History

Authors Rory O'Neill Schmitt and Rosary O'Neill share the NOLA life of Kate Chopin, the first great American woman novelist. In this epic story, Chopin becomes a Phoenix rising amidst the disgrace, death, and abandonment in the romantic desperate setting of post-Civil War Louisiana. This book, a follow up to Edgar Degas in New Orleans, presents Chopin, who lived in the same neighborhood as the Degas family during that time. Chopin celebrated in New Orleans’ great homes and mansions up River Road with their wonderland of oaks, columns, balconies. She had lived in the Garden District, watched New Orleans trolleys with their big windows roll past the Gothic mansions and Greco-Roman houses on St. Charles Avenue, strolled languidly through Audubon Park with its oak tree wonderland full of swamps and lush Louisiana foliage.

Author Joy Sheffield Harris guides readers on an architectural tour through the religious diversity of the Sunshine State. Over 200 years have passed since the first Florida church was established and today the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine has been restored to capture its original beauty. Pioneer Village Church at Shingle Creek is home to a replica of one the first churches built in the Kissimmee, the St. John's Episcopal Church. The former St. Paul’s By-The-Sea is now the deconsecrated Beaches Chapel at The Beaches Museum and History Park in Jacksonville Beach. Travel throughout the state or enjoy the beauty of these and many more churches without leaving home.

Beaches & Bootlegging: The true stories of Prohibition Era Florida

Prohibition is recognized as one of the most unpopular laws in US history. It was so unpopular at the time that some Floridians weren’t all too keen on obeying it. Learn how it was instigated by small town Protestants who believed that newer immigrants living in big cities were immoral because of their emphatic use of alcohol. Prohibition bred corruption, defiance of the law, and hypocrisy as illegal bootlegging, moonshining and rum running replaced legitimate taxpaying industries. Florida actually voted state-wide Prohibition into law before the dreaded 18th amendment and was the only state to elect a governor from the Prohibition Party. Florida’s Bill McCoy “The Real McCoy” founded Rum Row and became an international celebrity as he made a mockery of the U.S. Coast Guard’s inability to squelch his innovative rum running operations. Al Capone, the infamous gangster, vacationed in Florida while his henchmen perpetrated the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Many virtually unknown stories of tragic killings in Florida during Prohibition are also recounted as author Randy Jaye guides readers through Florida’s Prohibition Era.

Take a walk through this intimate and charming neighborhood.

In 1970, Charlotte's Fourth Ward was a desolate zone of vacant lots dotted with boarded-up and burned-out buildings. Today, the neighborhood is a leafy mix of Victorian homes, modern in-fill houses and stately apartment buildings. The remarkable story of that transformation began with an unlikely coalition of preservationists, bankers and young families seeking community. Author Cameron Holtz interviewed dozens of these early actors, including corporate leaders, people who got their start as volunteers and kids who grew up playing in the construction equipment. Personal recollections, along with archival sources and contemporary media clippings combine to create a vibrant portrait of the emerging neighborhood.

Lauderdale-By-The-Sea depicts the engaging history of this oceanfront community.

Located on Florida's Gold Coast, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea is noted for its beach activities, living reef system, and family-oriented lifestyle. The quiet beauty of the sea and sand amid friendly low-rise lodgings and quaint stores and restaurants draws visitors to this thriving paradise year-round. Lauderdale-By-The-Sea developed slowly around the original platted land set down by William F. Morang in 1924 as he and others promoted a land boom. The completion of the Flagler Railroad by 1900 paved the way for regional growth. Lauderdale-By-The-Sea lacked a railroad terminal and remained undeveloped in the early years. Melvin I. Anglin pioneered in chartering the town in 1927 and became its first mayor. Two hurricanes and the 1929 stock market crash burst the real estate bubble, leading to the demise of the charter in 1933. In 1947, citizens drew up a new charter that was certified by the state legislature two years later. Construction of the Anglin Pier in 1941 and the Commercial Boulevard Bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway in 1965 broke down the isolation of the town. Annexation of the unincorporated area north to Pompano Beach completed its growth cycle.

Located in the rolling hills of the Carolina Piedmont, rows of cherry trees line the Old Post Road leading into Cherryville.

