Detroit Catholic Central High School showcases pivotal events and important individuals who helped transform the school from modest beginnings into a leading educational institution.

Detroit Catholic Central High School (CC) opened its doors to 260 students in the fall of 1928. The school was established by the Basilian Fathers of Toronto and led by Fr. Daniel Dillon, CSB. Despite losing its first building on Harper Avenue in 1934 and facing challenges like increasing enrollment, a shortage of classroom space, the Great Depression, and World War II, the school continued to grow. Supported by influential individuals who helped establish strong traditions and a positive school culture, the school, located initially off Woodward Avenue in central Detroit, has a rich history. With its 100th anniversary in 2028, the story of Catholic Central exemplifies a deep commitment to education, faith, and community. The school’s mission of teaching “Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge” still resonates today. 

James M. Gibbons Jr., a 1968 CC graduate and retired educator, and Michael J. Butler, Esq., a 1971 CC graduate and retired trial attorney, selected images and articles from Basilian Fathers archives, CC archives, and alumni family scrapbooks. The foreword was written by Fr. Dennis P. Noelke, CSB, also a 1971 CC graduate and retired Catholic Central principal.

Revisit a critical and little-known piece of WWII history that had a profound impact on Illinois and the nation.

During WWII, the United States was home to almost half a million POW's—German, Italian, and Japanese soldiers captured overseas and then brought to the United States. The POWs were housed in various large camps set up in forty-four of the nation's then forty-eight states. One of those states was Illinois. At its peak, Illinois housed three major base camps and twenty branch camps, stretching from the Rockford-Chicago area down to Camp Pomona, near Murphysboro. When not housed in these camps, POW's were put to work, on the state's farms and in its factories, to alleviate the country's serious wartime labor shortages. By the end of the war, there was no part of Illinois that was not touched by these prisoners of war.

Author Cary O'Dell sheds light on a largely forgotten element of home front WWII history. 

Throughout its history, Arkansas has had numerous disasters, ranging from terrible urban fires to devastating river floods. Before the advent of modern weather radar, freakish tornados could drop out of dark clouds without a warning. Lives and livelihoods were taken, while lifetimes of savings invested in homes and businesses were lost in a day.

The worst fire in Arkansas history wiped out 50 square blocks of Hot Springs in 1913, while others gutted entire blocks of Little Rock. Floods 10 years apart—1927 and 1937—rank as the worst in Arkansas history, putting over one million acres underwater. The deadliest tornado ever in Arkansas struck Judsonia and White County in 1952, only barely eclipsing the death toll of Brinkley in 1909. Sheer heartbreak was evident as people stood helplessly watching the flames, gauging the rise of floodwaters, or surveying the aftermath of a terrible tornado.

Ray Hanley is one of the most published historians in Arkansas, with 22 books in print. Since 1986, he has produced a daily statewide newspaper feature, Arkansas Postcard Past, in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Utilizing historic photographs and postcards, often taken before the fires were out or the floodwaters had receded, he tells the story of the disasters that have befallen his state since the 1890s.

It's a convenient store giant in the Mid-Atlantic region today, but Wawa's history dates back to its days as an iron manufactuer over 200 years ago.

Founded in 1803 and incorporated in 1865, Wawa has roots in the manufacture of cast-iron water pipes and decorative lampposts. Using the resources and surplus water power from the iron business, the family opened a cotton mill and began producing cotton piece goods, including Red Star diapers. The first Wawa milk plant opened in 1902 and by the late 1950s, the Wawa Dairy had expanded its home delivery business to include over 145 routes. The first Wawa Food Market opened on April 16, 1964. Today, the company is familiar to many as a chain of 545 convenience stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia that offers a wide selection of fresh foods, coffee, and gasoline. Wawa contains vintage images documenting the evolution of the company as it adapted to changing economic and social conditions. From the early days of iron manufacture to the opening of the first store in Folsom, Pennsylvania, Wawa brings to life the many facets of one of America's top privately owned companies.

The Long, Delicious Journey of Pączki From Warsaw To Polish-American Bakeries

Fried dough, traditionally filled with rose hip jelly, and celebrated one day of the year: pączki is a deceptively simple dish with a long history. In this delectable snack of a book, Natalia Mętrak-Ruda tells us about pączki's ancient origins, its pride of place in the Polish culinary tradition, and how chefs are now reinventing the pastry in Warsaw and other Polish restaurants. Stateside, pączki (don't call it a donut!) also has a long history that is only now being rediscovered and celebrated in bakeries in Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and other places where Polish-Americans congregate.

With an introduction on Polish-American bakeries and their revived Rust Belt pączki traditions by Andrew Moore, and featuring both traditional and newfangled recipes, this charming and informative book will help you start your own Pączki Day celebration, or be a perfect gift for the Polish-American, pączki-loving person in your life.

A vivid accounting of perseverance, grit, and ingenuity of the African Americans of Platte County, Missouri.

Do you know of the region of Missouri called “Little Dixie?” Or of the valuable skills that enslaved people brought to it? Have you heard the stories of the “slave state” freedom-seekers before and during the Civil War? After emancipation, many of these same people and their children built churches and started schools, some served the country as Buffalo Soldiers, and others became politicians, businesspeople, and community leaders. Revealed in the pages of this well-researched, provocative book are the events and memories that have been largely minimized or ignored in the history of most Platte County communities—knowing and appreciating them contributes to the balm of healing, for all of us.

Author Barbara Schell Luetke offers keys to understanding and valuing the collective strength and survival of African American citizens of today.