Coming Soon

In this carefully researched volume, native Milwaukeean Al Dickenson brings historic Catholic churches and communities to life. Drawing from personal, parish, and institutional collections, the photographs capture striking architectural details alongside the people and moments that defined parish life—from prominent clergy and parishioners to pivotal events in Milwaukee’s history. 

Since the city of Milwaukee’s first Mass in 1835 in the home of the Catholic and future first mayor of Milwaukee, Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee’s history and growth have been closely entwined with Catholicism. In the archdiocese’s first century, nearly 70 parishes were founded across what would become Milwaukee. Germans, Irish, Slovenians, Poles, Mexicans, African Americans, Kashubs, and many others found not only spiritual homes within these parishes but vital centers of faith, culture, and community for generations. Diocesan priests and religious orders alike, such as the Jesuits, Pallottines, and Salvatorians, shaped neighborhoods and left lasting marks on the city’s religious and architectural landscape. This book provides an excellent example of why Milwaukee is referred to as the “City of Steeples.”

Hidden in an urban oasis, the house museum now known as Historic Rosedale is one of the oldest and finest examples of Federal-style architecture in the Southeast. Constructed in 1815 by Charlotte tax collector and postmaster Archibald Frew, the house served as a private home for 173 years to five generations of intertwined families—the Frews, Caldwells, and Davidsons.

These families, along with several generations of Black families, both enslaved and free, were essential to the survival of this extraordinary property. Through the initiative of the home’s final occupants, the house and the immediately surrounding grounds were preserved. Today, Historic Rosedale, located three miles from uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, and adjoining the notable NoDa neighborhood, is open for guided tours of the furnished house and nine acres of gardens. Here, visitors will be intrigued by the beauty of the site and the stories of the many people, Black and White, who lived here. For over 200 years, Rosedale has served as tribute to the history and inhabitants of Mecklenburg County and the North Carolina Piedmont.

Author Cheralyn Lambeth is lead interpreter at Historic Rosedale and serves as the museum’s events coordinator and collections associate. Elizabeth Medearis Myers served as Rosedale’s former site manager and head gardener, and Ronald L. Schumann III is an associate professor specializing in hazards and cultural geography at the University of North Texas. They credit the staff, the board of directors, Rosedale’s African American Legacy Committee, and Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for the success of this book.

Today, Ely and Winton are known as the end of the road in northeastern Minnesota. Originally settled by the Obijwe and mapped by the voyageurs, these two towns sat among some of the best timber and iron ore in America. 

Incorporated in 1888, the mines along the north end of Ely required hundreds of workers to extract the iron ore that the country needed for steel. At the same time, three miles away, the town of Winton grew around the shore of Fall Lake. By the end of the 19th century, the area was booming and neighborhoods were built around the mines and sawmills. Located in Ely and Winton’s backyard are the Boundary Waters, over 1,000 lakes on the border of Canada. Visitors soon discovered the appeal of a place in the woods on a lake or a canoe trip in the wilderness. Industry and recreation existed side by side, attracting different people from all over—outdoorsmen, nature lovers, businessmen, and students. 

Reed Petersen is a history instructor at Minnesota North College–Vermilion and gives tours at Soudan Underground Mine State Park. Born and raised in Ely, he lives there with his family and is active in the Ely-Winton Historical Society. The Ely-Winton Historical Society was officially formed in 1961 to preserve the legacy of the history of the area, centering on the area and its people. 

Rye, New Hampshire is a small coastal town whose identity is closely tied to the land and sea. Originally inhabited by Indigenous peoples, it developed from a 1600s colonial fishing outpost into a modest, tight-knit community shaped by maritime trades and farming in the 18th and 19th centuries. With improved transportation and the rise of seaside tourism in the late 1800s, Rye began attracting visitors drawn to its beaches and ocean views, gradually shifting its character. In the 20th century, residential growth increased as people sought quieter coastal living. Prominent families included Parsons, Caswell, Philbrick, and Foss. Photography has played a vital role in preserving Rye’s history by capturing everyday life— fishermen at work, family gatherings, schoolchildren, and farmers in the fields. Coastal scenes, lifesaving stations, and Rye Harbor activity emphasize the town’s enduring relationship with the sea, while images of Jenness Beach, Wallis Sands, and summer “cottages” reflect the rise of tourism.

Lew Karabatsos, chair of the Rye, NH Historical Society’s Collections Committee, has selected images from 1880 to 1985 that document a century of people and places, preserving Rye’s character and offering a strong sense of place for residents and visitors alike.

Utilizing images from Jewish archives and collections in Israel and America, Samuel Heed brings to light hundreds of rarely seen Exodus 1947 photographs for the first time.

Launched in 1928 in Wilmington, Delaware, the legendary Exodus 1947 was originally built as the flagship for the Baltimore Steam Packet Company—better known as the Chesapeake’s Old Bay Line—and named President Warfield in honor of the company’s recently deceased president. During World War II, the USS President Warfield would serve as a troopship for the British Army in England and see action as a headquarters ship for the US Navy at the Normandy beachhead. But the venerated cruise liner, with an all-American volunteer crew, would become world famous in the summer of 1947 as the Exodus 1947, an illegal immigrant ship for the Jewish underground that carried 4,500 refugee Holocaust survivors from Europe to Palestine. The heroism of the Exodus 1947’s passengers and crew would astonish the world and give rise to the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.

