Bøger om US Midwest

When the traveling party with Joseph Goodrich concluded a months-long journey west from Alfred, New York, in the spring of 1838, the strong-willed abolitionist staked out land some 60 miles west of Milwaukee. The area was then a crossroads of militia trails still worn from the Black Hawk War six years prior. Wisconsin's statehood was 10 years away when Goodrich began platting a community. He began with the Milton House, a unique hexagonal structure made of grout and built to serve as a temperance inn. Later, Goodrich used Milton House to aid fugitive slaves fleeing the South, and the inn became the heart of the community. By 1844, Milton had expanded around the town square. That same year, Goodrich founded Milton Academy, which was chartered as a college in 1867. He also facilitated the arrival of railroad lines, which led to the establishment of Milton's twin village, Milton Junction, the rail hub of southern Wisconsin.

Geneva Lake camps provided education, activities, spirituality, and community in a healthy environment away from the city. The first sites were located on the western shores of Geneva Lake, with Camp Collie established in 1874; seventeen more followed. Although most camps were spiritually based, they differed in what they offered and who they served. People attending the camps came from all income levels and many cultures. Adult- and family-oriented camps provided a setting for vacations or conferences, and children's camps prided themselves on fostering responsibility and solid values. Images of America: Camps of Geneva Lake highlights 18 camps in the days of woolen bathing costumes, steam yachts, and platform tents.

Though not incorporated as a city until 1857, Hamilton can trace its roots back to the founding of Fort Hamilton by Gen. Arthur St. Clair in 1791.Throughout its history, Hamilton has been "The Greatest Little City of its Kind in the World," "The Postmark of Distinctive Trademarks," and "Known in the World's Markets." In the time between the close of the Civil War and the beginning of World War II, the city thrived. Led by steadfast pioneers and industrious immigrants, Hamilton developed into a community where anything seemed possible along the banks of the Great Miami River. The images herein detail Hamilton from 1900 to the 1950s. From a bustling county seat and the hub of Midwestern industry to leisurely endeavors, from distinctive neighborhoods to the people who lived in them, and from local education to individual worship, the life of the city is captured by over 200 postcards of the day, most from the author's private collection.

John and Joseph Blancett laid out the village of Blanchester in 1823. The community started as a central collection of log buildings among miles of farmland. Since that time, the village has grown, flourished, and suffered. The fire of 1895 destroyed most of the main commercial district at the heart of the village. Sons were sent off to fight in the Civil War and both World Wars. Through it all, Blanchester grew and thrived, and the community celebrated its centennial in 1924--a year late. Today, Blanchester is still a tightly knit village, where friends greet each other as they walk down the street and community events are put on a yearly schedule.

Once known as the Pottery Capital of the World, East Liverpool boasted some 300 potteries in its heyday, along with many ancillary industries. When British immigrant Thomas Bennett found promising clay deposits along the riverfront, he opened the city's first one-kiln pottery in 1839. From that humble beginning, the industry burgeoned, eventually spreading up the hills and across the river. Besides sturdy kitchenware, hotel china, toilet ware, and ceramic doorknobs and insulators, the potteries produced such elegant designs as Lotus Ware, Lu-Ray, and Fiesta Ware. The men, women, and children who worked in the potteries also built a town with a busy and complex social life. Churches, schools, cultural and service organizations, theaters, and restaurants filled the downtown area. East Liverpool struggled after the collapse of the pottery industry in the second half of the 20th century but has persevered into the 21st century with hope for the future.

Drive down almost any street in Webster Groves and one is filled with a sense of timelessness. Entire neighborhoods are in the National Register of Historic Places, and there are lovingly preserved century homes, beautiful old churches, avenues lined with gardens, and shopping districts more reminiscent of small-town America than a thriving suburb next door to the city of St. Louis. History runs deep here, as it is home to the first chapter of the Red Cross and the first Boy Scout Troop west of the Mississippi, the oldest women's organization in Missouri, the first professional fire department, and the first public library in St. Louis County. North Webster once held the only accredited high school for African American students in St. Louis County. Beginning as a site of country homes for St. Louis professionals, growing through a post-World War II boom that expanded into new neighborhoods, Webster Groves has remained true to its heritage and history.

