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The College of Staten Island’s history is rooted in service to the borough of Staten Island. The only tax-funded college in this New York City borough, the school serves over 10,000 students annually. 

The college is one of 26 City University of New York campuses and one of the university’s 11 upper-division colleges. A 1932 petition campaign for public higher education on Staten Island was followed by decades of activism before Staten Island Community College opened to offer associate degrees in 1956. Later, demand for bachelor degree programs led to the 1967 opening of upper-division Richmond College. In 1976, during a fiscal crisis, the schools consolidated into the College of Staten Island. In 1993, the college moved to a historic campus, the former site of Halloran General Hospital and Willowbrook State School. The college has a distinctive tradition of serving first-generation college students with diverse ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, and immigration identities as well as nontraditional students and people with developmental, learning, and physical disabilities.

James A. Kaser has been the archivist at the College of Staten Island since 2002 and a full professor since 2009. This is his sixth book. Dr. Kaser is a bibliographer and cultural historian with a doctorate in American culture studies. He has selected images from archival collections documenting the College of Staten Island and its predecessor institutions to illustrate this book, which traces the history of public higher education on Staten Island. 

Celebrate fifty defining moments in Pennsylvania sports history.

Few states in the nation can boast as vibrant and fascinating a sports heritage as Pennsylvania. With the Immaculate Reception, Franco Harris transformed a struggling Steelers franchise into a legendary one. On the other side of the state, the Philadelphia Flyers once struck a symbolic blow during the Cold War by overwhelming CSKA Moscow. The origins of pro football possibly lie in Greensburg, and an NFL title was “stolen” in Pottsville. The greatest college football team no one’s ever heard of hails from Carlisle, and college football’s oldest rivalry still rages between Lafayette and Lehigh. The most dominant performance ever in professional basketball took place in Hershey, where the great Wilt Chamberlain poured in one hundred points in a single game.

Historians David Finoli and Tom Rooney bring these stories—and many more—to life in this thrilling ride through all things sports in the Keystone State. 

Explore the spooky side of Havre de Grace, one of Maryland's most historic towns.

Since its founding in 1785, the historic town of Havre de Grace has weathered its share of tragedy. Over the centuries, loss, hardship, and untold sorrow have left this eighteenth‑century gem alive with restless spirits and unexplained supernatural phenomena. Among the town’s most haunting legends is that of a mysterious woman of the night said to drift silently across the third floor of the American Legion building. Unable to let go after a violent death, a young lady’s spirit roams the State Theater. On foggy nights, strange figures are seen drifting along the waterfront. Lights flicker in buildings untouched by time. And the river—always moving, always murmuring—seems to carry voices from the past.

Step into the shadows with Lisa Unruh-Lopez to explore the chilling stories of Havre de Grace.

Sports fans will find the historic photos and stories included in Sports on the Jersey Shore both enlightening and as entertaining as their favorite games. The Jersey Shore region encompasses communities in Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, and Cape May Counties. It is a region rich in athletics, and since the late 19th century, several athletes from the region have had significant impacts on sports like baseball, swimming, and football, among many others. The Jersey Shore communities have been connected to notable sports figures, including Doc Cramer, Gertrude Ederle, and Vince Lombardi. Over the years, the region has also been a favorite destination for star professional athletes in search of training camps and facilities along New Jersey’s scenic seashore. Athletes, especially boxers and baseball players, have flocked to the Jersey Shore to hone their skills and prepare for some of the biggest events in sports history. 

Matthew H. Ward is a historian and journalist who specializes in sports, the Jersey Shore, and Philadelphia history. He is the coauthor of Boxing in Atlantic City with John DiSanto and The Raritan Bayshore with John Allan Savolaine.

In 1867, “The Little Village in the Grove” began as the Round Lake Camp Meeting Association. Forty acres of land adjacent to a beautiful lake were purchased by the Troy Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church to hold revivals. Round Lake Village emerged from a camp meeting site, attracting as many as 20,000 revivalists on summer weekends to become a center for education and culture.