Originally called White Pine, the town was renamed for the ubiquitous cherry trees that are still celebrated with an annual cherry blossom festival. The village was spun from the wilderness during the mid-1700s, when Scots-Irish and German immigrants settled the area around Beaver Dam and Indian Creeks. These settlers brought with them their languages, religions, music, and customs; the German tradition of shooting in the New Year with muskets and black powder continues today after 250 years. With a storied history from the Revolutionary War, the advent of the railroad, and the international firm of Carolina Freight Carriers Corporation in 1932, Cherryville has grown into a sophisticated, modern town.

Most people thought it would take a miracle to bring the Gamecocks’ women’s basketball team to the nation’s top teams, but Dawn Staley has always beaten the odds.

She stood at the podium on May 10, 2008, and promised to bring national prominence to South Carolina, and with a lot of hard work, Staley’s vision for the Gamecocks’ women’s basketball team came true over the next nine years, culminating in the 2017 national championship. Her willingness to keep striving and to deliver on her promise was met with early resistance, but it paid off with several winning seasons, terrific recruits, and finally, the only prize Staley had not obtained in a lifetime of championship basketball. David Cloninger takes you on the team’s journey to the national title.

Known for its unique beauty and complex history, South Carolina's Lowcountry is one of the South's, and the country's, most fascinating regions. A wonderful blend of picturesque coastlines, expansive marshes, mysterious swamps, and verdant landscapes, the Lowcountry has played a vital role in our nation's history, from its importance as a port in colonial times, to its strategic location during the American Revolution, to its most famous landmark, Fort Sumter--the incendiary starting point of the Confederacy's struggle for secession. In this volume, you will explore this region as never before, through a rare collection of stereoscopic images. Also called stereoviews, these twin images were made by an early photographic technique which allowed the viewer to experience a vibrant and intriguing three-dimensional effect. South Carolina's Lowcountry has reproduced one side of each stereoscopic pair in order to facilitate an easier reading and viewing experience, which will allow you to take a visual journey through the defenses of Forts Sumter and Moultrie; to see both Confederate and Union soldiers posing in their camps, by cannon, and upon ironclads; to walk through the rubble of a war-torn Charleston and then observe the dramatic changes of the cityscapes in both the Holy City and Beaufort by the turn of the century; to stroll down a plantation's traditional avenue of live oaks under the peaceful sway of Spanish moss; and to meet a variety of Lowcountry inhabitants at their homes and at work.

Find out how and why Glasgow earned its reputation as ""The biggest little town in Kentucky.""

Glasgow is nestled in the heart of south-central Kentucky. From its pioneer days to the advent of the 21st century, Glasgow has been known as a progressive center for agriculture, commerce, education and medicine. The community has been home to many of distinction, including an early African-American mayor, two governors, a world-renowned musician, a winner of multiple Pulitzer Prizes, a decorated U.S. Air Force general, the president of a major television network and a leader in the control of tuberculosis. Equally important to the tale of Glasgow's past are all the ordinary folks who were paramount in making the community the solid, thriving locale that it remains.

Knightdale showcases the rich transportation and community history of this North Carolina Piedmont town.

Bravely settled by those looking to explore and discover what North Carolina's interior had to offer, the town of Knightdale was established in 1907. To stimulate economic growth, a resident by the name of Henry Haywood Knight donated a portion of his own land holdings to the Norfolk & Southern Railroad; this generous contribution proved successful. Today, the town's economy is thriving with medical centers, shopping centers, thousands of residents, and roads to serve them. Even with its close proximity to Raleigh, Knightdale maintains a small-town ambience. It is home to an active commercial area on Knightdale Boulevard and to beautiful churches, historic homes, and businesses, such as the world-renowned Stained Glass Associates, on First Avenue. Though the train whistle is not heard as often now as in days past, it continues to blow, reminding residents of their history.

Filled with remarkable vintage photographs, Black America: Augusta, Georgia captures the essence of the African-American heritage in this historic Southern community.

The Garden City has produced a wide variety of intellectual and political pioneers, including a handful of educators who were instrumental in the pivotal Brown versus Board of Education case. Within the pages of this volume, their stories unfold.

The story of firefighting in Charlotte is a tale of explosive growth and change that dates back to its humble beginnings in 1887.

The city of Charlotte credits expansion to several events, including the gold rush of the 1830s, the railroad expansion of the 1860s, and the textile boom of the 1880s. During the textile boom, the volunteer firefighters protecting Charlotte and Mecklenburg County could no longer adequately protect the growing city. Thus the Charlotte Fire Department was born. The Roaring Twenties brought in the auto age and along with it motorized fire trucks. Race tensions of the 1960s and the financial boom of the 1990s also figure in the fire department's history. Returning to her roots of growth, Charlotte is now a bustling financial and transportation hub of 650,000 residents protected by more than 1,000 firefighters living in 38 firehouses. Firefighting in Charlotte provides a photographic road map of how fire protection developed from horse-drawn engines of the 1800s to the state-of-the-art apparatus of today. Fire trucks, firehouses, and the firefighters are depicted in images obtained from personal collections, newspapers, archives, and museums.