Samuel W. Heed is an award-winning maritime historian, author, educator, exhibit designer, and documentary film producer, and he serves as the immediate past president of the Council of American Maritime Museums. His research as the longtime senior historian for the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation in Wilmington, Delaware, led to groundbreaking work about the Exodus 1947, which was built barely half a mile from his former office on the Christina River. 

“New Jersey is the most celebrated cider making district in America,” wrote Andrew Jackson Downing in 1849. At one time, New Jersey grew more apples than any other state, and they have been a key part of life across the Garden State for more than 300 years.

North Jersey orchards produced internationally renowned Newark cider and high-proof apple brandy—known as applejack, cider spirits, Jersey Lightning, and dozens of other nicknames—which were signature products produced in hundreds of New Jersey distilleries. America’s oldest distillery is a Monmouth County applejack maker. Orchardists, cider makers, and distillers made New Jersey applejack famous. In addition, farmers supplied Washington’s Continental Army with spirits during the coldest winters of the American Revolution, and bootleggers produced thousands of gallons of illegal applejack during Prohibition. By the early 20th century, tastes changed, and the cider industry dwindled. Prohibition nearly snuffed it out entirely. In the 21st century, New Jersey cider is experiencing an unprecedented revival.

James Malchow is a New Jersey native and the director of the Ralston Cider Mill Museum in Mendham, Morris County. The Ralston Cider Mill preserves the unique history of cider and applejack in New Jersey. The images in the book are drawn from museums, private collections, public libraries, and other archival collections.

Sheltered between marsh and flatlands, the Montezuma Hills of Solano County are home to generations of farmers, fishermen, and folks seeking respite from cities. The community began in 1846 with a lone adobe house, built on a hillside for a future Mormon colony. The Mormons never arrived; however, many others did. Homesteaders, tradesmen, and innovators found a river of bountiful salmon, fields lush with wild oats, and opportunities to build new lives. Thriving villages sprouted along the sloughs—Collinsville, Birds Landing, and Denverton. Although these towns are nearly forgotten, the pioneers’ legacy has left an enduring imprint on the land. This book honors the community, the people who settled the area, and their descendants, whose generous contribution of time, memories, and photographs has made this book possible.

Jolie Anderson Gallagher, a fourth-generation descendant of Danish immigrants, was born and raised in the Montezuma Hills. After earning a degree in English/creative writing at the University of California, Davis, she worked as a reporter for the Dixon Tribune before launching a 35-year career in technical writing. Although now retired in the Colorado mountains, Gallagher will forever be that farm girl who ran barefoot through fields of wheat. 

“New Jersey is the most celebrated cider making district in America,” wrote Andrew Jackson Downing in 1849. At one time, New Jersey grew more apples than any other state, and they have been a key part of life across the Garden State for more than 300 years.

North Jersey orchards produced internationally renowned Newark cider and high-proof apple brandy—known as applejack, cider spirits, Jersey Lightning, and dozens of other nicknames—which were signature products produced in hundreds of New Jersey distilleries. America’s oldest distillery is a Monmouth County applejack maker. Orchardists, cider makers, and distillers made New Jersey applejack famous. In addition, farmers supplied Washington’s Continental Army with spirits during the coldest winters of the American Revolution, and bootleggers produced thousands of gallons of illegal applejack during Prohibition. By the early 20th century, tastes changed, and the cider industry dwindled. Prohibition nearly snuffed it out entirely. In the 21st century, New Jersey cider is experiencing an unprecedented revival.

James Malchow is a New Jersey native and the director of the Ralston Cider Mill Museum in Mendham, Morris County. The Ralston Cider Mill preserves the unique history of cider and applejack in New Jersey. The images in the book are drawn from museums, private collections, public libraries, and other archival collections.

Readers interested in the beginnings and development of Mexican and Mexican American culture and education in Texas will delight in this pictorial history. The Blackwell School, established in 1909 in Marfa, Texas, served as a segregated school for Marfa’s Mexican and Mexican American students. Operating until 1965, eleven years after the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, the Blackwell School shaped the lives of its students while reflecting the struggles of Hispanic segregation in the West Texas community. Despite the challenges, the Blackwell School fostered a sense of community through sports, extracurricular activities, and community-oriented pageants. Today, the Blackwell School stands as a national historic site under the management of the National Park Service, reflecting Marfa’s legacy of resilience and commitment to preserving its history.

Cristobal Lopez has a master of arts in history from the University of Texas at San Antonio. As a field representative for the National Parks Conservation Association, he helped establish the Blackwell School as a unit of the National Park Service. Dr. Kirsten Gardner is a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the University of Texas San Antonio Department of History. Dr. Gardner teaches courses on US history, women and gender studies, history of medicine, modern US history, and public history. The images for this book were selected from the Blackwell School Alliance Virtual Museum, Marfa Public Library, the Presidio County Museum, and the Library of Congress.