In 1884, camp meeting trustees planned and constructed a 2,000-seat indoor meeting space called Round Lake Auditorium, which has remained the village’s social center. Full streets of Victorian-style homes were built. Hotels, a science museum, and centers for education along with resident halls were constructed, which sadly have not survived. Today, the village’s long, narrow streets of beautiful historic homes with distinctive porches remain from the early days of the village.

Ron Kase is a sociologist residing in New Jersey. He is a retired professor of social science and senior academic administrator. He discovered Round Lake while visiting the area and understood the untold story of a magical place should be shared with everyone. Scott Rigney is Round Lake’s village historian. Rigney and his extended family have been residents of the village since 1966. He is president of the Association to Preserve/Protect/Plan Round Lake and is actively involved with every endeavor related to the village’s future. 

For more than 200 years, Great Lakes shipyards have bolstered America's and Canada’s commercial and naval power.

Vessels like the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Niagara, and Walk-in-the-Water are now the stuff of legend, but lesser-known ships also have their stories to tell. Cargo-carrying schooners, such as Moonlight and Minnedosa, got faster and bigger over the years, helping them hold their own against the emerging steamships, while the revolutionary design of the R.J. Hackett set the standard for lake freighters for years. Of course, the Great Lakes have often exacted a heavy toll, as demonstrated by the mysterious disappearance of the Griffon and the harrowing sinking of Pere Marquette 18.

Highlighting vessels from the colonial era down to modern times, historian Glenn A. Knoblock explores the maritime heritage of America and Canada.

From daring escapes and naval skirmishes to the resilience of everyday people, The Revolution on Raritan Bay reveals how this region’s sacrifices and conflicts influenced the outcome of America’s independence.

Raritan Bay was more than a body of water during the American Revolution—it was a front line. Its villages, farms, and ports became places where Patriots, Loyalists, and those in between clashed in a struggle that reshaped the colonies. Smugglers, privateers, and spies used its waters and inlets to move men, messages, and supplies. Families were torn apart, neighbors eyed one another with suspicion, and violent raids brought the war directly to the doorsteps of New Jersey residents.

Historian and television host John R. Schneider uncovers these overlooked stories, weaving together local accounts with the broader fight for liberty. 

A Century of Murder Upstate

Nestled in the heart of upstate New York, Steuben County’s rural scenery belies a sinister past.

Since the hanging of Robert Douglass in 1825, the county has been the center of a series of murders that resulted in controversial outcomes. Seaman Simons, part of an alleged love triangle, cheated his death sentence after killing his rival. “The Wayland Murderess” Mary Hess inexplicably shot her neighbor and brother within minutes of each other. David Dunn became the only person from the county to die in Auburn Prison’s electric chair, and Hugh Bray’s delusions about a young man breaking up his landlord’s home climaxed in a fatal scene.

R. Marcin, author of Murder and Mayhem in the Finger Lakes, presents a century of this picturesque county’s darkest history.

Out with the old, in with the new. That was common thinking around the northeastern United States after World War II when it came to modernizing cities. Oneonta, New York, was no exception.

Eric Ferrara and David Bellel of the Lower East Side History Project explore a century of neighborhood history through rare photographs supplied by local museum archives and private collections.

New York City's legendary Lower East Side is one of the oldest, most historically significant and complex quarters in America. Though recent gentrification has displaced most multigenerational immigrant families and mom-and-pop shops, the district still retains some of the character that made it so unique to the rest of the city.

This volume reflects on a time when horse-drawn carriages traveled on dirt lanes and when children were educated in one-room schoolhouses. Rutherford today enjoys modern modes of travel and national blue-ribbon schools of excellence. These pages trace the emergence of a diversity of churches and schools, tour significant homes, and explore the transportation system that helped shape the entire region. Most importantly, this history reflects on the people of Rutherford, including the town's connection to poet William Carlos Williams. Then & Now: Rutherford is an enlightening journey back in time to discover the people, places, and events that shaped this Bergen County community.

