The History Press [new releases]

Just off the coast of the Bronx in Long Island Sound sits Hart Island, where more than one million bodies are buried in unmarked graves.

Beginning as a Civil War prison and training site and later a psychiatric hospital, the location became the repository for New York City's unclaimed dead. The island's mass graves are a microcosm of New York history, from the 1822 burial crisis to casualties of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and victims of the AIDS epidemic. Important artists who died in poverty have been discovered, including Disney star Bobby Driscoll and playwright Leo Birinski. Author Michael T. Keene reveals the history of New York's potter's field and the stories of some of its lost souls.

Become Part of the Store Family

From its flagship store on Market Street in the heart of Philadelphia, Strawbridge & Clothier strove to meet the needs of its customers for over a century. Built on a foundation of integrity and character, the store and its founders, Justus Strawbridge and Isaac Clothier, made sure the customer was always right and the price just. The department store later branched out to nearby New Jersey and Delaware in the mid to late Twentieth Century. At the time of its sale in 1996, Strawbridge & Clothier was the oldest department store in the country with continuous family ownership.

Author Margaret Strawbridge Butterworth charts the history of Philadelphia’s Strawbridge & Clothier through vivid stories from past employees and customers alike as she invites readers to join the “store family./p>

From the crossroads of the American Revolution to the construction of the George Washington Bridge, New Jersey's Bergen County has a history that has shaped not only the metropolitan area, but the nation itself.

Featuring narratives of key historical moments, legendary personalities and fascinating landmarks, this guide to Bergen County's past is essential for any resident or visitor alike. Take a copy along as you traverse the county and discover the historic sites within and the stories behind them.

Authors Bob Nesoff and Howard Joseph Cohn take readers on a fascinating journey through Bergen County's incredible past.

Although humble in their function, these carefully crafted barns have shaped the landscape of Maine for centuries.

Built long before the days of plastic and plywood, the barns have survived for generations, each with a story to tell. In Bridgton, one barn offered comfort to a 16 year-old boy when his father was injured; another New Gloucester barn was so important to one family that its likeness was engraved on their headstones. Some owners said they would rather see their homes burn than their barns, and others have dedicated their lives and countless funds to restoring and preserving these buildings. From modest English to grand Victorian, Don Perkins examines the structures, origins, and evolution of Maine's barns, demonstrating the vital and precious role they play in people's lives.

Winner of the Association of New York Public Historians 2023 Excellence in Local History Award

Winner of the American Legacy Book Award 2024 for United States History

Winner of the NYC Big Book Award 2024 for Regional-Nonfiction

Winner of the IAN Book of the Year Award 2024 for Outstanding Non-Fiction: History 

The Van Wyck, the Major Deegan, the Jackie Robinson, the Hutch, the Merritt, FDR Drive, or the Henry Hudson...you might drive them regularly, without really noticing that those road names are, well, names. But, who were these people?

New York's many roads, bridges, tunnels, neighborhoods and institutions bear the names of a diverse cast of characters. The Kosciuszko Bridge honors Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish American Revolutionary War hero and fervent abolitionist. The Outerbridge Crossing, named after the Port Authority's first chairman, Eugenius Outerbridge, is called a crossing because Outerbridge Bridge sounded absurd. Shirley Chisholm State Park celebrates the first Black woman elected to Congress, the larger-than-life Shirley Chisholm. Clifford Holland originally designed his tunnel under the Hudson River to accommodate horse carts. These place names embody the rich history of the city that never sleeps, yet few know their true stories. Author Rebecca Bratspies uncovers the vibrant personalities behind the names that have become New York's urban shorthand for traffic jams, culture and recreation.

Germans in Milwaukee: A Neighborhood History chronicles the stories behind the German footprints in the city.

Like no other large American city, Germans dominated Milwaukee. Their presence inhabits the city's neighborhoods from its buildings and place names to its parklands and statuary. Their influence also lives in the memories shared by local residents. A small Milwaukee neighborhood south of Miller Valley was christened after a farmer's pigs, and a busboy turned beer baron built the famous Pabst Brewery in West Town. A ghost is said to haunt the old Blatz Brewing compound. And the remains of the early tanning industry can still be seen in Walker's Point.

