American Biographies - History Books

When young Samuel Clemens first visited the nation's capital in 1854, both were rough around the edges and of dubious potential. Returning as Mark Twain in 1867, he brought his sharp eye and acerbic pen to the task of covering the capital for nearly a half-dozen newspapers. He fit in perfectly among the other hard-drinking and irreverent correspondents. His bohemian sojourn in Washington, D.C., has been largely overlooked, but his time in the capital city was catalytic to Twain's rise as America's foremost man of letters. While in Washington City, Twain received a publishing offer from the American Publishing Company that would jumpstart his fame. Through original research unearthing never-before-seen material, author John Muller explores how Mark Twain's adventures as a capital correspondent proved to be a critical turning point in his career.

Harriet Hubbard Ayer moved to New York City by 1883 and established Recamier Preparations, Inc., the earliest cosmetic company owned and operated by a woman. First with her creams and balms and then with her words about women's health and beauty, she influenced several generations of women to look and feel good about themselves. The jealous and vindictive men in her life punished her for her ambition, accomplishments and independence by attempting to steal her lucrative business and seize her children. After she successfully sued them, they had her committed to an insane asylum. Indomitable, this former Chicago socialite reinvented herself as the highest paid newspaperwoman in the United States, editing the women's pages of Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. Her incredible story is presented here as never before.

New York City has earned its place as the media capital of the world, and its newspapers have chronicled life, death, triumph, and tragedy. While people like Damon Runyon, Walter Winchell, and Jimmy Breslin are remembered for how they wrote about the news, the people who documented it visually are mostly forgotten. For many decades, photographers who captured iconic images for New York's newspapers did so anonymously--picture credit lines were a rarity. This is the story of the people behind the pictures, a history of the historians. In 1915, a group of lensmen formed a fraternal organization to promote their craft and support one another through hardship. A century later, the New York Press Photographers Association (NYPPA) is regarded as the oldest press association in America, and it still advocates for its members in an ever-changing field. At work or at play, New York's photojournalists are hardly the nameless, faceless bunch history would have us believe them to be.