Books

Bean Pickers: Upstate Italian-American Immigrants

October 29, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The book Bean Pickers, American Immigrant Portraits by Karen Foresti Hempson (Jacobs Press, Inc., 2019) focuses on eight true-life portrayals of Italian immigrants and their families, all beginning their American lives as summer bean pickers in Upstate New York.

The book features over one hundred authentic photos and documents, illustrating personal stories from the early twentieth century immigration wave, Prohibition, the Great Depression, and the Second World War. Each character finds his/her way out of poverty through such avenues as bootlegging, playing baseball, joining the military. [Read more…] about Bean Pickers: Upstate Italian-American Immigrants

A Lively New History of Barnard College Published

October 19, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The new book A College of Her Own: The History of Barnard (Columbia University Press, 2020) by Robert McCaughey offers a comprehensive and lively narrative of Barnard College from its beginnings to the present day. [Read more…] about A Lively New History of Barnard College Published

Secrets, Poison Gas and Chemotherapy (Podcast)

October 16, 2020 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

This week on The Historians Podcast, Jennet Conant discusses her book The Great Secret: The Classified World War II Disaster That Launched the War on Cancer. Also heard is film maker Nick Spark who lobbied for U.S. government recognition of medical doctor Stewart Alexander whose work chronicling the Bari disaster in southern Italy was the impetus to developing chemotherapy. [Read more…] about Secrets, Poison Gas and Chemotherapy (Podcast)

A New Book About Schoharie’s Old Stone Fort

October 13, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The new book Old Stone Fort – Guardian of Schoharie County History Since 1772 by Jeff O’Connor features over 79 maps, illustrations, and photographs that help narrate the history of one of upstate New York’s oldest and most beloved museums. [Read more…] about A New Book About Schoharie’s Old Stone Fort

New Novel: The Power Line by Christopher Shaw

October 11, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

What really happened at Donnelly’s Corners in the spring of 1929?

The question haunts the exciting and thought-provoking novel, The Power Line (Outskirts Press, 2020) by Christopher Shaw.

According to Shaw, the project began in the seventies when the guide and regional historian Abel St. Martin began recording the memories of older people around Saranac Lake and Lake Aurora in the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about New Novel: The Power Line by Christopher Shaw

New Book: The Revolutionary War in the Adirondacks

October 10, 2020 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

During the Revolutionary Era much of New York State was a heavily forested frontier, sparsely populated but bitterly divided.

Although the only major campaign in the Adirondacks would end at the Battle of Saratoga, factional raiding parties traversed the mountains and valleys of the Adirondacks throughout the war.

Author Marie Danielle Annette Williams details many of those frontier raids in her new book The Revolutionary War in the Adirondacks: Raids in the Wilderness (Arcadia Publishing, 2020). [Read more…] about New Book: The Revolutionary War in the Adirondacks

Provocative Mothers and Their Precocious Daughters

October 3, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Book Purchases made through this link help New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The new book Provocative Mothers and Their Precocious Daughters: 19th Century Women’s Rights Leaders (Atlantic Publishing, 2020) by Suzanne Gehring Schnittman looks at the relationship between mothers and daughters, and pioneer women’s rights leaders Martha Wright, Abby Kelley Foster, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucy Stone. [Read more…] about Provocative Mothers and Their Precocious Daughters

New Book On Audubon Park: The Neighborhood Manhattan Forgot

September 29, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

Matthew Spady’s new book The Neighborhood Manhattan Forgot: Audubon Park and the Families Who Shaped It (Fordham University Press, 2020) is the story of Audubon Park’s origins, maturation, and disappearance. The book is the study of a rural society evolving into an urban community, an examination of the relationship between people and the land they inhabit. [Read more…] about New Book On Audubon Park: The Neighborhood Manhattan Forgot

Tacky’s Revolt: Slave Insurgency in Jamaica

September 16, 2020 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

Between 1760 and 1761, Great Britain witnessed one of the largest slave insurrections in the history of its empire. Although the revolt took place on the island of Jamaica, the reverberations of this revolt stretched across the Atlantic Ocean and into the British North American colonies.

In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Vincent Brown, author of Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War (Belknap Press, 2020), joins us to investigate Tacky’s Revolt and how that revolt served as an eddy within the larger current of Atlantic warfare.

NYS History Press Acquisitions Editor Interview

September 13, 2020 by Chris Kretz 1 Comment

The History Press has been publishing local history since 2004. Now an imprint of Arcadia Publishing, it’s a showcase for local and regional history, uncovering forgotten heroes, vanished industries, and intriguing stories from around the country.

Banks Smither is an Acquisitions Editor for the Press, focusing on the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania area. On this episode of the Long Island Project podcast he walks us through his process of finding and working with authors. He also explains what makes Long Island one of the best markets for local history books. [Read more…] about NYS History Press Acquisitions Editor Interview