Name: The Polish Community of Worcester
Brand: Barbara Proko
SKU: 9780738513386
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

The Polish Community of Worcester

9780738513386

$24.99

Near the beginning of the twentieth century, thousands of Polish immigrants embarked upon the American Dream in Worcester as the city's lowest-paid mill workers. Slowly, they carved out their own "Polonia," with Millbury Street as the center. By the 1920s, Worcester's Polish community had built a parish with the largest parochial school in the county, established several civic associations, and become an influential group in the city's economy and ethnic composition. The Polish Community of Worcester celebrates the resilient and patriotic spirit of Worcester's Polonia from 1870 through 1970, with rare photographs from private collections and family albums.

Vintage cover image of The Polish Community of Worcester depicting a church interior with worshippers at the ornate altar

The Italian Home for Children

9780738538273

$24.99

As it ravaged the world, the influenza epidemic of 1918 devastated Boston's congested North End and left hundreds of orphans in its wake. Touched by this crisis, a Roman Catholic priest and a group of Italian Americans founded the first home for Italian children in Massachusetts. Franciscan Sisters devoted 24 hours a day to providing the children with a safe, loving, and spiritual environment. In addition, the home provided educational support for its residents. Over time, the changing needs of children mandated that the agency change the nature of its services from custodial care to treatment. In 1974, in response to the changing political and social climate, the agency became the Italian Home for Children. Today, it is a nonprofit, nonsectarian residential treatment facility with a capacity for 61 children of all races, nationalities, and religions. The images in The Italian Home for Children document milestones in the organization's history: the devastating influenza epidemic, the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Christmas plays, a visit from Joe DiMaggio, trips to Canobie Lake Park in the summer, the Tony Martin benefit performance at Boston Garden, and the home as it is today--a refuge for children in the most severe crises.

The Italian Home for Children book cover featuring a sepia photo of children with nuns in front of a house

Arabs of Chicagoland

9780738534176

$24.99

Arabs first settled in Chicagoland in the mid-19th century, when immigrants from all parts of the world were flowing steadily into the U.S. As tensions in the Arab world flared, immigration increased--the first to arrive were Lebanese Christians, followed by Muslim Palestinians. Today, there are more than 250,000 Arabs in the Chicago area, with equal numbers of Christians and Muslims. A part of the fabric of Chicago, Arabs serve in many roles, from business leaders to elected officials to judges, doctors, engineers, journalists, and more. In the wake of the tragedy of September 11, 2001, Arab Americans have come under great scrutiny and have suffered much misunderstanding. Now, this book, which explores their integral role in Chicagoland's growth, is especially important.

Arabs of Chicagoland book cover featuring a sepia family portrait on a beach.

Filipinos in the Willamette Valley

9780738581101

$24.99

Tucked among the great pioneer destinations on the Oregon Trail is the fertile agricultural area of the Willamette Valley. Today the valley forms the cultural and political heart of Oregon and is home to three-quarters of the state's population. The beginning of the 20th century saw the entrance of Filipinos into the valley, arriving from vegetable farms in California and Washington, fish canneries in Alaska, and from the pineapple and sugar plantations in Hawaii. At the same time, the U.S. territorial government in the Philippines started sponsoring Filipino students, beginning in 1903, to study in the United States. Oregon's two biggest centers of education, today's University of Oregon in Eugene and Oregon State University in Corvallis, became home to Filipinos from the emerging independent Philippine nation. They were mostly male, the children of wealthy Filipinos who had connections. Most of them returned to the Philippines upon graduation; some stayed and created a new life in America.

Cover image for Filipinos in the Willamette Valley, isbn: 9780738581101

Laotians in the San Francisco Bay Area

9780738595863

$24.99

Throughout the 19th and up to the mid-20th centuries, immigrants from China, Japan, Korea, India, and the Philippines came to America through San Francisco. The end of the decades-long Vietnam War changed the modern Asian American demographics of the city, this time with refugees coming from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The San Francisco Bay Area remains a hub for Laotian American culture, history, and community resources, and it has been a center for Laotian American advancement since the early 1980s. After calling the United States home for more than 30 years and battling the scars of war, a new Laotian American society is seeking meaning from its past while moving forward with hopes of a better future as Americans.

