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$24.99
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Philadelphia has been a magnet for Irish immigrants and their descendants since the 17th century, and the city wouldn't be what it is today without them.
The Irish distinguished themselves in the Revolutionary War with dozens of heroes, such as Wexford-born sailor Commodore John Barry. When refugees from Ireland's Great Famine poured into Philadelphia after 1845, the city changed forever—the thousands of Irish immigrants of the famine generation, after experiencing discrimination from anti-Catholicism and anti-Irish rhetoric, used their religious and cultural traditions to promote their own advancement by constructing a network of schools, Catholic churches, fraternal clubs, and cultural organizations. In Irish Philadelphia, images of their accomplishments and advancements are featured along with vibrant, personal stories of Irish residents.
Currents in the Electric City
9781953368775
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$24.00
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In Currents in the Electric City, an installment of Belt’s City Anthologies series, the story of Scranton gets told by the people who know it best.
Scranton, PA, is more than just the setting for The Office. It's a living city, one with a rich industrial and labor history, that also has a small-town feel. Who is considered “from Scranton” is fiercely guarded even as the city sees immigration from around the world. Neighborhood talk can reveal your family secrets before you even know them yourself, as Barbara J. Taylor writes. Pieces in this anthology talk about desires to leave, ties that bind, and decisions to stay, as well as impressions from newcomers to the Northeastern Pennsylvania hub. As coeditor Joe Kraus notes in his foreword, Scranton was once a prominent stop on the vaudeville circuit—vaudeville translating literally into “the voice of the city.” The chorus of voices that fill the poems and essays in this anthology tell a complicated story of the Electric city that many have heard of, but few know.
Pittsburgh Irish
9781626198296
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$21.99
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Presbyterians from the Irish province of Ulster were among the first to push the wild frontier west and found the city of Pittsburgh. By the 1840s, the flow of Irish Catholic immigrants had become a flood. Fleeing the great hunger and facing resentment in the city, they established themselves as key members of the community, building railroads and canals and establishing schools, hospitals and fraternal orders. During the Civil War, 156 women, many of them Irish, made the ultimate sacrifice for their new country when the Allegheny Arsenal exploded. The Fenians fought Southern Rebels under a green flag and made a little-known invasion of Canada in 1866. In the twentieth century, the sons and daughters of Erin took on roles as political leaders, labor agitators and entrepreneurs. Exploring tales of saints, sinners and visionaries, author Gerard F. O'Neil offers a beguiling and fascinating history of the Pittsburgh Irish.
Irish Pittsburgh
9780738597911
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$24.99
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Many modern Irish Pittsburghers can trace their roots to immigrants fleeing an Ireland devastated by the Great Potato Famine of the mid-1800s. They migrated to Pittsburgh, a booming industrial town, and worked in the iron and steel mills, the mines, and the railroads. Irish women became domestic servants in such large numbers that Bridget the Maid was a stock character on stage and later in films. The immigrants settled in neighborhoods such as the Point, the Hill District, Homewood, and the North Side. Fighting anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiments, they paved the way for their children, who would dominate municipal politics and the Catholic Church and rise to surprising heights in sports, entertainment, and business. Gov. David L. Lawrence, dancer Gene Kelly, and boxing champion Billy Conn were three of these Irish Pittsburgh groundbreakers. Their success echoed the smaller, but equally significant, success of ordinary Pittsburghers who rose from poverty to middle class, from shantytown to lace curtain respectability in the neighborhoods and later in the suburbs of the city.
African Americans in Mercer County
9780738565019
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$24.99
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African Americans in Mercer County have a legacy spanning two centuries of progress. Runaway slaves secreted along stations of the Underground Railroad to Liberia, a settlement founded by Richard Travis. Deep religious convictions provided fertile ground for development of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion connection, known as the Freedom Church, and Pandenarium, an experimental colony of manumitted slaves. In the 20th century, southern migrants found employment in the steel industry and became institution builders. William Hunter Dammond, the first African American graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, found employment as a draftsman. The Twin City Elks of Farrell, a unifying force, was the largest fraternal group in Pennsylvania for two decades. Beginning in 1807 with Thomas Bronson, who acquired 200 acres along the Shenango River near Wheatland, through the culmination of today's Juneteenth Freedom Day celebration, African Americans in Mercer County chronicles a people's ongoing journey to freedom.
