Photography

Lansing's history as the capital of Michigan began with a legislative mandate in the 1835 State Constitution, which required that the seat of government be moved from Detroit in 1847. The result-the emergence of a new capital city on the banks of the majestic Grand River-allowed Lansing to cultivate a world-class community based in government, education, the automotive industry, and entrepreneurial achievements. This book features more than 200 historic photographs that document the dynamic capital city during its pivotal first century, from the pioneer era to the inception of the Olds Motor Vehicle Company and through the eve of World War II.

The April 1917 declaration of war on Germany hastened the need for US training camps. Camp Custer, named for Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, was established on July 18, 1917. Thousands of soldiers were inducted at Camp Custer, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers would start their military training at Camp and later Fort Custer, which became a permanent base in 1940. Images from Camp and Fort Custer gives the reader insight into camp life during both world wars, including the German prisoners of war experience. Images of America: Fort Custer in the World Wars features the influence Camp and Fort Custer had on military training. The young soldiers trained here served their country honorably and are deserving of gratitude.

Brenda Glover Leyndyke, board member and volunteer librarian for the Fort Custer Historical Society, is the daughter of a Fort Custer veteran. Leyndyke updated the Research in Michigan book published by the National Genealogical Society. Along with her volunteer work, Leyndyke writes an award-winning blog. She works closely with the Fort Custer Historical Society board and draws on the society’s collection of over 2,000 photographs.

The entrance of the United States into World War II in 1941 completely transformed the nation. During this time, the small Nebraska towns of Mead and Wahoo in Saunders County were chosen to be the site of the Nebraska Ordnance Plant, one of three such plants in the state. The plant operated for 20 years—from 1942 to 1962. It served as an ordnance plant during World War II and the Korean War, then as an Atlas missile site from 1960 to 1962. Since then, the land has been sold to various interests, including the University of Nebraska and the Nebraska National Guard. The Nebraska Ordnance Plant uses over 150 photographs and their accompanying captions to tell the story of the profound effect the plant had on the social, economic, and environmental life of the county. 

Jennifer Garza is the assistant at the Saunders County Historical Society and a lecturer in the history department at the University of Nebraska. Erin Hauser is the curator at the Saunders County Historical Society.

Not-a-pe-ka-gon was the Native American name given to the Ludington area and translates as ""heads on sticks.""

The name refers to a battle between the Ottawa and Mascouten Indians in the 17th century that raged along the river toward Lake Michigan. The heads of the defeated Mascoutens were placed on sticks as a warning to all. Later a bluff overlooking the lake and river was the site of the 1675 death of Fr. Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary and explorer. When the first settlers of European descent arrived, they gave the name of Pere Marquette to their village, lake, and river in honor of the fallen missionary. Eventually renamed after lumber baron James Ludington, the community became a bustling maritime port and the home of the largest car ferry fleet in the world.

Forgotten Detroit delves into the wellspring of history to retell some of Detroit's lesser-known stories within the Motor City's rich heritage.

Detroiters know their history well. Founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the city subsisted on a variety of industries: fur trading, stove building, and, of course, the automobile. Names such as Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh resonate in Detroiters' common memory while Detroit's meteoric rise during the 20th century established the city as an influential leader in commerce, culture, and religion. This growth spawned the development of numerous businesses, organizations, and institutions, many now forgotten after the passing of so many years. Individuals from the Michigan metropolis, such as Albert Kahn, Mary Chase Stratton, and Henry Ford II, all made their marks on the history books, even if the average Detroiter couldn't tell you who they were.

Lake Superior Country: 19th Century Travel and Tourism to Michigan's Upper Peninsula will follow these 19th century travelers, from the explorers in search of land titles and valuable mineral deposits in the early part of the century, to "literary travelers" seeking to witness the romantic region made famous by Henry W. Longfellow's poem "The Song of Hiawatha," to the sportsmen and sportswomen who found a bounty of wildlife and fishing grounds. It will also illustrate the various methods of travel undertaken by these people, from birch bark canoes, to steamers, to the railroads, and how these different methods of travel defined the overall tourist experience.

Elgin was named by a city founder, James T. Gifford, after his favorite hymn.

