Coming Soon

Decades of Duty

IIn 1881, the first Buffalo Soldiers arrived in Arizona pursuing elusive Apaches. Over the following decades, African Americans from the Tenth U.S. Cavalry and Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Infantry added to the laurels won by the Ninth U.S. Cavalrymen. For more than six decades, Black soldiers served with honor, from campaigns against determined Native Americans to facing dangers along the turbulent border as the Mexican Revolution raged. During the dark days of World War II, they prepared for combat against foes both abroad and at home. All the while, they faced an ever-present, persistent enemy: racism.

Author John P. Langellier brings to life the rich history of Buffalo Soldiers in the Copper State.

Join Pinky the penguin as she teaches children about manners in this charming and educational story.

Pinky the penguin is very polite. She always tries to do what’s right. Today she will show us manners the Louisiana way, from sharing beignets at breakfast to tipping street musicians, greeting the streetcar driver, being a good sport at the football game, and more.

Casting a legacy

Long before automobiles made Detroit the Motor City, the city boasted a flourishing and diverse industrial economy, albeit on a more modest scale. Among the myriad industries that defined the nineteenth-century city, none held greater significance or broader influence than stove fabrication. Three manufacturers—Detroit Stove Works, Michigan Stove Company and the Peninsular Stove Company—dominated this sector, collectively contributing more than 10 percent of all cast-iron stoves produced and distributed throughout North America. At the forefront of this triumph were Jeremiah and James Dwyer, whose vision and ingenuity played pivotal roles in shaping the industry’s success.

Historian Gerald Van Dusen explores the key role that this early industry played in laying the groundwork and facilitating the production of automobiles.

Utilizing photographs from the Historical Society of Temple City, Donna Georgino explores the history of Temple City.  

When Walter P. Temple’s oldest son, nine-year-old Thomas, discovered oil on the family’s property in the Montebello Hills, Temple used his newfound wealth to purchase 285 acres of the Rancho San Francisquito. Temple, along with his associates Milton Kauffman, George Woodruff, and Sylvester Dupuy, established the Temple Townsite Company in 1923 and began selling plots of land designed to form a new community for the middle class. With a park, a church, a central business district, and an extension of the Pacific Electric Red Car line, the town of Temple soon became a thriving community. In 1928, the town of Temple changed its name to Temple City to avoid confusion at the post office. In 1944, the Woman’s Club initiated the Camellia Festival, an event that is still celebrated today.

Author Donna Georgino grew up in Temple City, attended Temple City schools, and currently serves as the president of the Historical Society of Temple City. The historical society was formed in 1987 by longtime residents interested in preserving Temple City’s history. In 2006, the Woman’s Club gifted/deeded its building on the corner of Kauffman and Woodruff Avenues to the society as a permanent home for the museum. 

Fran and Van Harahan are excited about the circus coming to New Orleans, not far from their bayou home. The couple remembers seeing those talented Cajun gators walking a boudin-link tightrope, high diving into a big gumbo pot, swinging from muscadine vines, spinning seafood platters, and more. When Fran and Van arrive for the show, they learn that Van is holding the golden ticket and will be in the last daring act of the night! Young readers will marvel at all the goings-on at this one-of-a-kind circus. 

Bursting with delightful colors and bright illustrations, Local Baby: Ohio engages babies’ attention and encourages families to explore what makes their state so great.

The origin of the name Southfield is not conclusively known, but it is surmised that the area gained its name because it was located in the “fields” south of Bloomfield Township. For much of its settled history, Southfield was a rural, agricultural community; however, that changed when Detroit experienced phenomenal growth in the early 20th century.

As Detroit’s borders strained to contain the influx of people and spurred by the development of the massive Northland Mall, Southfield rapidly developed in the mid-century. With its central location and connection to other major cities via the newly built John C. Lodge and Southfield Freeways, Southfield was also appealing to businesses. Fueled by the people and wealth flowing into the community, Southfield became an epicenter of the burgeoning Mid-Century Modern movement in architecture. Later, Southfield developed a reputation as a welcoming and tolerant place, and today, residents take pride in the highly diverse community.

Personal stories of life in Galveston in the mid-nineteenth century.

In 1855, Friedrich Gloor was just nineteen when he was sent from Basel, Switzerland, halfway around the world to teach at the First German Lutheran Church school in Galveston, Texas. He spent the next eleven years writing letters to his family about a place that was very different from his Swiss home. The climate was harsh, with stifling heat and bitter cold, droughts and floods. He provides a firsthand account of the treatment of slaves, frontier justice by hangings and burning criminals in the streets, shipwrecks, the yellow fever epidemic and the Civil War. However, Friedrich was haunted by something from his life in Switzerland for which he constantly asks for forgiveness. Friedrich’s secret remains shrouded in mystery, but his letters are a vivid glimpse into the pivotal moments of Galveston’s early history.

A Major Influence in Kentucky Life

Founding Father Thomas Jefferson had a strong but little-known connection with the constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He had personal and politically motivated influence on the 1792 charter and secretly wrote some controversial state resolutions. Author Denis Fleming draws on firsthand accounts from Jefferson, John Breckinridge and the rarely used papers of George Nicholas, the brain behind Kentucky’s first constitution, to uncover a huge influence from these men. He also demonstrates that modern reforms in job creation, education and the structure of government are rooted in parts of the document favored by Jefferson but dramatically interpreted by today’s governors, legislators and judges.