Trace the history of DeKalb County, from happenings during the Civil War to its rich natural beauty and landmarks.

DeKalb County has a vast and interesting history spanning from Confederate general John Hunt Morgan's raids on the North during the Civil War to the building of Center Hill Dam, which formed a beautiful lake that brings thousands of tourists to the county each year. The lake, encompassing 18,220 acres, displaced thousands of the earliest settlers' descendants along the Caney Fork River. The state legislature established DeKalb County from parts of surrounding counties in 1837. The county was named after Revolutionary War general Johann DeKalb, while the county seat of Smithville was named after state senator Samuel Granville Smith; neither man was from the county.

Join Ray and Diane Hadley as they retell the history of the communities that make up Jonesboro and Arkansas’s Northeast Corner in vintage images.

When Union soldiers returned North after the Civil War, they brought home stories of a sparsely populated area with bountiful timber and potential for homes and farms. Over the next 50 years, first by wagon train and then by railroads, settlers came to build not only homes and farms but also thriving communities in the Clay, Greene, and Craighead counties of northeastern Arkansas. Today, visitors and residents of the area see the bustle of Jonesboro and the thriving Arkansas State University. Readers of Jonesboro and Arkansas' Historic Northeast Corner will discover Jonesboro as it lived a century ago, a promising town of 7,000 citizens. As the 20th Century opened, modern and attractive towns such as Corning, Piggott, Rector, and Paragould began to thrive. The evolution of these historic areas-from slow-paced villages with dirt roads and horse-drawn wagons to the bustling towns of the late 20th century-is chronicled in this Images of America edition.

This pictorial history of Islamorada illustrates the people, places, and events that have shaped the area's cultural and natural history.

The name Islamorada came to fruition after Henry Flager's engineer, William Krome, purchased 15 acres of Upper Matecumbe property in 1907. When he registered his parcel as a town site, he called it Islamorada. A faded newspaper clipping, with May 7, 1907, handwritten in the far right corner, reported: ""On the northern end of Upper Matecumbe Key a new town known as Islamorada has sprung into existence. . . . It is believed that Islamorada will become an important tourist stopping place in winter as the location is beautiful and the fishing convenient and excellent."" Today, Islamorada refers to a collection--a community--of islands that includes Plantation, Windley, Upper Matecumbe and Lower Matecumbe Keys, as well as two islands designated as state parks, Indian Key and Lignumvitae Key. While Islamorada has always been known for its fishing, these islands boast some serious history, too.

Most people have heard the song: Tis Irish I am and ‘tis proud I am of it. But, what does it mean to be Irish?

When the Irish first came to Savannah, it meant they were either lace curtain or old fort. Lace curtain inferred that the family was prosperous, usually Protestant, and had come to Savannah with letters of introduction, money, and a plan. Old fort meant that the family had come to America in desperation and to Savannah with little but the clothes on their back, the desire to work, and hope for a better future. Old fort Irish were generally Catholic, attending Catholic schools and depending on the Church for far more than just Sunday worship. Today, the Irish have spread all over Savannah like shamrocks, making these designations a thing of the past. The Irish are involved in every facet of Savannah life, from politics, to business, to education. Catholicism remains the predominant religion and churches abound, as do Catholic schools. When the Season of St. Patrick begins, the Savannah Irish begin celebrating.   

In this volume of vintage, black-and-white photographs, readers are fortunate to experience a Laurens County of a different era. The rhythmic patter of horse hooves and squeak of wooden wagons meant people were hard at work, and the ringing of a bell called students to a one-room schoolhouse. The landscape encompassed patchworks of farms and bustling mill villages before the region found the conveniences of modern technology. Some of those who fashioned the area into its present state-where pride in culture and heritage stand at the forefront-take center stage in this pictorial history. Laurens County will spark the memories of those who lived its history while illustrating the tales with images for future generations.

Images of America: Milledgeville is a study into Milledgeville's past events as they directly defined and shaped the future of the city.