The city shares its name with 20 cities in 15 states and 8 countries. Elgin is situated on the banks of the Fox River, 35 milesnorthwest of Chicago, the city with which Elgin had thriving business exchanges in agricultural and industrial goods. The city's world-wide fame, for the most part, has come from its watch factory and Mr. Gail Borden's milk company. Pianos, shoes, books, and even chewing gum were also manufactured in Elgin and sold internationally. This exciting new study of a major Midwestern city is chock-full of images, many of which have never before been published. Featured in Elgin, Illinois is information about the Elgin National Watch Company, early circus and carnival attractions, as well as rip-roaring national road races. Highlighted in one chapter is Elgin's part in helping to win World War Iat home, complete with original photographs from the front in Europe. This lively and historical look at Elgin from the 1800s to the 1930s is interwoven with national and international trends and events.

Tiffin, Ohio, may be most well-known for a devastating flood but it is defined by so much more than tragedy.

The flood of 1913 is likely the reason people are familiar with Tiffin, Ohio. It took the lives of 19 people in a disaster that literally reshaped the city. However, the city is much more than that.

Tiffin--named after Ohio's first governor, Edward Tiffin--was first settled in 1817. The seat of Seneca County has been home to businesses of wide renown: Tiffin Glass, National Machinery, and Ballreich's Potato Chips, among others. Tiffin's institutions of higher learning, Heidelberg and Tiffin Universities, and its strong public and parochial school systems reflect a deep commitment to education among the city's residents. Historic figures like Charles Dickens and Thomas Edison, as well as local luminaries such as Josiah Hedges and Gen. William Harvey Gibson, have played a part in forging Tiffin's history.

From its founding by Connecticut Yankees to its label as Home Town USA,  this is the history of a picturesque community with a long and storied history.

In 1945, Pathfinder magazine selected the village of Medina as a shining example of small town living and, with the film company RKO Pathe, produced a 15-minute movie about Medina called Home Town USA. The film focused on the Victorian square and on the nearby tree-shaded streets lined with century homes. But the film did not tell the dramatic story behind the picturesque facade. Medina was hewn out of the Ohio wilderness by Connecticut Yankees, many of them Revolutionary War veterans who brought with them a tradition of democracy and strong community spirit. In 1848, a fire devastated the public square. The citizens rallied, and it was quickly rebuilt. In 1870, another fire wiped out most of the business district. Over the next decade, the square once again rose from the ashes, and the result was a village center filled with handsome Eastlake Victorian–style buildings. That public square sits at the heart of the community whose history this book puts on display.

From musicians and mobsters to mayors and men of the cloth, discover the fascinating history of Chicago's Irish history.

The history of the Irish in Chicago goes back to the days when the city was little more than an outpost on the prairie shores of Lake Michigan. Drawn by opportunities in the growing frontier town, Irish men and women who were fleeing economic hardship and famine in Ireland were quick to make their mark on Chicago's political, religious, and economic life. The unique position of the Irish among immigrant groups-English speaking and more culturally attuned to Anglo-American institutions, yet Catholic-allowed them to flourish in occupations and social positions for which they have become known. Most notably, the Irish in Chicago have produced eight mayors and many bishops. But Irish Chicago is also the story of those who built and enlivened the city: the policemen, firemen, priests, nuns and brothers, tavern owners, educators, transit workers, musicians, and ward politicians made good, and the north, south, and west side neighborhoods and parishes they inhabited.

Warrensburg, Missouri illustrates the history of the city in more than 200 vintage images, detailing the faces, places, and events that have colored the town. The "healing waters" of Pertle Springs drew visitors from all around, and in 1870, Warrensburg would be made famous by a trial concerning a slain hunting dog, Old Drum.

Once known as Junction Grove, the rich history of Englewood began in the mid-1800s as the area quickly developed into a rail and commerce crossroads.