African Americans in Pittsburgh
9780738544878
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$24.99
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Pittsburgh is a working city, in no small part thanks to its strong African American community.
As an integral stop on the Underground Railroad, many enslaved people traveled through Pittsburgh on their way further North, and many still decided to stay. During the Great Migration of the early 20th century, Pittsburgh was again a main destination for African Americans from the rural South; approximately 95% of these men became steelworkers. There was never one centralized neighborhood where a majority of the Black population lived, but Jim Crow discrimination was still rampant, even in a city such as Pittsburgh. Photographs captured by famed Pittsburgh photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris show the candid experiences of residents, including the achievements and celebrations of people struggling in adversity and finding happiness in their families and community.
Black Baseball In Pittsburgh
9780738505312
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$24.99
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Black Baseball in Pittsburgh chronicles the history of the Negro League in the Steel City from the Homestead Grays in the 1910s to the great Pittsburgh Crawfords teams of the 1930s and through the 1950s.
When the Negro National League was formed in Kansas City in 1920, a new chapter in America's sports history had begun. Here, you will meet legends such as Smokey Joe Williams, the famed Thunder Twins, Josh Gibson, the Steel City's Slugger Supreme, and Buck Leonard, the King of Negro League first basemen.
This I Believe
9781467118972
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$23.99
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This I Believe is an international project engaging people in writing, sharing, and discussing the core values that guide their daily lives. And it all started in Philadelphia more than seven decades ago with a local radio series that became an international sensation. This book features thirty essays from that original 1950s This I Believe radio series, including contributions from publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg, classicist and educator Edith Hamilton, anthropologist Margaret Mead, and Pulitzer-winning author James Michener. Complementing those historical selections are thirty contemporary essays produced through a partnership among This I Believe, WHYY, and Leadership Philadelphia. These essayists include Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Frank Fitzpatrick, Grammy Award winner Kenny Gamble, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program executive director Jane Golden, and Mayor Michael Nutter. Altogether, this collection is an insightful reflection of the guiding principles that drive the people of Philadelphia, who believe in brotherly love—and so much more.
African Americans of Harrisburg
9780738536682
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$24.99
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African Americans of Harrisburg documents the history of the African American community in this town.
Harrisburg served as a refuge and passageway for many African Americans fleeing the South via the Underground Railroad and moving north in search of freedom and a better way of life. African Americans of Harrisburg opens the door to this culturally diverse city of the wealthy, middle class, and poor with every possible race, religion, ethnicity, and lifestyle, which makes the fabric of the community so rich.
African Americans in Sewickley Valley
9780738556871
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$24.99
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The African Americans of Sewickley Valley have a history as rich and deep-rooted as the valley itself. Originally pioneered by Quakers and abolitionists sentimental to the cause of enslaved men, Sewickley is noted for containing routes and safe houses for those on the Underground Railroad. Known as an affluent bedroom community, Sewickley is considered the wealthiest municipality along the entire 98-mile stretch of the Ohio River. Early residents brought black servants with them to serve as domestics. As construction increased, many African Americans migrated primarily from Virginia and Kentucky to work in the area as builders. The organization of Sewickley's first African American mission marked the start of a strong and lively course for the African American community. Beginning with Jim Robinson in 1823 through the culmination of today's Come on Home annual reunion, African Americans in Sewickley Valley documents the life and ambition of the African Americans who grew as a vital part of Sewickley's community today.
Filipinos of Greater Philadelphia
9780738592695
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$24.99
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In 1912, Agripino M. Jaucian organized 200 Filipino Navy personnel who had settled in Philadelphia and formed the Filipino American Association of Philadelphia, Inc. (FAAPI). Jaucian, who created the group after being a victim of racism, served as the organization's first president. The FAAPI was founded to preserve the heritage and traditions of Filipinos in their newly adopted country. In the 1960s, Philadelphia witnessed a population boom never seen before when entire Filipino families and professionals began immigrating in large numbers. This unprecedented growth gave rise to organizations, dance troupes, restaurants, and the FAAPI Filipino Community Center. Today, there are an estimated 35,000 Filipinos in the Philadelphia region. As they celebrate their centennial, Filipinos of Greater Philadelphia commemorates the legacies of those early pioneers who sought to find a place they could call home in the City of Brotherly Love.