Compiling over 1,200 interviews through their organization, Urban Anthropology Inc., authors Jill Lackey and Richard Petrie share these ground-level perspectives of the lasting German influence on the Cream City.

Richmond is a classic Southern city, most notable as the Confederate capitol. However, the irony of Richmond is that much of its beautiful architecture was built by Black laborers.

The city's vast and varied collection of architecture provides an archive of African American history, both of enslaved and free peoples. Author Selden Richardson explains how iconic symbols of old Richmond and the generations of Black laborers who helped assemble it are embodied in both the preserved and the forgotten architecture of the city. After you finish this book, it will be as if the buildings in Richmond tell their own stories to you.

A father’s grief for his son. A daughter’s grief for her father. And a love story that crossed continents and an ocean, coming to rest in a tiny New Hampshire town. This small state has more than enough heart, sending men and women to fight for freedom around the world.

New Hampshire military personnel have distinguished themselves in every war from the French and Indian War to the dusty mountains of Afghanistan. The Granite State continues to honor their sacrifices, memorializing their stories in statues, bridges, buildings and highways.

Join Kathleen and Sheila Bailey as they recount the stories behind the stones.

In 1867, less than three years after the Civil War left the city in ruins, Hungarian Jewish immigrant Morris Rich opened a small dry goods store on what is now Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta.

Over time, his brothers Emanuel and Daniel joined the business; within a century, it became a retailing dynasty. Join historian Jeff Clemmons as he traces Rich's 137-year history. For the first time, learn the true stories behind Penelope Penn, Fashionata, The Great Tree, the Pink Pig, Rich's famous coconut cake and much more, including how events at the downtown Atlanta store helped John F. Kennedy become America's thirty-fifth president. With an eye for accuracy and exacting detail, Clemmons recounts the complete history of this treasured southern institution.

Lovers of theater in Cleveland and beyond are sure to enjoy this story of grand ambition and determined perseverance

Cleveland was one of the largest cities in America when Playhouse Square opened as a testament to the city's splendor. In 1921, Loew's State, Loew's Ohio, the Hanna Theatre and the Allen opened their doors, and Keith's Palace Theater, then the world's finest theater, greeted patrons in 1922. For fifty years these theaters prospered before falling on hard times. Three even faced demolition. But through visionary planning, hard work and civic pride these magnificent show palaces survived and thrive today, and Playhouse Square Center is once again the largest theater center outside of New York's Lincoln Center.

Playhouse Square volunteer Redcoat and tour guide Michael R. Routa celebrates the people who made and saved theater in Cleveland.

Along with the Dodgers and Prospect Park, the Abraham & Straus department store was a legendary piece of Brooklyn's history and identity.

From Abraham Abraham's modest store of 1865, A&S developed into one of America's largest department stores, eventually becoming a charter member of the powerful Federated Department Stores Corporation in 1929. Known for unparalleled customer and employee loyalty, the stores rode a wave of demographic and economic changes. Today, the former Fulton Street Abraham & Straus operates as a Macy's and remains one of America's last downtown department stores. Author, historian and lecturer Michael J. Lisicky chronicles the rise and fall of Brooklyn's iconic store.

Michael J. Lisicky is the author of several bestselling books, including Hutzler's: Where Baltimore Shops.

In demand as a department store historian, he has given lectures at institutions such as the New York Public Library, the Boston Public Library, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Milwaukee County Historical Society, the Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Jewish Museum of Maryland. His books have received critical acclaim from the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Pittsburgh Post Gazette. He has been interviewed by national business periodicals including Fortune Magazine, Investor's Business Daily and Bloomberg Businessweek. His book Gimbels Has It was recommended by National Public Radio's Morning Edition program as "One of the Freshest Reads of 2011." Mr. Lisicky helps run an "Ask the Expert" column with author Jan Whitaker at www.departmentstorehistory.net and resides in Baltimore, where he is an oboist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.