Before 1850, the area was an oak forest with dense swamp land, but the railroad would change things forever. Several of the railroad lines crossed at what became known as Junction Grove, but in 1868, the name would change to Englewood; in 1889, Englewood became part of the city of Chicago. With its four railroad stations, Englewood has long been a transportation hub of the southwest side. This easy access helped to make Englewood one of the largest outlying business districts in the country for much of the first half of the 20th century, but the quality of life in Englewood has dropped dramatically since. Now a struggling urban area, known as Chicago's murder capital, it is also nevertheless known for its grassroots organizations and strong sense of community, on the forefront of revival.Chicago's Englewood Neighborhood: At the Junctionexplores the history of the people, places, commerce, and community that have created this ever-dynamic neighborhood.

Through a collection of more than 200 photographs, Lincoln Park, Chicago offers the reader a journey through homes, schools, businesses, museums, churches, the Lincoln Park Zoo, and the park itself. With anecdotes and images from before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, to the 1940s when war turned family homes into rooming houses, to the bustling, jam-packed Lincoln Park of today, this vibrant and beautiful neighborhood springs to life.

Through the medium of historic photographs, Cudahy, Wisconsin: Generations of Pride captures Cudahy's evolution from the late 1800s to the present day. Featuring over 200 historic images from both the Cudahy Historical Society and Public Library as well as photographs from private resident collections, this book tells the stories of the people who settled there: where they worked and worshiped, how they lived, and how they celebrated. Today, Cudahy is in the midst of downtown redevelopment, and community pride continues to grow with each generation.

Located in west central Minnesota, the small rural towns of Swift County were once busy trading centers. Through these historic photographs, the reader can follow the changes that occurred on Atlantic and Pacific Avenues in Benson from the 1880s to the 1930s, see the sod house of Swenoda Township, and witness turn of the century rural life in towns like Danvers, Murdock, Appleton, and Kerkhoven.

After a period of slow growth during the 19th century, Toledo began the 20th with a rapid expansion in industrialization, urbanization, and immigration.

The titans of industry who had begun to transform Toledo in the late 1800s continued to expand their fortunes while expanding their businesses, and soon were joined by others who took advantage of the city's potential. A new industry would emerge from the bicycle factories and wagon works of the 19th century--the automobile industry. It would dominate Toledo's economy in the 20th century, and by the 1920s, Toledo had one of the highest rates of industrial growth in the country. In addition to Jeeps, scales, glass, spark plugs, and transmissions, Toledo was also known for its civic reforms, strong labor unions, and fine cultural institutions. While Toledo never became "The Future Great City of the World'? that Jesup Scott envision or even the futuristic "Toledo Tomorrow'? that Norman Bel Geddes imagined, at the beginning of the 21st century, Toledo is a successful city with an interesting past and a hopeful future.

A collection of local photographer Richard E. Stoner's work which captured Ashtabula's transformations over time.

Post-World War II Ashtabula was a major Great Lakes port with a thriving downtown. Local photographer Richard E. Stoner began taking photographs of the growing city in 1938, and for the next 58 years, his lens captured Ashtabula's businesses, industries, and citizens. His commercial accounts ranged from the harbor's Pinney Dock and Transport Company, to Main Avenue's locally-owned Carlisle-Allen Company department store, to Ashtabula's major war industries. Dick Stoner's earlier photographs capture the Ashtabula that once was, including the week-long Sesquicentennial Celebration of 1953. His later photos record the beginnings of fundamental change in our way of life. Also included in this volume are some pre-1930s photographs by Vinton N. Herron, whose work Stoner purchased when Herron retired. For Ashtabulans, this is a family album. For others, it is a look at a bygone time in Midwest America.

Featuring nearly 200 vintage photographs, Sauk Rapids and Benton County takes the reader on a historic tour of the past from the Indian settlements of the Ojibwe, to the Great Northern Railroad, to the Sauk Rapids cyclone of 1886, to the Benton County ancestors, and to their present-day descendants with their businesses, industries, and daily activities.

German immigrants are responsible for making the great town of Milwaukee what it is today.

German immigrants began arriving to Milwaukee in the 1830s. By 1859, over one-third of the city was German. They opened schools and churches, started businesses, ran for office, and introduced professional German theater, art, and music to the city. Milwaukee soon became known throughout the United States--and even abroad--as the ""German Athens of North America."" There is a reason Milwaukee is known as the city of beer and brats, why it is here that the biggest Germanfest in the country takes place, and why still today the German language can be seen and heard throughout the city. As the well-known German newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine stated in 2008, ""Deutscher als Milwaukee ist nirgendwo in Amerika"" (There is nowhere in America more German than in Milwaukee).