"In 1869, Concordia, Kansas, was declared the county seat of what would become Cloud County. At first, the town existed only on paper as a project being pushed by James M. Hagaman and a small group of partners. Once development started, Concordia rapidly grew to become a center of commerce south of the Republican River that eventually attracted four railroad lines. It became a town of landmarks, including several famous hotels, two opera houses, Nazareth Convent, and a thriving downtown area. Characters in the story of Concordia include French Canadian immigrants, nuns, pilots, quarreling newspaper editors, German prisoners of war, and politician Frank Carlson. Readers can enjoy visiting the community's past in the pages of Images of America: Concordia. Dena Bisnette is a native of Concordia with a background in newspaper journalism. She is a member of the Cloud County and Harvey County Historical Societies and enjoys history-related volunteer work. Joe Gilliam is her husband and technical assistant. They currently reside in Newton, Kansas, the subject of their previous Arcadia Publishing book, Images of America: Newton."--Cover, p. 4

In July 1862, Pres. Abraham Lincoln signed legislation to create Rock Island Arsenal, envisioning a supply and maintenance facility. After the Civil War, Rock Island became home to a great national arsenal. It made everything soldiers needed and supplied saddles, rifles, canteens, haversacks, artillery, tanks, and ammunition to the Army on the frontier and around the world. Rock Island Arsenal, located on an island in the Mississippi River, has long been the center of the local Illinois-Iowa community and the largest employer in the area. Beginning as a modest wooden fort, the arsenal grew to become the largest public-works project of the 19th century, the home of a National Historic Landmark, and the host of numerous historical events. Rock Island Arsenal still bustles as a center of Army logistics and is critical to sustaining the nation's armed forces in peace and war.

In 1945, faculty and students at Chicagos Central YMCA College walked out to protest admission quotas on race and religion and created one of the nations first institutions to admit all qualified students. Despite having no endowment, library, or campus, Roosevelt College attracted more than 1,000 students in its first year. The next year, it purchased Chicagos famed Auditorium Building. By 1949, enrollment topped 6,000, and the Roosevelt story captured the nations imagination. In 1954, Florence Ziegfelds Chicago Musical College merged with Roosevelt, and five years later the college became a university. As it nears its 70th anniversary, Roosevelt has six colleges, two campuses, and over 85,000 alumni, including former Chicago mayor Harold Washington. This book celebrates a pioneering institution that helped shape the history of American higher education.

Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, takes readers on a journey through the lesser-known locales of fourteen cities around the world, creating a captivating time capsule of these thrilling destinations in the twentieth century.Ian Fleming's world travels and interests, as well as his journalism and wartime experiences, lent authority to everything he wrote. In 1959, the Sunday Times commissioned Fleming to write a series of dispatches from the world's most beguiling locales. The result was Thrilling Cities, a masterpiece of well-observed travelogue that stands ably alongside the author's Bond canon.From Hong Kong to Honolulu, New York to Naples, he left the bright main streets for the back alleys, abandoning tourist sites in favor of underground haunts, and mingling with celebrities, gangsters, and geishas. The result is a series of vivid snapshots of a mysterious, vanished world from a twentieth century Western perspective.Just like his most famous fictional creation, Ian Fleming was a well-traveled man of the world who knew where to go to find excitement, adventure...and danger. In Thrilling Cities, he takes us along on a journey of international intrigue worthy of James Bond.

Michigan's historic Fort Wayne, located on the narrowest point of the Detroit River, is named for Revolutionary War hero Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne. The fort was built in the 1840s to protect Detroit from British invasion following the strife of the 1838 Patriot War in Canada. Originally constructed of earth and wood, the fortifications were rebuilt in masonry during the Civil War, but the fort has never mounted cannons, as peace came to the international border and remains to this day. Fort Wayne has served the military as a training center, home to infantry regiments, supply depot, prisoner of war camp, and major induction center. It was a source of work for the unemployed during the Great Depression, a place of confinement during the Red Scare of 1920, and home for those displaced by civil unrest in Detroit during the 1960s. The fort continues to invite people to its riverfront view, not as soldiers but as guests, to enjoy community events on its broad parade fields and to learn about those who lived, drilled, and worked there.

Eight miles west of downtown Chicago sits a suburb with a rich, vibrant history. Berwyn began in the 19th century as two separate communities with vast stretches of marshland and farmland between. By the early 1900s, this booming municipality successfully kept industry at bay while remaining a strictly residential development. As thousands of bungalows were constructed in the 1920s, the "City of Homes," as it was known, became the fastest-growing community in the United States. For many generations, the suburb has attracted hard-working people who take pride in their homes and exemplify the fulfillment of the American Dream.

This remarkable pictorial history tells the story of an engineering marvel: the first dam built across theMississippi River (from 1910-1913), and the historicMidwestern community that fostered the world-famoushydroelectric project. Keokuk and the Great Dam is the story of a colorful and historic river town with a dream of economic development and cultural progress; a self-taught engineer who took on a challenge that no one else wanted to attempt; and a massive construction effort that pitted men and machines against the awesome power of America's greatest river. Completed shortly before WWI, the Keokuk dam (now known as Lock and Dam No. 19) was the culmination of a long struggle to employ the Mississippi River for hydroelectric power and to improve navigation on the great waterway. In frontier days the Des Moines Rapids, stretching north from Keokuk, prevented loaded steamboats from moving upriver. They also created a business opportunity for local residents. A rapidly growing town by the 1850s, Keokuk went into decline for many years when it failed to secure adequate railroad connections. But the coming of hydroelectric powerfostered a new dream, and local leaders set out to harness the great river. What followed was a dramatic effort that drew international attention, produced the world's second largest dam (at the time), and forever changed both the community and the fabled American waterway.

