Book Spotlight
About This BlogThe library would like to highlight prominent books in the collection that offer something new or relevant to the ongoing discussion of history in our community. With this in mind, Book Spotlight will provide a monthly summary of a new or undiscovered book that might be of interest to readers. All the books featured in JNEM Library Book Spotlight are available in the park library, located in the Old Courthouse at 11 N. Fourth Street. Please note that the library is a research facility and therefore books do not circulate. Many of the books highlighted will also be available at local public libraries. A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter
May 14, 2013
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Local author Fredrick McKissack died recently at the age of 73. He wrote many award- winning books with his wife, Patricia McKissack in the past 33 years. Let’s celebrate that partnership and look back at a book they wrote in 1989. A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of MexicoAuthor Amy S. Greenberg’s skilled storytelling and solid scholarship bring this American war to life with memorable characters, plotlines, and legacies. Often overlooked, the U.S.-Mexican War featured lots of drama as it divided the nation, paved the way for the Civil War a generation later, and virtually launched the career of Abraham Lincoln. A Wicked War brings all these elements to life. Pretty-shield: Medicine Woman of the Crows.As we celebrate Women’s History Month in March, let’s remember a woman who shared her life story several decades ago. Pretty-shield, the legendary medicine woman of the Crows, remembered what life was like on the Plains when the buffalo were still plentiful. Dred and Harriet Scott: Their Family Story. Hager, Ruth Ann. St. Louis County Library, 2010.Author Ruth Ann Hager sheds new light on many aspects of the Dred Scott family in her recent book, Dred & Harriet Scott: Their Family Story. Hager, a certified genealogist and genealogical lecturer, works at the St. Louis County Library as a genealogical specialist and is clearly motivated by her subject material. Inside the White House; America's Most Famous HomeInside the White House; America’s Most Famous Home. Caroli, Betty Boyd. Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest, 1999. The White House has a long and interesting history that unfolds in the splendid book, Inside the White House; America’s Most Famous Home. Lincoln: An Illustrated BiographyLincoln: An Illustrated Biography. Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., Philip B. Kunhardt III, and Peter W. Kunhardt. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Many people are crowding theaters to see Steven Spielberg’s film, Lincoln. To any reader who wants a closer look at the sixteenth president, I propose they get a copy of Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography. Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United StatesDays of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States. Patricia & Frederick McKissack. New York: Scholastic Press, 2003. Patricia and Frederick McKissack’s book, Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States, explains early on that there was no single day when slavery ended in the United States. The day a slave was told of his or her freedom was their day of emancipation- their “day of jubilee.” Thomas Jefferson Architect: The Built Legacy of Our Third PresidentThomas Jefferson Architect: The Built Legacy of Our Third President, is a tribute to Jefferson’s architectural legacy and an archive of his building legacy. Thomas Jefferson is considered by many as our first great American architect and the Jeffersonian classical style is one of the most recognized architectural styles in American history. Joe Jones: Radical Painter of the American SceneJoe Jones: Radical Painter of the American Scene. Walker, Andrew. St. Louis: St. Louis Art Museum and University of Washington Press, 2010. Joe Jones (1909-1963) was an American painter and social realist from St. Louis. His artistic career is explored in Andrew Walker’s book, Joe Jones: Radical Painter of the American Scene. The book is a catalogue for a recent exhibition on Jones. Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American FriendshipAbraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship, by Russell Freedman. Boston: Clarion Books, 2012. Author Russell Freedman, a Newberry Medal winner for Lincoln: A Photobiography, once again sets his sights on Lincoln, but this time he writes a joint biography about the friendship of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. 57 Years: A History of the Freedom Suits in the Missouri CourtsSestric, Anthony J. 57 Years: A History of the Freedom Suits in the Missouri Courts. St. Louis, MO: Reedy Press, 2012. The new book, 57 Years: A History of the Freedom Suits in the Missouri Courts, is the collective story of the people who worked to legally undo the mandates of the slave laws through freedom suits. Book Spotlight: May 2012Mark Twain: A Life. Ron Powers. New York: Free Press, 2005. Book Spotlight: April 2012Saarinen’s Quest: A Memoir. Knight, Richard. San Francisco: William Stout Publishers, 2008. Book Spotlight: March 2012Sisters: The Lives of America's Suffragists. Jean H. Baker. New York: Hill and Wang, 2005. Book Spotlight: February 2012The St. Louis African American Community and the Exodusters. Jack, Bryan M. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2007. Book Spotlight: January 2012U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth. Waugh, Joan. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. Book Spotlight: December 2011Fur, Fortune and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America, by Eric Jay Dolin. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 2010. Book Spotlight: November 2011The People of the River's Mouth: In Search of the Missouria Indians, by Michael Dickey. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2011 Book Spotlight: October 2011From All Points: America's Immigrant West, 1870s-1952, by Elliot Robert Barkan. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007. Book Spotlight: September 2011The Civil War Remembered (Official National Park Service Handbook); Virginia Beach: Donning Co. Publishers, 2011. Book Spotlight: August 2011Founding St. Louis: First City of the New West by J. Frederick Fausz, History Press, 2011. Welcome to Book SpotlightThe library would like to highlight prominent books in our collection that offer something new or relevant to the ongoing discussion of history in our community. With this in mind, we would like to inaugurate a new feature on our website that provides a summary of a new or undiscovered book that might be of interest to readers. |
Did You Know?
Pierre Cruzatte and George Gibson brought their fiddles along on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Their music entertained the group on many evenings. Click here to learn more about Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. More...