Laotians in the San Francisco Bay Area book cover showing a statue and a group of children posed in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

African Americans of Jefferson County

9780738567877

$24.99

Jefferson County can proudly claim a large number of firsts when it comes to African Americans in national history. The raid to free slaves that served as a catalyst for the Civil War was led by abolitionist John Brown in Harpers Ferry. The first man wounded in the rebellion was Heyward Shepherd, a free African American and a Jefferson County resident. Pres. Abraham Lincoln appointed Jefferson County native Martin Robison Delany as the first African American field officer of the Civil War. In 1906, the Niagara Movement, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), held its first meeting on American soil on the Storer College campus. The first woman to become the coach of a men's college basketball team was also an African American from Jefferson County. Additionally, the Colored Horse Show held in Charles Town was the first of its kind for African Americans.

Cover image for African Americans of Jefferson County, isbn: 9780738567877

African Americans in Fort Wayne

9780738507156

$24.99

The history and contributions of African Americans in northeast Indiana have been largely overlooked. This new publication, African Americans in Fort Wayne: The First 200 Years, does not claim to be a definitive history of the topic. It does, however, recognize and honor the pioneers who have made the African-American community in Fort Wayne what it is today. Through diary excerpts, oral histories, and studies of social organizations, religion, and community, a rich, 200-year heritage is vividly depicted.

The story begins in 1794, when evidence points to the first black inhabitant of Fort Wayne. The first known, free black in the area was identified in 1809. During the early part of the 1800s, Indiana state funds partially financed a movement to send Indiana blacks to Liberia. Few left, and those who remained worked diligently to make Fort Wayne their own. The fruits of their labor can be partially seen in the development of the first black church, Turner Chapel A.M.E., which was started in 1849 and has been a pillar of the community since its completion. A migration of African Americans from the south, due to industrialization, greatly increased the population from 1913 through 1927, and new churches, organizations, and opportunities were developed. Today, the black community in Fort Wayne is rightfully proud of its extensive past.

Book cover African Americans in Fort Wayne with a sepia group portrait of residents.

African Americans of Jackson

9780738553283

$24.99

The African American community of Jackson comprised an eclectic array of architectural styles reflective of the economic and social stratification of its urban dwellers. Images of America: African Americans of Jackson illustrates through vintage photographs the lives of the city's African American residents as seen through their struggles and triumphs.

Cover of African Americans of Jackson featuring a vintage group photo in front of a school.

Generations of Black Life in Kennesaw and Marietta, Georgia

9780738568997

$24.99

Generations of Black Life in Kennesaw and Marietta, Georgia is the first documented pictorial history of two rich and diverse black communities during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Through carefully preserved vintage images and informative captions, Lassiter tells a story that is unique, but at the same time recognizable to black communities everywhere.

Cover of Generations of Black Life in Kennesaw and Marietta Georgia featuring a sepia group portrait of Black Americans in formal clothing and the title block at the bottom.

African-American Life in Sumner County

9780738568638

$24.99

Early African Americans in Sumner County, both slaves and free, left a legacy not only of beautiful brick buildings and sturdy stone fences, but also a social history as rich and varied as the many tribes they represented. This exciting book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the immeasurable contributions, undeniable services, and the devotion of black Americans to the evolution of Sumner County's communities. Many of the sienna-hued photographs and Civil War–era tintypes presented here were taken when folks wore their Sunday best and didn't smile for the camera. These images, many never before published, capture everything from a creek baptism and bonnet worn by a local slave, to views of families and schoolchildren. The volume covers most of the early settlements in Sumner County where African Americans largely resided, from
Rockland and Avondale to Scattersville, Parker's Chapel, and Gallatin.

Cover image for African-American Life in Sumner County, isbn: 9780738568638

African Americans in Sewickley Valley

9780738556871

$24.99

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.

African Americans in Sewickley Valley cover featuring a vintage truck and a man in period clothing.

Lincoln in Black and White

9780738561622

$24.99

Lincoln, Nebraska's capital, grew from 45,000 to 55,000 residents in the years 1910-1925. The state's second-largest city, Lincoln was also home to Nebraska's second-largest African American community--a "small town" within the midwestern city. Local race relations were a study in contradictions. Public education and residential neighborhoods were relatively integrated; employment and social institutions were increasingly restricted. Within this setting, a laborer named John Johnson--a native of Lincoln and son of a black Civil War veteran--produced remarkable images as an itinerant photographer of the Lincoln scene, especially of its black community. Johnson left very little written record, so knowledge is fragmentary of his working techniques and of his collaborators or assistants. But his visual legacy takes people through the streets, onto the front porches, and into the backyards and living rooms of a vibrant community.