Teenage girls are being lured into the night to the City of Fountains, never to be seen again. No one is looking for these girls thought to be runaways until Patrick, an old friend of Detective Francesca "Frankie" Thomas, shows up and asks for her help. His partner's daughter Sasha has disappeared. Local law enforcement is treating her like she is just another runaway, but Patrick knows that she was lured from home, and he fears the worst.Twenty-eight years earlier, a young woman and her mother disappeared from Frankie's hometown. In their quest to find Sasha, Frankie and Patrick start down a path that leads directly to their past, and the closer they get to the truth, the higher the stakes get.

Born with a beat in his soul and a drumstick in hand, Warren I. Smith's destiny with music was inevitable. His musical chops took him from the smoky jazz clubs of Chicago, through the intoxicating energy of New York's music scene, to global tours, sharing the spotlight with some of the most iconic musical acts of the past six decades. An exceptional blend of a classically trained musician and a relentless riff master, Warren shattered barriers with his thirst for innovation alongside his indomitable spirit.But his journey was far from a solo act; it unfolded against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Era, where the rhythm of societal change harmonized with his personal revolution. In a time when Black musicians battled for recognition, he carved a path that would become a bridge between cultures and a beacon of resilience. His contributions to jazz, R&B, funk, pop, and rock and roll became a universal language, uniting hearts and transcending boundaries.Beyond the melodies and the applause lies a story of unwavering passion, unyielding determination, and unbreakable friendships. Crossing Borders and Playing With Pioneers invites you to step into the electrifying journey of a jazz legend, a trailblazing percussionist, drummer, arranger, and composer who didn't just play the music-he became its heartbeat.

Kick Ass: Changing the Odds through Faith, Will, and Hard Work is a powerful narrative of resilience and determination. The author recounts her journey following a catastrophic accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down, a condition akin to that of Christopher Reeve. In her darkest hour, she turned to Christ, whose response marked the beginning of a remarkable turnaround. Her head therapist, upon her departure from acute rehab, confessed that he initially doubted her chances of recovery. Despite this, she defied expectations. Evie, a Michigan State University graduate, furthered her education by obtaining an MBA on a grant from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She broke barriers as the only female director in the aerospace sector of Allied Signal. Her steadfast faith in Christ provided the strength needed to navigate through her life's crises. Now a mother of two and grandmother of three, she cherishes the life she has been able to resume, despite its limitations. These restrictions once hindered her from golfing for 11.5 years. However, after discovering Balance of Nature, she joyously returned to golf, a beloved activity she thought lost to her, completing the last piece of her recovery puzzle.

This is the first full history of voting in Wisconsin from statehood in 1848 to the present. Fowler both tells the story of voting in key elections across the years and investigates electoral trends and patterns over the course of Wisconsin's history. He explores the ways that ethnic and religious groups in the state have voted historically and how they vote today, and he looks at the successes and failures of the two major parties over the years. Highlighting important historical movements, Fowler discusses the great struggle for women's suffrage and the rich tales of many Wisconsin third parties--the Socialists, Progressives, the Prohibition Party, and others. Here, too, are the famous politicians in Wisconsin history, such as the La Follettes, William Proxmire, and Tommy Thompson.

"Each year, approximately forty thousand Americans are killed by gunshot wounds, which is roughly equivalent to the annual rate of traffic deaths on American roads and highways. Of those forty thousand gun fatalities, more than half of them are suicides, which in turn account for half of all suicides per year. Add in the murders caused by guns, the accidental deaths caused by guns, the law enforcement killings caused by guns, and the average comes out to more than one hundred Americans killed by bullets every day. On that same average day, another two hundred-plus are wounded by guns, which translates into eighty thousand a year. Eighty thousand wounded and forty thousand dead, or one hundred and twenty thousand ambulance calls and emergency room cases for every twelve-month tick of the clock, but the toll of gun violence goes far beyond the pierced and bloodied bodies of the victims themselves, spilling out into the devastations visited upon their immediate families, their extended families, their friends, their fellow workers, the people of their neighborhoods, their schools, their churches, their softball teams, and communities at large-the vast brigade of lives touched by the presence of a single person who lives or has lived among them-meaning that the number of Americans directly or indirectly marked by gun violence every year must be tallied in the millions"--