AWARDED THE KIRKUS STAR!NAMED TO KIRKUS REVIEWS' BEST OF 2011 LIST!2012 ERIC HOFFER BOOK AWARD RECIPIENT!INDIE BOOK AWARDS FINALIST IN TWO MEMOIR CATEGORIES!An extended Italian immigrant family clings to community life amid tragedy, the Spanish flu, Prohibition, and the Great Depression. A broken Polish immigrant family leaves a legacy of heartbreak, separation, Civilian Conservation Corps redemption, and World War II heroism. From these dissimilar backgrounds emerges a quintessential American family, one whose members embody the conflicting social movements of their times: a staunchly Catholic Polish immigrant U.S. Marine Corps father, an emotionally effusive Italian mother, an Oliver North son, a Hillary Clinton daughter, a mentally ill sister, a jock brother, a lesbian rocker, and a gay male activist. In an age of bitter cultural polarization, Oh, Beautiful: An American Family in the 20th Century celebrates what has kept America together. This true story is an engrossing portrait of an American family and an evocative documentation of nearly 100 years of American history.Read a free excerpt (Chapter One) at johnpaulgodges.com/Excerpt1.html

North Carolina's Ocracoke island has produced a remarkably cohesive community of islanders. For more than two centuries, these Ocracokers lived in relative isolation, enjoying the beauty and battling the destructive forces of the Atlantic. In the past two decades, tourists discovered this "unique fishing village by the sea," and the tiny island was forever altered. Alarmed at the dramatic changes in the island's character over the past generation, Alton Ballance set out to capture the story of Ocracoke and its people from the unique perspective of a native.Ballance accompanies the people of Ocracoke on their everyday activities—fishing, hunting, boating—all the time recording their stories about events and people that have shaped the island's history. They have lived through hurricanes, and they remember their ancestors talking of the shipwrecks and daring rescues that occurred off the treacherous coast. During the many years when no doctor resided on the island, Ocracokers delivered each other's babies and attended to their own illnesses, sometimes with local cures.When Ballance was growing up on Ocracoke in the 1960s and 1970s, the number of year-round residents hovered around 500. Now Ocracoke is a major tourist attraction visited by hundreds of thousands of people each year. As tourism has flourished, the island has become less isolated, and Ballance discusses the consequences of this development for both islander and visitor. The modernization that accompanies tourism has provided many benefits for the island, among them better health care and schooling and more jobs. Nonetheless, the Ocracoke of old is rapidly disappearing. This book is a tribute to that Ocracoke and her people.

224 rare photos: Lincoln's inauguration, Ford's Theater in 1865, Frederick Douglass, Women's Suffrage Parade, Georgetown in 1893, White House East Room in 1893 and more. Stunning views by Brady, Bishop, Peale, others. Pre-Civil War to modern era.

Second German Evangelical Lutheran was one of the earliest German-speaking congregations established in Baltimore, Maryland. Fortunately, the surviving baptismal and burial registers of Second German Lutheran Church are intact from its founding in late 1835 until its closure in late 1867. The original documents are entirely in German. The author has transcribed the German entries as closely as possible from the original within the limits of legibility. The majority of this work is divided into baptisms, burials and confirmations. These three sections are arranged alphabetically by surname. Each baptism entry includes the following information: surname, child's given name, birth date, baptismal date, father's given name, father's place of birth, mother's surname and given name, mother's place of birth, surname and given name of witnesses, and comments. Total baptisms from 1837 until 1867 were 3,042 with more than 12,000 names. Each burial entry includes the following information: surname of decedent, given name of decedent, date of death, date of burial, birth date or age, place of birth, survivor(s) and comments. Because survivor information is provided, it is relatively easy to see how the deceased fit into a given family. The total number of burials entered from 1837 to 1867 is 1,046 with roughly 2,500 names. Unfortunately, there is an incomplete record of confirmations, and confirmation data are rather scant. These entries typically include: surname, given name and date of confirmation. The total number of confirmations is 822. An index is provided to all names other than the subject of the event, as subjects are already listed alphabetically by surname. Since there are so many geographic place names extracted from this church register, a place name index is also included.

In the summer and fall of 1838, animosity between Mormons and their neighbors in western Missouri erupted into an armed conflict known as the Mormon War.  The conflict continued until early November, when the outnumbered Mormons surrendered and agreed to leave the state.In this major new interpretation of those events, LeSueur argues that while a number of prejudices and fears stimulated the opposition of Missourians to their Mormon neighbors, Mormon militancy contributed greatly to the animosity between them.  Prejudice and poor judgment characterized leaders on both sides of the struggle.  In addition, LeSueur views the conflict as an expression of attitudes and beliefs that have fostered a vigilante tradition in the United States.  The willingness of both Missourians and Mormons to adopt extralegal measures to protect and enforce community values led to the breakdown of civil control and to open warfare in northwestern Missouri.

The Sweeter the Juice is a provocative memoir that goes to the heart of our American identity. Shirlee Taylor Haizlip, in an effort to reconcile the dissonance between her black persona and her undeniably multiracial heritage, started on a journey of discovery that took her over thousands of miles and hundreds of years. While searching for her mother's family, Haizlip confronted the deeply intertwined but often suppressed tensions between race and skin color. We are drawn in by the story of an African-American family. Some members chose to "cross over" and "pass" for white while others enjoyed a successful black life. Their stories weave a tale of tangled ancestry, mixed blood, and identity issues from the 17th century to the present. The Sweeter the Juice is a memoir, a social history, a biography, and an autobiography. Haizlip gives to us the quintessential American story, unveiling truths about race, about our society, and about the ways in which we all perceive and judge one another.

Flags stir the most noble emotions within the human heart. This fascinating book features color illustrations of Missouri Civil War-era flags, along with brief text about the history of each unit and its flag.

Chicago and Cook County: A Guide to Research is the most comprehensive guide to the vastly complex sources and records for Chicago, Illinois, area. Completely revised and updated, this book covers thousands of genealogical sources in detail, including addresses and telephone numbers for hundreds of record locations.