Springfield chronicles the town's history from 1890 to the present with over two hundred historic photographs collected by author Harry Laybourne over the past 43 years.

Referred to as Champion City, Home City, and City of Roses, Springfield's diversity and pride inspires various nicknames from its residents.First settled in 1799, Springfield quickly grew to become one of Ohio's most important industrial towns, the products of its great factories encirclingthe globe.  Laybourne gives the reader a chance to experience what Springfield was like in the Good Old Days with fascinating scenes of its people and places—the lively downtown area, its beautiful parks, theaters and opera houses, swimming beaches, universities, bustling factories and businesses, as well as views of several buildings that no longer line the streets of downtown Springfield.

Stirking historic images bring to life the story of a 150 year old village on the outskirts of Manhattan with a legacy that will continue to suprise.

From the mid-1800s through the late 1900s, life in South Orange was a mirror of events taking place on a national and global level. Evolutions in population, transportation, education, and culture played an important part in South Orange's growth from a small farming village to the bustling community it is today. For more than 150 years, the village's excellent road and rail infrastructure, salubrious climate, and close proximity to Manhattan has drawn residents from a wide range of backgrounds, interests, and talents. Today many South Orange residents enjoy the convenience of working in a bustling city and at the same time, living in late-19th- and 20th-century homes on streets illuminated by Victorian gaslights. These are just some of the factors that make South Orange a unique community.

The history of the People of the Shore detailed in Shinnecock Indian Nation.

The Shinnecock have resided along the shores of eastern Long Island for more than 10,000 years. These hunter-gatherers were also skilled whalers who first tackled the Atlantic in their dugout canoes and later became highly regarded crew members on 19th-century whaling ships that sailed the globe. The Shinnecock were also noted wampum makers, using the northern quahog hard-shelled clam and whelk shells to craft some of the finest-quality wampum beads to be found anywhere along the eastern seaboard. Since the first tall ships sailed into the local waters in the 1500s, new settlers and shifty land deals have diminished the ancestral territory of the Shinnecock Indian Nation. Despite overwhelming odds, however, and in the midst of immense privilege and wealth of their Hamptons neighbors, the Shinnecock remain. They are a federally recognized tribe with more than 1,500 enrolled members and are governed by a seven-member council of trustees.

A fascinating journey through the history of Cambridge Springs and Edinboro, Pennsylvania with postcard images and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

The penny postcardbecame popular during the years that mineral water therapy changed the quiet, rural town of Cambridge Springs into a popular resort town.

Hotels and spas filled the area, and several daily trains brought guests to this world-class resort town. Hotels such as the Riverside, Rider, and Bartlettbrought wonder and hope to people seeking cures for illnesses. Edinboro, known for its university and lake, has been another popular vacation spot for more than 200 years. The town developed an academy that became a normal school, a college, and finally a university.

Through historic postcards, Cambridge Springs and Edinboroinvites readers to witness the past wonders of this beautiful area. A portion of the proceeds for this book are being donated to the Cambridge Springs Heritage Society.

A Century of Faith

The first Mass was offered for what would eventually be known as St. Rita Church in the humblest of places, a cobbler’s shop on East Custis Avenue in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria. The ladies of the yet-to-be-established parish provided its name—St. Rita of Cascia is the patron of impossible causes. The first small church was built on Hickory Street in Mt. Ida and a parish was founded on September 21, 1924. Through depression, war and post-war growth, political and social change and into a new millennium St. Rita Church has grown under its namesake’s patronage. A beautiful new church was built in 1949 and a school was founded in 1952. The St Rita Centennial Committee tells the stories of a century of community.

