New Book Releases

Since the 1789 charter of the country's first state university, Chapel Hill has attracted people from all over who found that the town was the perfect place to put down roots. In this collection, local newspaper columnist Valarie Schwartz celebrates many of Chapel Hill's most notable residents, from the World War II veteran who came to law school after the war and ended up as president of the UNC system for thirty years to the couple from the Midwest who arrived in 1935 and spent their careers building the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra. Featuring stories of struggle and success from all walks of life, Remembering Chapel Hill is a tribute to the twentieth-century citizens who made the city what it is today: "a Southern slice of heaven."

Founded in 1759, Bethania was the first planned Moravian settlement in North Carolina, situated favorably on the Great Wagon Road of the colonial era. Bethania's narrative weaves together 250 years of history and memory, with voices from the town's white and black heritage speaking through autobiographical accounts, diaries, letters, oral histories, photographs, and archival research. Join local resident Beverly Hamel as she tells the story of proud Pilgrim people who journeyed into an unknown wilderness and built a community that would remain intact through the volatile periods of the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, slavery and the years leading to the Civil War, the Reconstruction era, and into the twentieth century. The story of Bethania is a celebration of an enduring spirit that will never die.

Beloved storyteller and chronicler of Henderson County heritage Louise Howe Bailey (1915, 2009) lives on through her edifying anecdotes.

This new collection of Bailey's ruminations maintains her work of preserving earlier Henderson County history with its abundant assortment of characters, landmarks and natural wonders. Discover why Hendersonville was called the ""dancingest"" town in America and how a troop of young rapscallions rubbed a bar of Octagon soap on the railroad tracks so trains couldn't climb from Melrose to Saluda. Bring your pickaxe up to the top of Glassy Mountain to unearth the buried treasure hidden during the Civil War, and experience the hummingbirds, katydids, Carolina wrens and bullfrogs of the North Carolina countryside as you meander through Bailey's magnetic prose.

Remembering Alamance County is a collection of historical stories that takes readers on a delightful journey through the years to meet a variety of interesting people and revisit some of the fascinating events that have helped to shape the story of this beloved county in the Tar Heel State.

As history has progressed, so has Alamance County, and its citizens have witnessed scores of changes. Time has seen the county evolve from a quaint railroad community into a major textile center, with horse-drawn buggies giving way to streetcars, which all but disappeared with the advent of automobiles. Readers of this collection can turn back the clock and visit C.F. "Pete" Neese, the first child born in Burlington; Dr. Floyd Scott, who helped to bring the modern world to his country practice; Tom Zachary, who threw the pitch that put Babe Ruth in the record books and presidential candidate Lyndon B. Johnson, who rolled through Alamance County on the campaign trail.

Some of the stories reflect major events in not only in the county's history, but in the nation's history as well. And tucked between the big names and big to-dos are some little-known tales that have contributed to make Alamance County the place it is today. Remembering Alamance County is a fond look at the history of a unique section of the North Carolina piedmont, sure to please old-timers and newcomers alike.

Can you call yourself a self-respecting North Carolinian if you don't know that Babe Ruth hit his first home run in the Tar Heel State? That Annie Oakley gave shooting lessons in Pinehurst? That renowned Siamese twins Chang and Eng lived in Surry County? Or that unrepenting bootleggers hid out in Rutherford County?

Father-daughter team K. Randell and Caitlin D. Jones think not, and to cure your curiosity, to supply you with clever quips at cocktail parties or to convince your teachers that you really have studied, they have gathered a wonderful collection of stories originally written by lauded North Carolina historian Dr. H.G. Jones for his long-standing "In Light of History" series.

This revised and updated edition contains ten additional accounts of Tar Heel history, accompanied by archival images from the lifetime collection of Dr. Jones and a map highlighting each story's geographic interest area.

The ancient hills of Western North Carolina have cradled a culture that encompasses Cherokee heritage, pioneer legacies and urban visions.

For those who visit and those who make the region their home, there is something captivating about the mountains of Western North Carolina. We meet Lillian Exum Clement, the first female legislator in the South; and Nina Simone, the African American singing prodigy from Tryon. We get to view controversial elements of the Civil War in Western North Carolina from multiple points of view and draw our own conclusions. We comprehend the variety of people who have created the region as it exists now--alive with traditions, contradictions and promise.

Instead of merely reciting historical fact, and with a warm, accessible style, Asheville Citizen Times writer Rob Neufeld helps readers understand the history of the mountains by allowing us to walk in the shoes of the Native Americans, farmers, soldiers and others who preceded us. More than an enlightening read, this book illuminates the progression of frontier life that we have come to know as Western North Carolina history. By linking the lives and experiences of the land's various inhabitants, Neufeld captures the spirit of Appalachia within this volume.