Museums not only preserve history--their mere presence shows what a community values and celebrates. And from the incredible variety of museums that dot the Mississippi landscape, it's abundantly clear that Mississippians celebrate everything from the quirky to the grand. From the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson to the Grammy Museum in Cleveland, the state boasts museums celebrating aprons, motorcycles, the game of bridge and the fight against the yellow fever epidemic. Join authors D...

The Artful Evolution of Hal & Mal's is a collaboration between artist Ginger Williams Cook and author Malcolm White about the people, the place, and the history of Hal & Mal's, an iconic institution in downtown Jackson, Mississippi.Featuring beautiful watercolor paintings, the book brings together thirty years of family history, live music performances, and cafe society through graphic designs of old photographs, original illustrations, Hal's legendary recipe cards, and th...

With contributions by Walter Biggins, Patti Carr Black, Lottie Brent Boggan, Donald H. Butts, Bob Carskadon, Rebecca Lauck Cleary, David Creel, Sylvia Nettles Dickson, Pat Flynn, Chris Gilmer, Peggy Gilmer-Piasecki, Carolyn Haines, Ann Tyrone Hebert, C. C. Henley, Alice Jackson, Donald M. Kartiganer, Janice Marie Kraft, Francis X. Kuhn, Bill Luckett, Johnnie Mae Maberry, Debbie Campbell Matthews, Charline R. McCord, Jo McDivitt, Cheri Thornton McHugh, Thomas McIntyre, Margaret McMullan, Wi...

Open a copy of the Information Please Almanac and turn to the chapter on famous people. 4000 names and you won't know hardly any. But what about names everyone knows? Pillsbury, Maytag, Kellogg. Nowhere to be found. How many names are more famous than Howard Johnson or Oscar Mayer? But who were these folks? Let's look at the men behind the names where we pull off the road to eat.

This collection uncovers the fascinating past of Tennessee's legendary Music City from true tall tales to larger than life characters and much more.Perched on the banks of the Cumberland River, Nashville is best known for its role in the civil rights movement, world-class education and, of course, country music. In this unique collection of columns written for The Tennessean, journalist and longtime Tennessee native George Zepp illuminates a less familiar ...

We’ve assembled a crackpot team of Ohio investigators to comb the countryside, explore the cities, and uncover the history, trivia, and fun facts that make the Buckeye State such a unique and special place. Read about…* Ohio firsts* John Glenn, Johnny Appleseed, and other famous Ohioans* Cleveland rocks!* From Ada to Youngstown: a crossword puzzle* The pride of the Buckeyes* The Wright sister’s role in history* Akron’s All-American...

From the New York Times bestselling authors at Garden & Gun comes a lively compendium of Southern tradition and contemporary culture.The American South is a diverse region with its own vocabulary, peculiarities, and complexities. Tennessee whiskey may technically be bourbon, but don’t let anyone in Kentucky hear you call it that. And while boiling blue crabs may be the norm across the Lowcountry in South Carolina and Georgia, try that in front of Marylanders and t...

Finding my father was a wonderful feeling; forgiving him was even better. I have been set free, and now I can look at all the houses he built and the St. Louis arch in four states: South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, and Missouri.

In the 1700s, Amsterdam was just a small trading village in upstate New York. Utilizing its superior location astride critical waterways, the village grew during the westward expansion of the early 1800s to become an industrial powerhouse. By the 20th century, Amsterdam had become America's foremost rug-making center, nicknamed the 'Carpet City,' and the seventh largest city in New York. Waves of Dutch, German, Irish, Italian, and eastern European immigrants were drawn to the city for work...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “One of contemporary literature’s most revered essayists revives her raw records from a 1970s road trip across the American southwest ... her acute observations of the country’s culture and history feel particularly resonant today.” —Harper’s BazaarJoan Didion, the bestselling, award-winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Let Me Tell You What I Mean, has always kept notebooks—of overheard dialogue, interv...

There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way, a downloadable walking tour is ready to explore when you are.Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer o...

An important book for anyone with an interest in life, American music, Southern culture, dancing, accordions, the recording industry, folklore, old dance clubs in the weeds, fortune tellers, hoodoos or shotguns.” -Annie ProulxThere’s a musical kingdom in the American South that’s not marked on any map. Stretching from the prairies of Louisiana to the oil towns of East Texas, it is ruled over accordion-squeezing, washboard-wielding musicians such as Buckwheat Zydec...