In 1911, two neighbors in their 40s helped start one of the first garden clubs in America, in Bedford, NY. Two years later they were notable early members of the Garden Club of America. After joining the groups, these originals - in affiliations and personality - wakened their underutilized potential and discovered how women, one good friend at a time, can unite to change their town and country .

Eloise Luquer's exquisite wildflower watercolors and her fostering of nature trails and preservation earned her the title The Audubon of Wildflowers. Delia Marble empowered the Bedford Agricultural Training Camp for Women - the first such prep site for WWI farmerettes in the nation. Together and with other allies, the small-town spinsters made an impactful difference in culture and environmental history.Author Judy Culbreth reveals the remarkable lives of two Bedford garden club originals.

Incorporated in 1821, the area that is now the town of Evans saw its first permanent settlers just prior to the War of 1812.

The village of Angola developed later with the establishment of the railroad, which also brought industry, most notably the internationally known Emblem Bicycle Company. Lake Erie also drew visitors and residents to the area. The miles of shoreline were home to summer camps for adults, as well as children, and the wealthiest families in the city of Buffalo built their summer homes there. Prominent among these estates was Graycliff, the summer home of Darwin Martin, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. William H. Carrier, known as the Father of Air-Conditioning and the town's most famous resident, was born and educated in Evans and graduated from Angola High School in 1894.

This volume contains more than 200 images of prominent homes and noteworthy points of national interest on Capitol Hill, including Union Station, the Navy Yard, Eastern Market, and the B&O Railroad Company.

Capitol Hill celebrates one of the largest historic districts in the nation and a neighborhood rich in history that shaped a nation and the world. Beginning as a port area on the high plateau near the deep water of the Anacostia River, Capitol Hill was largely shaped by the early residential development near the Navy Yard. Later home to middle-class workers in the 19th century, Capitol Hill is now one of Washington's most elite neighborhoods. While the name of the current neighborhood is derived from its proximity to the United States Capitol, it is actually not located on a hill. Situated on the highest point of land between the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, Capitol Hill began as a small cluster of homes located at First and Second Streets along New Jersey Avenue, Southeast around 1800. The neighborhood was also home to hospitals and boarding houses during the Civil War. The area now known as the Capitol Hill Historic District was primarily built up in the 1880s and 1890s for speculative housing on a more modest scale, but now the district is considered elite with more senators and members of Congress residing there than in any other neighborhood.

As Hillside developed its own character, its people began a movement for independence in 1905. On April 29, 1913, they voted to form their own township. Hillside contains countless beautiful images gleaned from sources as diverse as private residents and professional news organizations. While children attend classes again at Salem School or Saybrook School, workers build Bristol-Myers and Kraft into highly successful, global companies. Hillside invites the reader to the Roaring Twenties ball of the Ladies' Auxiliary and to ride along the Italian-American Association's parade float. Even the Evergreen Cemetery, home to the grave of writer Stephen Crane and more recently the setting for the Shelly Winters movie King of the Gypsies, finds its place in this remarkable book.

On the edge of the 1792 original city plan by designer Pierre L'Enfant lies the Greater U Street neighborhood.

For nearly 70 years before the Civil War, orchards and grazing land covered the area. When Camp Campbell was settled during the war where Sixth and U Streets now lie, thousands of fighting soldiers and then freed men and women flocked to the area. The fighting ceased, and many people remained to construct small wood frame homes, churches, and businesses that eventually gave way to the elegant rows of substantial brick townhomes lining the surrounding street today. The rise of racial segregation in the early 1900s cultivated the Greater U Street area into a ""city within a city"" for the African-American community, and it remained so until the urban riots of 1968. The 1920s and 1930s witnessed a thriving cultural scene, with entertainers such as Sarah Vaughn, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, and the neighborhood's own Edward ""Duke"" Ellington frequenting private clubs like Bohemian Caverns and other venues such as the Howard, Dunbar, Republic, and Lincoln Theaters. Known by many as the ""Black Broadway,"" Greater U Street was unique in that many of its institutions-Industrial Bank and True Reformers Hall among them-were designed, financed, owned, and built utilizing the talents of such emerging African-American professionals as banker John Whitelaw and architect John A. Lankford.