Portraits of Valor

The stories of the passions and personalities that placed Virginia in the forefront of the Revolutionary War were replete with grief and sacrifice. The breakup of families over political differences was common. Bereavement spared few, as evidenced by the death of George Washington’s stepson. But courageous characters persisted, from the “Paul Revere of Virginia” to the enslaved man turned American spy who helped ensure the Continental Army’s final victory at Yorktown. Author and TV host Chuck Mills documents the human side of the Revolution in the Old Dominion, including chronicles of battles, leaders and the impact of war on ordinary men and women.

Dig into the untold stories and lesser-known tales of MoCo.

Washington, D.C.’s next-door neighbor has seen many a politician, militant and Red Line passenger travel within its bounds, but the county’s own, unique history has sometimes been buried. Learn about George Washington’s Dickerson farm and what made one Germantown man take explosive revenge on his neighbor. How has a 105-year-old woman seen her community change over more than a century? Which groundbreaking horror movie filmed many of its iconic scenes around the area?

Author Brian Myers, a Gaithersburg native, has trekked across the county on a mission to record more than thirty chapters of the wildest, most shocking and inspiring stories that Montgomery County has to offer.

Join Beignet Bunny on a whimsical adventure through New Orleans as he searches for friends, convinced he's a sugar-covered treat, and encounters a colorful cast of characters along the way.

When Momma Bunny calls her new baby “my little beignet,” he becomes convinced he’s actually a sugar-covered treat, beloved in New Orleans. Beignet Bunny embarks on an adventure, asking a pelican, crawfish, turtle, and even a sleeping possum where all the other beignets play. Will he be able to find a friend? Young readers will enjoy hopping along with the sweetest bunny as he searches for others like him.

Discover the history San Mateo County's gas stations through this collection of historic photographs.

The years following the 1906 earthquake saw a migration from the city to the suburbs, farms, and orchards of the San Francisco Peninsula’s San Mateo County. Mobility on the peninsula came in the form of streetcars, trains, and buses but was soon dominated by the automobile. Beginning in the late 1920s through the 1990s, the peninsula was inundated with automobile service stations, or gas stations, where smartly dressed station attendants practically ran to one’s car to fill the tank, check oil and tire pressure levels, and clean the windshield. At the peak, the small city of San Carlos had 23 stations. Today, it has only five. 

Bruce C. Cumming enjoyed a 42-year-long career in California law enforcement, serving as police chief of Menlo Park and Morgan Hill. Cumming has had an interest in all things automotive and currently owns several vintage autos and collects petroleum memorabilia. Nicholas A. Veronico is the author or coauthor of more than 45 books on art history, aviation, military, and transportation subjects. Together, they have sourced many rare, never-before-seen photographs from various county archives and private collections to document how car culture on the peninsula has changed over the years.

Spooky stories and behind-the-scene incidents from the award-winning PBS documentary "The Haunting of Louisiana

Welcome to spooky Louisiana!

Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms.

Did you know that ghost pirates haunt Louisiana's bayous in search of buried treasure? Or that at the Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge, you might find a trail of ghostly footprints? Can you believe that in New Orleans, ghosts and spirits come alive in the famously haunted Cities of the Dead?

Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Louisiana forever, and have you sleeping with the lights on!

Adapted from Haunted Louisiana by Barbara Sillery

Dr. Ann Webster Bunch delves into the enigmatic disappearance of William Morgan, a 19th-century figure whose threat to expose Masonic secrets led to his mysterious vanishing, igniting political turmoil and leaving a case that remains unresolved nearly 200 years later.

William Morgan was last seen in Batavia, New York, in September 1826, down on his luck and haunting the local pubs. An elusive local citizen, he had recently threatened to publish purported Masonic secrets. He was later arrested that same month in Canandaigua for petty theft and eventually transported and held in Fort Niagara. From there Morgan seems to have disappeared forever. The local Freemasons were accused of his demise. State Assemblyman and newspaper editor Thurlow Weed fanned the political flames to great effect. Yet Morgan was to return, this time in stone, atop a monument erected at Old Cemetery, Batavia, in 1882. Enigmatically, no body lies there. Thus, the case of Mr. Morgan technically remains that of a missing person almost two hundred years after his disappearance. Dr. Ann Webster Bunch takes an investigative science approach to this extremely cold case to demystify and highlight ways to resolve the fate of this highly polarizing historical figure.

The Stories Behind the Albums

Carolina beach music—those often-soulful songs about the beach, parties, that special love, dancing or just relaxing in the sun—has long been a mainstay of culture in the Southeast. Yet until the late 1960s, you needed an impressive collection of 45s if you wanted to hear those songs in your home or at a party. But beginning with Atlantic Records’ Beach Beat in 1967, that music slowly became available on albums from Bell, Warner Bros., Ripete and other labels. Through interviews and firsthand accounts, author Rick Simmons examines the stories behind those classic albums, the people who created them and the artists and songs that contributed to the phenomenon known as Carolina beach music.

Take a spine-tingling plunge into Florida's pirate-filled past! 

Meet Florida's spooky pirates!

Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms. 

Did you know that the city of St. Augustine is positively packed with ghostly pirates? Or that on Gasparilla Island, you might just spot a headless buccaneer and his "spirited" steed galloping down the beach? Can you believe a three-hundred-year-old ghost ship and its cursed crew still haunts the waterways of the Florida Everglades? Shiver me timbers!

Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Florida forever, and have you sleeping with the lights on! 

Adapted from Ghosts and Legends of Florida's Pirates by Heather Leigh, PhD