Milledgeville has been greatly impacted by the founding of what is now Georgia College & State University and Georgia Military College, as well as by notable persons like great American writer Flannery O'Connor, distinguished chemist Charles Holmes Herty, and Congressman Carl Vinson. The city also has less flattering history, including the removal of the Creek Indians to acquire land and the Georgia Lunatic Asylum, which inspired the phrase ""Gone to Milledgeville"" to suggest a person had gone crazy. This compilation of images traces the history of Milledgeville from its founding in 1804 and declaration as the new capital of Georgia through more than 100 years of development and transition.

Untold tidbits of equine history is revealed by historian and seventh generation Kentuckian Foster Ockerman Jr.

Horse racing and the Commonwealth of Kentucky are synonymous. The equine industry in the state dates as far back as the eighteenth century, and some of that history remains untold. The Seventeenth Earl of Derby made the trip from England to Louisville for the famed Kentucky Derby. Many famous African American jockeys grew up in the area but fled to Europe during the Jim Crow era. Gambling on races is a popular pastime, but betting in the early days caused significant changes in the sport. Hidden History of Horse Racing in Kentucky details the rich and the lesser-known history at the tracks in the Bluegrass State.

The eleventh-oldest college in the nation, the College of Charleston stands as one of the country's most historic academic institutions.

Over the past few centuries, the College has provided education and opportunity for students, faculty, and local Charlestonians against a rare Southern backdrop, with a campus that mirrors the architectural charm and elegance of the peninsula city. This volume, with over 200 black-and-white photographs, transports readers on an incredible visual journey across an nineteenth- and twentieth-century landscape of Charleston, a time and place unique in the city's and school's history. Documenting the school's antebellum days as the first municipal college in 1837, the turbulent years of the Civil War, the campus's growth and evolution in the earlier part of the twentieth century, and the traditions that continue today, this pictorial retrospective explores the many elements of the Cougar experience: the College's student life, the development and preservation of its buildings, its athletic teams and events, and the many diverse student-run organizations.

Bound by the majestic Smoky Mountains and its lush, rolling foothills, East Tennessee was forged by the pioneering spirits of the region's Cherokee tribes and the white settlers who arrived in the early nineteenth century.

Named for famous Revolutionary War hero Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, the town grew from a humble traveler's rest called Taylor's Place into a bustling community full of diversity and opportunity, attracting people of all races and creeds over the years. This visual history, with over 200 black-and-white photographs and postcards, explores the Cleveland of yesteryear, a time when Ocoee Street and Central Avenue echoed with the sounds of horse and wagon and the first automobile made its noisy debut on the town's unpaved main streets. Cleveland transports readers into the past and allows them a unique opportunity to rediscover the city's early landscape, some of the notable residences, such as the Craigmiles House, and a few of the principal industries that guided the town through the Civil War, World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. Most important to Cleveland's success and identity are its people and their achievements. This volume records the prominent businesses, religious institutions, and educational facilities, such as Centenary College, Bob Jones College, and Lee College, that the citizens of Cleveland worked hard to provide for their children, neighbors, and future generations.

Discover the charm and magic of Sapelo Island, Florida as its history is told in vintage images.

The barrier islands of the south Atlantic coastline have for years held a deep attraction for all who have come into contact with them. Few, however, can compare with the mystique of Sapelo Island, Georgia. This unique semitropical paradise evokes a time long forgotten, when antebellum cotton plantations dominated her landscape, all worked by hundreds of black slaves, the descendants of whom have lived in quiet solitude on the island for generations. For more than 50 years of the twentieth century, two millionaires held sway on Sapelo, and it is their story, interwoven with that of the island's residents, that unfolds within the pages of this book. Almost 200 photographs provide testimony to the dynamic forces and energies implanted upon Sapelo by two men, Howard E. Coffin, a Detroit automotive pioneer, and Richard J. Reynolds Jr., heir to a huge North Carolina tobacco fortune. Beginning with a photographic essay about Sapelo's antebellum plantation owner, Thomas Spalding, Sapelo Island moves into the primary focus of the story, the years from 1912 to 1964, an era of grandeur that has left a rich photographic legacy.

From timber to preservation and tourism, this is the story of this unique Western North Carolina County.

Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, Transylvania County is proud of its beautiful natural setting. Clear waters cascade from lofty heights in a county with over 200 waterfalls. Lush and rare vegetation hosts bountiful wildlife. Established in 1861 from Henderson and Jackson Counties, Transylvania County preserves almost half of its acreage in national and state forests. Since the county's inception, tourism has been a steady source of revenue. When the railroad arrived in 1895, it paved the way for the timber business and provided the first means of outside employment to local families. Tanning and extract companies followed. Today, Transylvania County continues to be a prime destination for outdoor enthusiasts.

