American Heritage

The American Heritage history book series highlights the little-known stories of America’s marginalized populations. Meet Bessie Coleman from the Lone Star state, the first black person in the world to earn a pilot's license. Discover how the Grand Dame of the Everglades protected Florida’s unique wildlife, and tour iconic symbols of old Richmond architecture, built by talented Black laborers and architects. Learn how to interpret Wabanaki art, call shotgun with the San Diego lowriders, and get a taste for Baltimore’s Little Italy, all within the pages of the American Heritage books. [View all American Heritage books]
8 products
A History of Connecticut's Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe
A History of Connecticut's Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe
$21.99
Remarkable Women of Hartford
Remarkable Women of Hartford
$21.99
A History of Jewish Connecticut
A History of Jewish Connecticut
$21.99
Remarkable Women of Old Saybrook
Remarkable Women of Old Saybrook
$21.99
Remarkable Women of Old Lyme
Remarkable Women of Old Lyme
$21.99
Waterbury Irish
Waterbury Irish
$21.99
Connecticut River Shipbuilding
Connecticut River Shipbuilding
$21.99
The Slaves of Central Fairfield County
The Slaves of Central Fairfield County
$21.99

A History of Connecticut's Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe

9781596292963

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From triumphs to tragedies, A History of Connecticut's Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe vividly recounts the long lost history of southwestern Connecticut's Paugussett tribe. Since the arrival of Columbus, Native Americans have endured countless hardships. Like all of New England's indigenous people, western Connecticut's Paugussett tribe has suffered injustice and fought determinedly to preserve their cultural identity. In A History of Connecticut's Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe, author Charles Brilvitch passionately chronicles the tribe's struggles and fascinating history through the Victorian era to the present, and traces their traditions and ongoing determination to preserve an irreplaceable and vanishing culture.
A History of Connecticut's Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe

Remarkable Women of Hartford

9781626193208

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Connecticut's capital has served as home to some of the most influential women in the state's history, but few know the stories of their lives and accomplishments. Nineteenth-century abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin became a catalyst for the Civil War. Ella Grasso was the first woman elected governor in the United States. Hannah Bunce Watson, publisher of the Hartford Courant, never skipped a single edition during the Revolutionary War. Through these and many more inspiring profiles, author and journalist Cynthia Wolfe Boynton chronicles the struggles and triumphs of some of Hartford's most remarkable women.
Remarkable Women of Hartford

A History of Jewish Connecticut

9781596299870

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During the Revolutionary War, Sephardic Jews fled British-occupied New York to become the first Jewish families in Connecticut. This long Jewish history is explored in a collection of essays by historians and community members across the state, from colonial times and the role Jews played in the Civil War to memories of summer nights at Lebanon's Grand Lake Lodge and Danbury's Lake Waubeeka. Join editor Betty N. Hoffman and company as they recount tales of Kid Kaplan, the Meriden Buzz Saw," who became boxing's 1925 Featherweight Champion of the World; the Lender family, who "bagelized America"; and the graceful personal service of Marlow's Department Store in Manchester to reveal a fascinating and intimate portrait of Jewish Connecticut."
A History of Jewish Connecticut

Remarkable Women of Old Saybrook

9781609498665

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Situated at the mouth of the Connecticut River, Old Saybrook has been home to generations of remarkable women. The women of this quintessentially New England town have faced and overcome overwhelming adversity to leave indelible marks on their town and its history. Katharine Houghton Hepburn, mother of the legendary actress Katharine Hepburn, organized the Hartford Political Equality League to battle for women's right to vote. Anna Louise James fought to become the first black female pharmacist in Connecticut, and she took care of her community, serving them medicine as well as ice cream sodas at James Pharmacy. There is also local restaurateur Steffie Walters, who after emigrating from Austria remained at the helm of the much-loved shore eatery Dock and Dine for eleven years. Historian Tedd Levy chronicles the achievements of these extraordinary women who broke barriers, changed their communities and expanded opportunities for future generations.
Remarkable Women of Old Saybrook

Remarkable Women of Old Lyme

9781626197909

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Old Lyme's illustrious history owes much to innovative women. Suffragist Katharine Ludington was co-founder of the League of Women Voters. In the 1830s, Phoebe Griffin Noyes started a school for art and general subjects. At the turn of the twentieth century, Florence Griswold welcomed the artists of the Lyme Art Colony by creating the "Birthplace of American Impressionism." By World War II, Teddy Kenyon had made her mark as a test pilot. Old Lyme's artistic tradition was continued by Elisabeth Gordon Chandler, who founded the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in 1976. Authors Michaelle Pearson and Jim Lampos honor the women whose triumphs made Old Lyme the popular summer resort and artists' colony it is today.
Remarkable Women of Old Lyme

Waterbury Irish

9781626197350

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The hard work of nineteenth-century Irish immigrants in Waterbury helped place the city on the map as the Brass Capital of the World.


In the early years of immigration, the Irish still had a hard road before them, filled with prejudice and social exclusion. Irish Catholics would hold Mass in secret, but eventually beautiful churches were built, attracting the most revered clergy in Connecticut. Soon Irish and Irish Americans established themselves as city leaders and professionals in the community. Dr. Charles A. Monagan was a founding member of St. Mary's Hospital, while his son John later became mayor. Some achieved fame through their excellence in sports, such as Roger Connor, whose long-standing record for career home runs was unbeatable until finally broken by the one and only Babe Ruth. Detailed research and oral histories from living descendants bring to light the remarkable Waterbury Irish legacy.

Waterbury Irish

Connecticut River Shipbuilding

9781467144476

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Shipbuilding and shipping have always been key elements in the life of Essex. Since the seventeenth century, the men and women of the lower Connecticut River Valley sustained maritime traditions that spanned the globe in splendid wooden sailing vessels. Their accomplishments include building the first warship of the Connecticut navy and the world's first submarine. They also served as packet ship captains, navigators and skilled crew members who crossed the Atlantic. The Essex area was also home to dedicated craftsmen who produced some of the finest yachts ever built. Noted historians Wick Griswold and Ruth Major detail one village's important role in American maritime history.
Connecticut River Shipbuilding

The Slaves of Central Fairfield County

9781596291515

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Much attention has been given to the Northern response to the South's "peculiar institution" of slavery. While the details of anti-slavery activity are well known, the other side of history is neglected: the enslavement, mistreatment and subjugation of slaves who lived and toiled in Northern states. In this ground-breaking book on the slaves of Fairfield County, historian Dan Cruson reveals the harsh reality of slavery in the North that existed alongside anti-slavery activity by presenting a comprehensive picture of rural slavery in 18th and early 19th century Connecticut.

From the framework of everyday life including the slave-master relationship, housing and dress, to the role of slaves and free blacks in the Revolution that hastened the demise of slavery in Connecticut, Cruson's accessible and intriguing rendering of slave life in central Fairfield County will fascinate and inform readers. Utilizing local slave archaeology, Cruson presents exciting recent discoveries that shed light on African American spiritual practices. He goes on to tackle the complicated issue of the anti-slavery activity, discussing the problems with the abolition movement in Fairfield County in the 1830s and 1840s and questioning prevalent local folklore about the Underground Railroad.
The Slaves of Central Fairfield County