Relive and discover the remarkable evolution and contribution of Jewish people of Chicago, from the 1840s to present day.

For many years Chicago had the third largest Jewishpopulation of any city in the world. Through the medium of historic photographs, this book captures the remarkable evolution of the Jewish people of Chicago, from their immigrant beginnings in the 1840s to their present-day communities. It is a story of the cultural, religious, economic, and everyday life of Chicago's Jews. These pages bring to life the people, events, neighborhoods, and institutions that helped shape and transform today's Jewish community. The photos and maps, culled from the author's and other collections, paint a vivid and informative picture of Chicago Jewry. In addition to recalling the early immigrant German and later Eastern European Jews, this book delves into Jewish neighborhoods including the West Side, South Side, North Side, suburban communities, and Maxwell Street, a neighborhood which produced such prominent Jews as musician Benny Goodman, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, Admiral Hyman Rickover, community organizer Saul Alinsky, and CBS founder William Paley. Chicago Jews have also made contributions to the city and the nation in the arts,commerce and industry, government service, entertainment, and labor, including seven Nobel prize winners. The images show Jews as peddlers and sweatshop workers as well as successful business entrepreneurs and professionals.

Drink up the history of one of the most famous beer towns in the world.

Milwaukee is most famous for its booming brewing industry, which is directly tied to a surge in German immigration in the 1840s. These new citizens brought along their work ethic, culture, and a love for their native beverage. Not all immigrants arrived from Europe; many, like Richard Owens, came from Britain. Owens has been credited with establishing the first commercial brewery in the area in 1840. Other men followed, many of whom were already experienced in brewing, and seized the opportunity to start new businesses. Brand names were carved on the front of brewery buildings, deals were made with a handshake, partnerships were cultivated, and factory cities were raised. By 1860, nearly 200 breweries were in operation in Wisconsin, with more than 40 in Milwaukee alone. Of the original 40, four have stood the test of time: Blatz, Pabst, Schlitz, and Miller are still brewed in Milwaukee, right where they were born.

An engaging pictorial history of the Slovak community in Chicagoland, documenting their journeys and struggles through rare and vintage images.

The story of Slovak Americans in Chicagoland is a tale of the American dream. In a few short years, emigrants from Slovakia with little to their names came to the United States and succeeded beyond their highest hopes. This fascinating story of ""rags to riches"" has been documented in historical photographs in Images of America: Slovaks of Chicagoland. Many Slovaks came to America with few assets, no more than a sixth-grade education, and no knowledge of the English language. They went to school and became naturalized citizens. Many took menial jobs in stockyards, steel mills, and oil refineries. They saved their money and opened grocery stores, banks, construction firms, and other businesses. Slovaks built beautiful churches, quality schools, and recreational facilities. They raised their families to be proud Americans and incorporated traditions from Slovakia into their daily lives, including the important role of religion.

Images of America: Italians of Stark Countyfocuses on Italian immigration into Stark County beginning in the late 1800s.

In the late 1800s, Stark County's urban hub of Canton and the surrounding communities were in the middle of a thriving expansion driven by industry, transportation, and manufacturing. Along with this growth came the need for labor, with immigration filling many of those needs. Italians came to Stark County to work in the steel mills, in the coal mines, and on the railroad, as well as to start their own small businesses. Once established, Italian families began to replicate the community foundations from their native land, and in turn these foundations reinforced embedded values: family, food, religion, music, and freedom.

This photographic history illustrates these values while bringing to life the character, work ethic, determination, and love of life of the Italian people of Stark County. Local author and Italian American J.A. Musacchia was born and raised in Stark County and is a member of the Sugarcreek Township Historical Societyand the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum.

Unforgettable Vintage Images of an All-American City.

Organized in 1819, Meigs County rests in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio along the beautiful Ohio River.