Book cover showing a group of African American men and women posing in front of a wooden building

Around Bethany

9781467128681

$24.99

For nearly 150 years, the Bethany area has undergone continual change. Families migrated here from Switzerland, Germany, and other places in the 1870s. Trees were felled to clear fields for farming. Some families made their houses from logs, as only a few could afford wood-frame houses. The German-speaking people were faith-based and were quick to establish churches and schools. Eventually, churches switched to ministering in English. Many families settled north of US 26 (Sunset Highway). Some lived to the west in the communities of Phillips and Helvetia, while others resided south of the highway. In the past 30 years, subdivisions, allowed by the expanding urban-growth boundary, have been built on former farmlands. This density accommodates the housing needs of the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, including those employed by nearby companies Intel and Nike.

Cover image for Around Bethany, isbn: 9781467128681

Greeks of the Merrimack Valley

9781467125635

$24.99

The Merrimack Valley became home to Greeks after the great immigration to the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. After its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832, Greece had inadequate resources for its citizens, which led to much hardship. Many of these refugees came to the Merrimack Valley in search of a better living. They settled in Haverhill, Lawrence, and Lowell, Massachusetts, or Concord, Manchester, and Nashua, New Hampshire, where they secured jobs in factories and mills. Those who were unable to gain employment in the manufacturing industries went into the service sector; others became self-sufficient, building restaurants, shoe shops, and grocery stores. Although they suffered discrimination because of their distinct language and culture, they were not deterred; instead, they remained focused, went about their activities in peace, and contributed immensely to the socioeconomic development of their newfound home.

Cover coming soon for Greeks of the Merrimack Valley

Ellis Island (German version)

9780738599786

$24.99

Die Vereinigten Staaten werden als eine der vordersten Flüchtlingsorte, und kein anderer Ort symbolisiert das mehr als Ellis Island. Mehr als zwölf millionen Einwanderer—von fast jeder Nationalität und Rasse—sind auf dem Weg zu neuen Erfahrungen durch Ellis Islands Hallen und Toren eingetreten. Mit einer erstaunenden Array von Fotografien aus den neunzehnten uns zwanzigsten Jahrhunderten führt Ellis Island den Leser durch die faszinierende Geschichte dieser kleinen Insel in New Yorker Hafen, von ihrer Vorgeschichte als einer des Hafens Austerninsel bis ihre spektakulare Jahre als Flagschiff-Station des U.S. Bureau of Immmigration (Einwanderungsbehörde) bis ihre aktuelle Verkörperung als das größte Museum des National Park Service.

Cover image for Ellis Island (German version), isbn: 9780738599786

Scots of Chicago's North Shore

9781467104302

$24.99

Scots helped found Lake Forest, and hundreds of native-born Scots settled there.

The Scottish influence is evident in town names along Chicago’s North Shore like Glencoe, Bannockburn, Milburn, and Dundee.The Keith family theater chain became RKO Studios with Scots-born J.J.Murdock as president.James Simpson was CEO of Marshall Field and Company and oversaw the building of the Merchandise Mart.After Simpson, a series of Scots ran Fields: John McKinlay, James McKinsey, and Hughston McBain.Scots partnered to form Carson Pirie & Scott.They also founded Douglas and Stuart Oats, which became Quaker Oats.Hugh Robertson was president of the Zenith Corporation, and the Armour family operated one of the largest meatpacking companies in the world.Only slightly smaller was Wilson Meats, which later spun off Wilson Sporting Goods.This book tells the story of these Scots and many others.

Cover image for Scots of Chicago's North Shore, isbn: 9781467104302

The Cle Elum Fire of 1918

9781467128780

$24.99

Cle Elum, Washington, was founded in 1883 by Walter Reed and Thomas Gamble. The name, from Tle-el-Lum, is a rendering of the local Native American phrase for swift water. Nestled in the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountains, Cle Elum grew as a railroad town, transporting lumber and coal, both from nearby Roslyn and later from Cle Elum itself. In 1891, it survived its first fire. In 1918, after reaching its population high of over 2,700 residents, a catastrophic fire broke out on a windy June day. Two-thirds of the townspeople were left homeless, and the majority of the town was destroyed. Cle Elum rose again from the ashes, thanks to the will of its citizens and help from all around the Pacific Northwest.

Cover image for The Cle Elum Fire of 1918, isbn: 9781467128780

Cleveland County Agriculture

9781467115353

$24.99

Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in southwestern North Carolina, Cleveland County has long been cultivated. Before the Civil War, self-reliant farms grew and raised a diverse array of vegetables, field crops, and livestock. These small farms relied on family labor, draft animals, waterwheels, and ingenuity. Eventually, the county became a leader in production of cotton and dairy products; tractors, combines, and hay balers became farm mainstays. Cleveland County Agriculture showcases the triumphs and trials of farmers--farmers who endured the Great Depression, the arrival of the boll weevil, and the everyday challenges of farm life.