This visual history containing over 200 vintage postcards relives major events in Asheville's past--from the coming of the railroad to America's entry into World War I.

In this time of unprecedented growth, the coming of the railroad in 1850 made Asheville accessible to those searching for clean air and the peaceful beauty of the mountains. Combined with an emphasis on cultural and social life, the area's fresh mountain living proved to be a healer of body, mind, and soul. Soon after the railroad arrived, Asheville became the home of the first world-renowned resort hotel in the South. Within these pages unfolds a little-known anecdote concerning Col. Frank Coxe and the amazing sweep of real estate owned by his ancestors. We learn how a simple thing such as a misplaced reservation became the catalyst for the building of the fabulous Battery Park Hotel. Readers also see the impact of George W. Vanderbilt, E. W. Grove, and other entrepreneurs who carved their imprint on this city.

Shagging in the Carolinas is a history of dance, romance, and the New South.

The Shag defied social conventions as carefree white teenagers were inspired by the possibilities inherent in improvisational black dance and music. This is the story of how Southern society's emerging middle class embraced its multicultural roots while its political leaders continued to debate and deny the outcome of the Civil War. These are the unique people and circumstances that nurtured the evolution of Shag and Beach Music at places like the ""jump joints"" of Carolina Beach, the inland lake retreats, and the pavilions of Ocean Drive, Atlantic, Folly, Wrightsville, and Tybee beaches. With lively music and dancers, the Shag was popular at famous dance clubs, teen canteens, and armories. Venues such as the Coachman and IV, the Cellar, the Bushes, the Embers Clubs, and the Beach Club at Myrtle Beach are captured within these pages. The early pioneers and iconoclasts of dancing brought about a cultural revolution, embodied today by the many societies, competitions, and innumerable entertainers and bands that continue the Beach Music tradition.

Explore the social, family, political and religious history of the Italians - one of New Orleans' most remarkable ethnic groups.

Between 1850 and 1870, New Orleans boasted the largest Italian-born population of any city in the United States. Its early Italian immigrants included musicians, business leaders, and diplomats. Sadly, in 1891, 11 members of the large Sicilian settlement in New Orleans were victims of the largest mass lynching in American history. However, by 1910, the city's French Quarter was a Little Palermo with Italian entrepreneurs, laborers, and restauranteurs dominating the scene.

Author Erik T. Robinson takes the reader through the city's colorful past up to its promising future using both familiar and never-before-seen photographs.

Located in the rolling hills of Florida's Panhandle, Tallahassee has long stood as a capital city. It has been home to prehistoric Native Americans, who built the Lake Jackson Mounds in the 13th century; the Apalachee Indians, who learned to live with the Spanish Mission in the 17th century; and to European settlers and the American residents of today. Tallahassee's tree-lined, canopied roads and bountiful dogwoods and azaleas have always been associated with the leadership and history of the state. The presence of institutions such as Florida State University and Florida A&M have also made Tallahassee an attractive center of higher learning and diversity. Throughout prosperity and adversity, both Tallahassee's population and complexity have continued to increase. Combining historic landmarks, such as the San Luis Archaeological Site and the Old City, and new neighborhoods, such as Frenchtown and Lafayette Park, the capital city is a unique representation of Florida, from its days as a territory to its status as one of the country's most visited states.

Louisville's Germantown and Schnitzelburg documents community's historic transformations, from agricultural center to industrial powerhouse.

Believed to have been named for the citizens who settled the area as early as the 1840s, Germantown and Schnitzelburg are located just east of downtown Louisville. The first parcels purchased and settled were part of the 1,000-acre land grant that was awarded to Col. Arthur Campbell in 1790 for his service to Virginia in the Indian Wars. Spanning more than 160 years of growth, the area developed from farms and dairies in the 1850s, to the industrialization of the 1880s, and then the halcyon era of the 1950s as a safe haven of family, community, and church. Remarkable historic landmarks include a Victorian-era cotton mill, DuPont Manual High School's football stadium, and the eclectic collection of residential architecture classified as shotgun and camelback. Numerous neighborhood taverns and bakeries are both historic landmarks and popular eateries in this community. Look inside and enjoy the history and beauty of a bygone era and the development of a thriving community.

