Name: Currents in the Electric City
Brand: Brian Fanelli
SKU: 9781953368775
Price: 24.0 USD
Availability: InStock

Currents in the Electric City

9781953368775

$24.00

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.

Cover image for Currents in the Electric City, isbn: 9781953368775

Lithuanians of Schuylkill County

9781467129169

$24.99

Lithuanians came to America to find what they were denied in Eastern Europe: freedom from tyranny, freedom to worship and to live as they chose.

Through centuries of bloody invasions and cruel oppression, their land was denied to them, yet in the anthracite coalfields of Pennsylvania, these immigrants worked to build communities of proud American citizens who continued to celebrate Kucios as well as Kaledos, eat blynai and šaltibaršcia, decorate marguciai, and pray the rosary in their native language. In Schuylkill County, they built the first churches, first schools, and first communities established by Lithuanians in the United States. No matter the hardships - grueling work in coalmines, contempt and violence against recent immigrants, prejudice, or condescension toward foreign names and accents - they believed in their country, the United States. Their stories are essential America.

Cover image for Lithuanians of Schuylkill County, isbn: 9781467129169

The Pittsburgh Anthology

9780985944193

$20.00

“Characterizing a place can be an elusive project, but The Pittsburgh Anthology is . . . diverse, surprising, eloquent, playful, scrappy, and tenacious.” —Ploughshares

Pittsburgh is ever-changing—once dusted with soot from the mills, parts of the city now gleam with the polish of new technologies and little remains of what had been there before. The essays and artwork in this anthology aim for the surprising, elusive stories that capture a Pittsburgh that is in transition. Contributors run the gamut from MacArthur-award winning photographer, LaToya Ruby Frazier to 15-year-old Nico Chiodi, the book’s youngest contributor who chronicles the doings of the North Side Banjo Club. “Everyone in this book,” writes editor, Eric Boyd, “is talking about the city, the things surrounding it; all of the pieces have been created with experience, intimacy, and personality. This book, I hope, will speak to you, not at you. Because we all know this city is changing. We’re just not exactly sure what that means.”

Included are contributions by Amy Jo Burns, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Ben Gwin, Cody McDevitt, David Newman, and many more.

“These voices are varied and quirky, some polished and professional sounding, some a little rough around the edges. But they are uniformly interesting and genuine.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“What editor Eric Boyd has chosen to do is temper all of the Most Livable City rah rah with essays, stories and poems of a grittier, more complex nature.” —Pittsburgh Magazine

“This collection is stimulating for insiders and outsiders alike, a portrait Boyd has designed to be from-the-streets, warts-and-all.” —Bill O’Driscoll, PGH City Paper

Cover image for The Pittsburgh Anthology, isbn: 9780985944193

The Underground Railroad on Long Island

9781609497705

$21.99

Discover Long Island's pivotal role in the Underground Railroad and the stories of the brave men and women whose legacy lives on today.

From the arrival of the Quakers in the seventeenth century to the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, Long Island played an important role in the Underground Railroad's work to guide slaves to freedom. In Old Westbury, the Post family established a major stop on the freedom trail with the help of an escaped Virginia slave. In Jericho, families helped escaping slaves to freedom from the present-day Maine Maid Inn. Elias Hicks helped free 191 slaves himself and worked to create Underground Railroad safe houses in many northeastern cities. Some former slaves even established permanent communities across the island. Visit the safe houses--many of which are still standing today--and explore the journey of runaway slaves on Long Island.

Cover image for The Underground Railroad on Long Island, isbn: 9781609497705

Hidden History of Staten Island

9781467138680

$21.99

Take the ferry to this New York City borough and discover its colorful secrets, in a quirky history packed with facts and photos.

Staten Island has a rich and fascinating cultural legacy that few people outside New York City's greenest borough know about. Chewing gum was invented on the island with the help of Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna. Country music legend Roy Clark got his start as a virtuoso guitar player on the Staten Island Ferry. Anna Leonowens, who worked with the king's children in the Court of Siam and was the basis for The King and I, came back to Staten Island to write about her experiences and run a school for children.

Join native Staten Islanders Theresa Anarumo and Maureen Seaberg as they document the hidden history of the borough with these stories, and many more

Cover image for Hidden History of Staten Island, isbn: 9781467138680

Ocean City Baby Parade

9780738565033

$24.99

The Ocean City Baby Parade is the longest continuously held baby parade in the nation, tracing back to August 10, 1901, when the city's first baby show was held. From its beginning with 46 babies in the prettiest, cutest, and fattest baby categories, it has grown into a boardwalk extravaganza with 300 entrants, bands and bugle corps, professionally decorated commercial floats, homemade baby floats, grand marshals, and cartoon characters. Many families plan their vacations around this well-known event, and they are among the thousands of spectators lining the boardwalk each year.

Crowd gathers along a boardwalk for a seaside parade on the Ocean City Baby Parade cover

Rochester's Latino Community

9780738575100

$24.99

The Rochester region traces its roots back to pioneers like Puerto Rican Domingo Delgado, a key Eastman Kodak executive of the 1890s. Like many immigrants before them, Latinos arrived in search of the better opportunities Rochester offered and by the 1950s had an established community with churches and businesses. The 1960s and 1970s brought the development of the Latino identity and foreshadowed the growing political and economic power the community wields today.

?La region de Rochester tiene sus raíces en pioneros tales como puertorriqueño Domingo Delgado, un ejecutivo de Eastman Kodak de la década de 1890. Al igual que muchos immigrantes antes que ellos, los latinos llegaron en busca de las mejores oportunidades que ofrece Rochester y a llegar la década de 1950 había una comunidad establecida con iglesias y las empresas. Los años 1960 y 1970 trajo el desarrollo de la identidad latina y presagió el creciente poder político y económico de la comunidad ejerce hoy en día.

Cover of Rochester's Latino Community bilingual edition with a large vintage group photo.

New Jersey Fresh

9781626199781

$21.99

New Jersey's bounty is ripe for the picking. The state boasts thousands of thriving farms, hundreds of CSAs, dozens of community farmers' markets and countless residents dedicated to the locavore lifestyle. Jersey food writer and chef Rachel J. Weston takes a seasonal tour of the state, showcasing the bounty that its down-to-earth farmers, creative artisan producers and innovative chefs produce for their patrons throughout the year. See how globally inspired cuisine representing New Jersey's diverse population is created and adapted using locally sourced products. Savor a juicy August peach, pucker up for a tart cranberry in October and nourish body and soul with local bok choy, asparagus and tomatoes. With local recipes for every season, this book shows why New Jersey is the Garden State.