According to legend, Kokomo, Indiana was named after a Miami Indian Chief who lived in the area, "Ma Ko Ko Mo" -meaning Black Walnut. Founded in 1842 by David Foster, a frontier trader, Kokomo has since become the home to many of the nation's most influential inventions. From the birthplace of the automobile to the introduction of stainless steel and the development of canned tomato juice, Kokomo has been a leader in ingenuity, earning its nickname, the "City of Firsts." In this collection...

As we move out of the past and into the present, our landscape is forever altered by the passing of time. The face of Kokomo, "The City of Firsts," has changed over the years. Once an image of small-town Americana, Kokomo has grown-expanding its industrial reach, enticing new residents, and continuing to be the first in a number of fields.Kokomo, Indiana: Then and Now takes the reader back to a simpler time in Kokomo history. Using historic images paired with contemporary photos, authors T...

The masterfully told story of twelve volatile days in the life of Chicago, when an aviation disaster, a race riot, a crippling transit strike, and a sensational child murder transfixed and roiled a city already on the brink of collapse.When 1919 began, the city of Chicago seemed on the verge of transformation. Modernizers had an audacious, expensive plan to turn the city from a brawling, unglamorous place into "the Metropolis of the World." But just as the dream se...

The powerful story of the women who stood up for their right to vote in early twentieth-century Missouri—includes photos.It was June 14, 1916, a warm, sticky Wednesday morning. The Democratic Convention would soon meet in St. Louis. Inside the Jefferson Hotel, the men ate breakfast and met with their committees. Outside the hotel, thousands of women quietly took their places along both sides of Locust Street.They stood shoulder to shoulder, each one in a dr...

The author of True Crime: Michigan "tells the tale of an alleged World War I German spy and love-ad bandit from Royal Oak who killed to cover up his work" ( C&G News).In the fall of 1916, New York housemaid Augusta Steinbach fell in love with a man she met through a matrimonial advertisement in her local newspaper. She traveled to Detroit to marry her correspondent, but in March 1917, she mysteriously disappeared. What began as a routine search fo...

Forgotten Detroit delves into the wellspring of history to retell some of Detroit's lesser-known stories within the Motor City's rich heritage. Detroiters know their history well. Founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the city subsisted on a variety of industries: fur trading, stove building, and, of course, the automobile. Names such as Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh resonate in Detroiters' common memory while Detroit's meteoric rise during the 20th century established the ci...

Waukegan, Illinois has a long history, with a rich and varied heritage. Countless individuals, businesses, and organizations have contributed to that heritage, and continue today to contribute to the legacy of this community. One of Waukegan's most notable citizens was Jack Benny. Throughout his long career he regularly cited his hometown and its influence on him, and he often contributed to the city with his many appearances. But he wasn't the only person to bring fame to Waukegan. Edward...

For too long, LGBTQ communities—including Minnesota’s—have been maligned, misrepresented, and often outright ignored. Myths regarding the queer experience have grown and become embedded in local and national consciousness. The absence of queer stories over time in local historical and popular writing only served to further this ignorance, but great strides have been made in recent decades to celebrate Minnesota’s vibrant queer history. Add to this rising chorus an enchanting new voice:

Challenging traditional histories of abolition, this book shifts the focus away from the East to show how the women of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin helped build a vibrant antislavery movement in the Old Northwest.Stacey Robertson argues that the environment of the Old Northwest — with its own complicated history of slavery and racism — created a uniquely collaborative and flexible approach to abolitionism. Western women helped build this local focus through thei...

Ben Marzan–-Searching for meaning in his life, Marzan studies with The Imam and converts to a radical sect of Islam. He's the perfect candidate for a terrorist...American-born, assimilated, and eager to embrace Jihad.Anatoly Shenko–-A disaffected Russian scientist working in Siberia, Shenko is one of the world's top experts on biological warfare. But he, his wife and son are in ill health and he's in desperate need of money.Abdul Saidadov–-A former Chechen rebel, Saidadov a...

From 1926 through 1977, Route 66 carried millions of travelers from the shores of Lake Michigan to the Pacific Coast. Americans fell in love with the automobile and made a family tradition of the road trip. On its three different alignments through the capital city of Springfield, Route 66 took motorists around the Illinois State Fairgrounds, past the state capitol, and through Abraham Lincoln�s neighborhood. Mom-and-pop motels, gas stations, and eateries opened along the highway and becam...

Great Plains Literature is an exploration of influential literature of the Plains region in both the United States and Canada. It reflects the destruction of the culture of the first people who lived there, the attempts of settlers to conquer the land, and the tragic losses and successes of settlement that are still shaping our modern world of environmental threat, ethnic and racial hostilities, declining rural communities, and growing urban populations.In addition to feat...