Established in 1820 on the banks of the Tennessee River, Decatur, Alabama, has always had its destiny tied to the water. It is the city's lifeblood and obstacle.

A railroad, an iron river between Tuscumbia and Decatur, was built to overcome the natural obstacle so it could be used as an asset. This effort worked. War, pestilence, economic downturns, labor, and social unrest all imbued residents with a resilience of spirit. Residents knew it, and visitors sometimes described it in quick notes on cardstock. These postcards from Decatur, Alabama, traveled across the land and the world. Presented here for the first time are some of those cards, dating between 1874 and the latter 1970s.

From Macon to Hawkinsville, the history of Georgia's once thriving textile mills is documented in this visual history.

Cotton was once king throughout Georgia. Reconstruction investors and railroad tycoons saw this potential to open textile mills in the South instead of sending cotton up North. Towns across Central Georgia became a prime spot to locate textile mills because of the access to cotton from local farms, cheap labor, and nearby rivers to power the mills. Textile mills were operated in cities and towns across Central Georgia such as Macon, Columbus, Augusta, Tifton, Forsyth, Porterdale, and Hawkinsville, among others. The textile mills provided employment and sometimes a home in their villages to people across Georgia as the agrarian lifestyle gave way to industrial expansion. In these mills, photographer Lewis Hine captured iconic images of child labor. After the decline of production and closing of the mills, many have been revived into new usages that honor the legacy of the mill workers and their families who lived in the villages of the textile mills across Central Georgia.

Washington, North Carolina is a city marked by its rich industrial heritage the beauty of the Pamlico River, and the fertile farmlands of Beaufort County.

Washington, the county seat and original namesake of President Washington, grew during the 1800s to become one of the prominent shipping ports for lumber and a variety of agricultural produce. With the arrival of the railroads and the following economic hard times of Depression -era America, Washington's character changed dramatically, forcing many of the local mills and businesses to close. However, today, the city is experiencing a remarkable resurgence of business and opportunity and has again become a significant contributor in the economy of the state.

Washington, North Carolina, consisting of over 200 stunning black-and-white photographs and postcards, allows readers a unique opportunity to explore their hometown as never before. As if stepping back in time, readers will experience the Washington of yesteryear, when the masts of commercial ships, like slender church steeples, dominated the waterfront, when the piercing whistles of trains entering and leaving the many lumber mills punctuated the city's daily activities, and when the sounds of horse-drawn wagons and early automobiles echoed throughout Main and Market Streets.

This book also captures scenes of daily life: farmers laboring in the field and also meeting at Brooks Store to swap stories, gossip, and advice; people gathered on Main Street enjoying colorful parades; and children swimming at Whichard's Beach Campground and Marina in nearby Chocowinity.

The fourth president of the United States, James Madison, and his wife, Dolley, stamped their influence throughout Culpeper, Orange, Madison, and Rappahannock Counties with their plantation, Montpelier, and the enslaved men and women who supported them.

One of those enslaved men, Paul Jennings, whose sons later became Union soldiers during the Civil War, penned his memoir in 1865. The legacy of slavery undergirds the region, and its ravages are undeniably on the faces of minority residents. The Civil War also has a footprint throughout the region; one example is the Battle of Cedar Mountain where, more than 85 years later, the first regional high school for minority children was built. Celebrants include World War I veteran Newman Nighten Gibson, of the 370th Infantry; Nannie Helen Burroughs, who founded a school for African American girls in Washington, DC; and Edna Lewis, who became a master chef in New York in her 30s and later was honored by the US Postal Service on a forever stamp.

Today's non-military, coeducational Linsly School continues to enrich students in grades five through twelve with values of honesty, sportsmanship, hard work, and discipline. Through rare and never-before-seen vintage photographs, The Linsly School chronicles the fascinating and inspiring story of the tribulations and successes of the school itself, and the people who worked, sacrificed, and dreamed to make it happen.

Founded in 1768 at the crossing of two Indian trails, Charlotte has a rich heritage to match its age. Hear the personal voices of discovery, hardship, wars, privation, segregation and achievement from village to boomtown.

In this extensively researched volume, accomplished author and historian Mary Kratt chronicles the history of Charlotte from the earliest Catawba inhabitants to the development of finance, culture and transportation, still centered on those ancient crossroads. Whether detailing the cotton fields and textile mills of yesterday or the banking center of tomorrow, Kratt's account is a fascinating history of the people who have made Charlotte a queen among southern cities.