changed, and their children had opportunities to pursue higher education and other professions. Chinese and Chinese Americans proudly served in every US conflict since the Civil War despite the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which limited citizenship. Historic photographs document their challenges, successes, and contributions, enriching our understanding of the American immigrant experience from the 1850s to the present day. These images celebrate the resiliency of Portland’s Chinese community as they have helped create a vibrant multicultural city.

Dr. Kristin Wong is a clinical pharmacist and a fourth-generation Chinese American whose family has been actively involved in the Portland Chinese community. These vintage photographs from the Portland Chinatown Museum, along with public archives and private collections, reveal the fascinating history that dates back over 175 years of what was America’s second-largest Chinatown in 1900.

Readers will be drawn to the quaint feel of suburban Pennsylvania that author Michele Murray has captured within these pages.

Drexel Park, founded in 1924, is a result of the city of Philadelphia bursting at its seams as it experienced an industrial boom fueled by advances in manufacturing, transportation, and technology. Having maintained dominance as the largest port in North America for nearly 150 years, rapid industrial growth led to mass overcrowding, which forced the expansion of urban neighborhoods and the creation of new suburban neighborhoods. The founder of Drexel Park, Thomas Conway Jr., was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and was a professor of finance at the Wharton School. He originally established himself as an interurban railroad innovator by transforming failing railroad lines into profitable businesses. Conway revolutionized suburban planning by leveraging existing railroad connections to develop a rural community near Philadelphia. He donated land for a local public hospital and used cutting-edge marketing techniques to attract clients, shaping his vision of an “ideal community.”

The Drexel Park Homeowners Association celebrated Drexel Park’s centennial in 2024. Committee chairperson Michele Murray, working with the history committee, researched Drexel Park’s unique history and compiled its origins and development, drawing on photographs and anecdotes from residents, local historical societies, and museums.

Secondary education for African Americans in Washington, DC, marked a defining moment in the history of a people less than a decade removed from chattel slavery and legally prohibited from learning. In 1862, when legislation passed creating a “colored” school system, an educational foundation had been laid; by the decade’s end, thousands of people had received a basic education, and thousands more were in need.

A high school was needed to train grammar school graduates to teach in the rapidly growing system, which ultimately became a catalyst for academic excellence. When the first courses for Preparatory High School for Colored Youth were organized in a church basement in 1870, Black youth embarked on a journey of life-changing academic and personal growth. Many graduates not only became notable in fields ranging from arts to sciences, but even more helped to expand the city’s school system. Armstrong, Dunbar, and Cardozo High Schools emerged from this segregated system, each offering rigorous academic curriculums while shaping students’ civic, social, and physical development. 

Alice K. Thomas, educated in Washington, DC, holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and a master’s degree and doctorate in sociology. She writes and lectures on topics related to the experiences of African Americans. Her encounters with DC graduates often lead to nostalgic stories of the “good old days.” 

Capturing its founding as a welcoming area of Virginia where people of all backgrounds could plant roots, Reston demonstrates the definition of community, from its beautifully constructed buildings to its array of people.

Reston, Virginia, was named utilizing the initials of its founder, Robert E. Simon Jr. In 1961, Simon purchased over 6,000 acres of wooded farmland between Washington, DC, and the soon-to-be opened Dulles International Airport to build a planned community where all could live, work, and play. Since its founding, Reston challenged the norms of the day by establishing an open community, fighting for affordable housing, and building a sense of belonging through its Restonian-led community organizations like Reston Black Focus, Common Ground Foundation, and more. This collection of vintage images portrays the people, places, and events that have built Reston into the thriving community it is today. Its unique architecture and design both inspire and evoke nostalgia. 

Alexandra Campbell and Ava Smigliani are George Mason University history graduates, museum professionals, and historians of American history. Both have also presented and contributed to publications on various topics of American history. Founded in 1997, the Reston Museum is a community 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that preserves the past, informs the present, and influences the future of Reston through its exhibits, educational public programs, and events. Most images are provided by the Reston Museum, and photographs are overwhelmingly captured by Restonians. 

The wild west is exemplified in a pictorial history of Rural Roswell and South Springs Ranch, capturing accounts of ranching, war, and outlaws in the southeast region.

Years ago, much of southeastern New Mexico belonged to the “Cattle King of the Pecos,” John Simpson Chisum.

His vast domain stretched up both sides of the mighty Pecos River, ranging from just south of Fort Sumner all the way down to Seven Rivers.

Chisum faced many challenges, surviving both the Lincoln County War and threats from its star player, Billy the Kid. From the 1870s until his death in 1884, Chisum called the Roswell region home. Significant ranching operations included Bosque Grande north of Roswell and the South Springs Ranch south of the fledgling town.

Chisum’s various ranching outfits and those of his successors, like J.J. Hagerman, J.P. White’s LFD Farm, the Oasis Ranch of East Grand Plains, farms and ranches of friends like Pat Garrett and John W. Poe, plus many other unique facets and locations in rural Roswell, are included in historic photographs. 

John LeMay, author of over 50 historical titles, including Images of America: Roswell, and the Historical Society for Southeast New Mexico use their extensive photograph archives to chronicle the history of John Chisum, his South Springs Ranch, and rural Roswell with over 200 rarely seen images. 

Pirate history, costumes, and decorated boats and ships have been the center of the famed Gasparilla Pirate Festival for over a century.

Since 1904, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla has staged an annual mock pirate invasion of Tampa, Florida, a tradition that has become known as Gasparilla. The name of the event originated from stories and tales regarding Gasparilla, a legendary pirate who reportedly roamed the Gulf of Mexico on Florida’s west coast in the early 1800s.

The sound of cannon fire heard for miles across the Tampa Bay area signals the arrival of the José Gasparilla ship and the beginning of the piratical invasion of Tampa. Thousands of spectators line the waterways to watch the ship and massive boat flotilla make their way to dock at the Tampa Convention Center.

Following the traditional demand for the keys to the city, a parade is staged, the third-largest one-day parade in the country. Tampa’s iconic Bayshore Boulevard is lined with several hundred thousand spectators, krewes, and other participants who produce a spectacular parade.

The history committee of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla has provided the historical references for the book, and photographic materials have been obtained from leading institutions, including the Tampa–Hillsborough County Public Library System, the State of Florida Archives, and the University of South Florida Library Special Collections.