The history of Brown County has been shaped largely by the Ohio River. It has allowed farmers and industries to transport their products and provided recreation, entertainment, and travel opportunities to the residents of the community. Even though flooding of the river brought destruction many times, it also enabled freedom for thousands of slaves. Under abolitionist leaders like John Rankin and John Parker, parts of Brown County became known as the "Grand Central Station" of the Undergro...

An award-winning author chronicles the settling of the Ohio River Valley, home to the defiant Shawnee Indians, who vow to defend their land against the seemingly unstoppable.They came on foot and by horseback, in wagons and on rafts, singly and by the score, restless, adventurous, enterprising, relentless, seeking a foothold on the future. European immigrants and American colonists, settlers and speculators, soldiers and missionaries, fugitives from justice and fro...

This biography recounts the rise of the American retail magnate who would go on to open London's famous Selfridge's department stores.In early 1909, a new retail emporium readied for business on the "wrong end of Oxford Street" in London. The man behind it was an odd little American with a waxed mustache and frenetic nature. Harry Gordon Selfridge had spent the previous twenty-five years in Chicago honing his skills at the venerable Marshall Field and Company befor...

It winds from Chicago to L.A.��so says Nat �King� Cole�s classic hit �(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.� Beginning in 1926, Route 66 was the only U.S. highwayproviding a direct connection between the Windy City and the City of Angels; thus, it is no wonder that Route 66 would become the metaphor of the Americanjourney. The crescent-shaped route from the shore of Lake Michigan to the southern Pacific Coast followed a corridor blazed by Native American footpaths,pioneer waterways, and transconti...

This book presents a glimpse into Green County�s colorful and historic past. Not only are the communities of present-day Green County included, but also within are the ghost towns Attica, Dayton, Dutch Hollow, Martintown, Postville, and Schultz. While far from a complete photographic history of Green County, the reader will get a glimpse of many of the lesser-known facets of its history, both physical and personal. It is the author�s hope that this book will serve as a beginning point for ...

KU alumnus and Jayhawk enthusiast Kenn Johnson is back with even more legends and firsts. Notable coaches like Danny Manning, who won the national championship as a player in 1988 and again as part of the coaching staff in 2008, have shaped and molded the team throughout the decades. Players like Raef LaFrentz, who became the first Jayhawks player in twenty-seven years to average a double-double over an entire season, keep the fans coming back for more. From the history of the famous Allen...

The world of sports in the earlier decades of the 20th century certainly wasn't like the one we know today--it's even wilder. From the Roaring Twenties and up to the golden age of the 1950s, chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. owned both the Chicago Cubs and Santa Catalina Island in Southern California, so despite being over 2000 miles apart, the team would hold their spring training on the island from 1921 to 1951. Despite a rigorous training schedule, the players obviously felt the s...

Frugal but generous, stubborn but innovative, trusting but cautious, Nebraskans are a people who chose to live in a harsh, semiarid land, from which they coaxed abundance. They may be, writes author Dorothy Weyer Creigh, the last of their kind.Nebraskans have been tied to the land, and their history, as much as that of any state, is a story of interdependence between people and place. As the "Great Highway" to somewhere else--California and Oregon--Nebraska was mar...

A vibrant community of artists, watermen, entrepreneurs, educators, and spiritual leaders left a legacy well worth preserving. Nestled in northeastern Indiana's Kosciusko County, Syracuse and its two lakes, Lake Wawasee and Syracuse Lake, became a popular area both for industry and tourism following the completion of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1874. What had been a quiet fisherman's paradise developed quickly, as hotels, restaurants, and merchants sprang up to meet the growing demand...

Featuring more than 200 vintage postcards, Peoria: A Postcard History captures the changing scenes of the river and downtown Peoria from 1900 to 1950. One of the largest cities in Illinois, Peoria is the seat of Peoria County and lies on the Illinois River where it forms Lake Peoria. Located in the state's central-farm country, Peoria is a manufacturing center known as the "Earth-Moving Equipment Capital of the World. " Distilling has also been important in Peoria, which was home to the wo...

An essential African American artist of his era, Archibald Motley Jr. created paintings of black Chicago that aligned him with the revisionist aims of the New Negro Renaissance. Yet Motley's approach to constructing a New Negro--a dignified figure both accomplished and worthy of respect--reflected the challenges faced by African American artists working on the project of racial reinvention and uplift.Phoebe Wolfskill demonstrates how Motley's art embodied the tenuous nature of the ...

Port Washington is a picturesque community on the shores of Lake Michigan, just a short drive north of Milwaukee. It celebrates its 175th birthday in September 2010. This book is a vivid description of the city�s history, from the Native Americans who lived on these shores when the voyageurs first arrived, through the birth of a thriving and industrious community of immigrants who settled here after leaving Germany and Luxembourg. The pages touch on the early years of industry, focusing on...