By 1923, the Triplets were playing in Johnson City. They soon became affiliated with the Yankees and sent that franchise some of their best players, including Whitey Ford, Vic Raschi, and Thurman Munson. From 1969 to 1991, professional baseball disappeared from Broome County, but it was back with a bang in 1992, featuring a new stadium and a firm relationship with the New York Mets. Baseball in Broome County recounts this great story with more than one hundred eighty photographs and engaging text.

Champion, Great Bend, and Deferiet were all founded in the 1800s.

Farming has always been the lifeblood of Champion; Noadiah Hubbard—original settler, land agent, merchant, and builder—did much to encourage its settlement and growth. Great Bend's location on the Black River drew various mills looking to utilize inexpensive waterpower. Such corporations included the Sherman Paper Company and the Great Bend Paper Company, which was incorporated in September 1868 to manufacture straw wrapping papers and strawboard. F.W. Woolworth, of five-and-dime fame, endowed a church here in honor of his parents on September 15, 1915. Deferiet was originally founded by French émigré Jenika de Ferriet. It became a mill town in 1899 when the land was acquired by the St. Regis Paper Company, which employed immigrants of Italian and Polish extraction. As the mills gradually left the Northeast, these communities reverted to their farming roots, in many cases attracting families for settlement and retirement.

Florence Revisited recounts the rich and unique history of Florence, New Jersey through the lens of vintage images; some never before seen.

Known as the Community with Character at the Bend in the River, Florence has a fascinating past and rich heritage. First inhabited by the Lenni-Lenape tribes, Florence is believed to be named after the daughter of Charles Macalester of Philadelphia, one of the area's first landowners who was instrumental in dividing Florence into lots for future homes in the early 1850s. Some early residents were decoy carvers, whose labors are in high demand today under the classification of Delaware River decoys, while others worked in foundries or as storekeepers, farmers, and fishermen. Picking up where Florence left off, Florence Revisited will provide information and enjoyment for those who are proud to call this town home, and it will spark an interest for old pictures, stories, and news articles about early families in Florence, New Jersey.

Beaver Falls: Gem of Beaver County devotes a chapter to local football legend Joe Namath's first season of greatness, complete with play-by-play details of the exciting Friday night high school games. Broadway Joe's early team picture is here, along with dozens more rare and compelling, never-before-published images. Readers will also find telling narratives of the Big Snow of 1950 and the Great Race of 1908, with more than 100 vintage photographs and maps detailing the gripping stories and unique memories chronicled here.

J. Howard Wert's "Passing of the Old Eighth" articles-awash in images of decrepitude and vice-appeared in the Harrisburg Patriot in 1912-1913 and introduced readers to such cheats, fools, and boozers as Harry Cook and "Billy Jelly." This volume presents the complete series of 35 articles chronicling the adventures of people who lived through some of the most sweeping changes in American history. More than 100 photographs-most never before published-evoke Wert's tales of a turbulent Harrisburg now long gone. Through the captivating, rarely objective voice of turn-of-the-century journalism, readers visit vanished churchyards, stroll the halls of forgotten hotels, and walk with the ghosts of gangs through crumbling alleys to brothels, gambling dens, and speakeasies. No history of Harrisburg can match this one for detailed stories of the successes and scandals of the city's "good old days."

Noted educator, journalist, and Civil War veteran J. Howard Wert's articles bring to life the colorful characters and day-to-day grit and drama of his time. By turns pious, hard-nosed, and folksy, Wert's prose veers wildly among literary modes but never fails to entertain. A melding of nineteenth-century moral sensibility and modern appreciation for progress makes this work as accessible to today's readers as it was to Wert's contemporaries.