The land’s deep reservoirs of coal and salt provided early residents work in mines and in shipping the goods via steamboat and railroad. Local communities also nurtured talented scholars like James McHenry Jones and poets and writers such as James Edwin Campbell and Ambrose Bierce, as well as Dr. Brewster Higley VI, whose poetry inspired the American classic “Home on the Range.” The county is home to Ohio’s oldest standing courthouse in Chester and to Pomeroy, the only town in America with no cross streets. Join historians Jordan and Calee Pickens as they recount times of prosperity and hardship that have been engrained on the timeline of Meigs County.

Hancock is a 19th-century mining boomtown in the heart of Michigan's Copper Country.

Situated on the northern shore of Portage Lake, it grew into a regional center of shipping and commerce. Hancock's early residents were predominantly emigrants from Prussia, Ireland, and England (largely Cornwall) who came to work in area mines. Germans and French Canadians were also part of the diverse ethnic mix, and they were later joined by Finns, Scandinavians, and Italians. The harsh winter climate and geographic isolation, with limited means of transportation for roughly half the year, required a hardy citizenry. The pioneer inhabitants were resolute achievers, forging a community that with each generation grew less dependent on mining and its ancillary industries. Hancock became the Copper Country's first city in 1903 and remains Michigan's northernmost city to this day. It is also home to the only private university in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Capturing the first 50 years of Cincinnati's radio broadcasting golden era with both words and rare and often unpublished images.

Like radio listeners in many other cities its size, Greater Cincinnatians have kept their ears tuned to their local radio stations for music, news, and entertainment for nearly a century. However, unlike those cities, Cincinnati enjoyed several unique broadcast stories ranging from some of the earliest forays into radio dramatics to the country's first 500,000-watt superpower radio station. The listeners were treated to several up-and-coming celebrities like Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Andy Williams, and ""Fats"" Waller; the rise of three major communications corporations; and ultimately, an amazing array of nationally broadcast network shows and talents that, for a brief period, placed the city's broadcasters behind only New York and Chicago in terms of importance.

This book documents the interesting history of Detroit's historic Eastern Market.

Established in 1891, Detroit's Eastern Market is the largest historic market district in the United States. This cultural and commercial landmark remains a bustling, vital place today on several levels: a wholesale market featuring the freshest local produce, a weekly Saturday shopping tradition for thousands of metro Detroiters, a special-event venue, and the original home for some of the city's oldest specialty food and dining businesses. Although much has changed through the years, Eastern Market is still a place for generations of metro Detroiters to gather to buy produce and plants, shop its unique stores, enjoy a great meal, and meet friends both old and new—all in a historic and authentic market setting.

The Chain O' Lakes has been one of Chicago's premier vacation spots since the 1880s. Witness its rich history in this collection of vintage postcards.

The nine major lake basins that make up the Chain O' Lakes region - Catherine, Channel, Grass, Bluff, Marie, Fox, Nippersink, Petite, and Pistakee - are all connected by the Fox River waterway and have, for over 100 years, been northern Illinois's leading destination for inland boaters, fishermen, picnickers, or those just hoping to relax and play at the beach. Luxurious mansions and swank resorts once dotted the more than 6,000 acres of shoreline. Many are gone today; some remain but have been vastly changed, but none are forgotten.

Captured here in over 200 vintage postcards are scenes from the chain's heyday, scenes that will seem at once faraway and familiar to the water-skiers, windsurfers, and other outdoor recreationists who populate the Chain O' Lakes today.

Go inside Madisonville, a Cincinnati neighborhood that boasts a long and colorful history.

Madisonville was founded in 1809 as Madison, Ohio, in honor of James Madison, who had recently been inaugurated as the fourth president of the United States. The first permanent settlers, the Joseph Ward family, built three log cabins in 1797 along a Native American trail near the area that is now Whetsel Avenue, Erie Avenue and Red Bank Road. The famous archeological excavations of the ""Madisonville Site"" by Dr. Charles Metz and his crew discovered artifacts that are housed in museums across the world. State and federal legislators, as well as secretaries of commerce and defense, grew up in Madisonville. The city is home to public, private, and parochial schools, plus over 25 churches. Incorporation into the city of Cincinnati in 1911 brought about numerous renovations of the business district, and a renaissance is currently underway.