Series in Mid-atlantic
Books in Mid-atlantic
A Detroit Anthology
“This anthology of prose, poetry, and essays is written by . . . [a] wide ethnic array of voices that truly shows the facets of Detroit life.” — Ebony Magazine A unique perspective of the Motor City, this anthology combines stories told by both longtime residents and newcomers from activists to teachers to artists to students. While Detroit has always been rich in stories, too often those stories are told back to the city by outsiders looking in, believing they can explain Detroit back to itself. As editor, Anna Clark writes in the introduction, “These are the stories we tell each other over late nights at the pub and long afternoons on the porch. We share them in coffee shops, at church social hours, in living rooms, and while waiting for the bus. These are stories full of nodding asides and knowing laughs. These are stories addressed to the rhetorical ‘you’—with the ratcheted-up language that comes with it—and these are stories that took real legwork to investigate . . . You will not find ‘positive’ stories about Detroit in this collection, or ‘negative’ ones. But you will find true stories.” Featuring essays, photographs, art, and poetry by Grace Lee Boggs, John Carlisle, Desiree Cooper, Dream Hampton, Steve Hughes, Jamaal May, Tracie McMillan, Marsha Music, Shaka Senghor, Thomas J. Sugrue, and many others. “Offers from-the-heart and on-the-ground views of life in America’s Motor City.” — The Boston Globe “A thrilling success. It gives voice to people who now live or once lived in this fascinating, tortured place, the survivors, good people who know what pain is, people who understand that the city exerts an undying pull on them.” — The Millions
A Lincoln Legacy: The History of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
Examines the history of the federal trial courts in Western Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. A Lincoln Legacy: The History of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan by David Gardner Chardavoyne with Hugh W. Brenneman, Jr. provides the first and only comprehensive examination of the history of the United States federal courts in the Western District of Michigan. The federal courts were established by the U.S. Constitution to adjudicate disputes involving federal laws, disputes between litigants from different states involving state and federal laws, and to punish violations of criminal laws passed by Congress. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating two federal districts in the state of Michigan: the Eastern and Western Districts—the latter of which is headquartered in Grand Rapids and which now encompasses the western half of the Lower Peninsula and all of the Upper Peninsula. With the rapid expansion of legislation passed by Congress, the increasing mobility of society, and the growth of interstate commerce, the federal courts have assumed an important and sometimes dominant role in major litigation today. In A Lincoln Legacy, Chardavoyne tracks the history of these courts over eleven chapters, from their creation by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to 2020. He discusses the changes in society that drove the evolving federal litigation and some significant cases heard in the Western District. Additionally, fifteen appendices are included in the book, listing of all the federal circuit and district judges in the Western District; commissioners; magistrate judges and bankruptcy judges; U.S. Attorneys; clerks of the courts; and more. Chardavoyne also identifies auxiliary offices and organizations revolving around the federal court that play a major role in its activities (e.g., the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Federal Public Defender's Office, the Federal Bar Association, etc.). A Lincoln Legacy provides a thorough examination of the history of the federal courts of Western Michigan. It will appeal to those learning and practicing law, as well as those with an interest in Michigan history.
A People's History of Chicago
Known variously as the Windy City,”’ the City of Big Shoulders,”’ or Chi-Raq,”’ Chicago is one of the most widely celebrated, routinely demonized, and thoroughly contested cities in the world. Chicago is the city of Gwendolyn Brooks and Chief Keef, Al Capone and Richard Wright, Lucy Parsons and Nelson Algren, Harold Washington and Studs Terkel. It is the city of Fred Hampton, House Music, and the Haymarket Martyrs. Writing in the tradition of Howard Zinn, Kevin Coval’s A People’s History of Chicago celebrates the history of this great American city from the perspective of those on the margins, whose stories often go untold. These seventy-seven poems (for the city’s seventy-seven neighborhoods) honor the everyday lives and enduring resistance of the city’s workers, poor people, and people of color, whose cultural and political revolutions continue to shape the social landscape. Kevin Coval is the poet/author/editor of seven books including The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop and the play, This Iis Modern Art , co-written with Idris Goodwin. Founder of Louder Than A Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival and the Artistic Director of Young Chicago Authors, Coval teaches hip-hop aesthetics at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The Chicago Tribune has named him the voice of the new Chicago and the Boston Globe calls him the city’s unofficial poet laureate.”
A People's History of Chicago
Known variously as the Windy City,”’ the City of Big Shoulders,”’ or Chi-Raq,”’ Chicago is one of the most widely celebrated, routinely demonized, and thoroughly contested cities in the world. Chicago is the city of Gwendolyn Brooks and Chief Keef, Al Capone and Richard Wright, Lucy Parsons and Nelson Algren, Harold Washington and Studs Terkel. It is the city of Fred Hampton, House Music, and the Haymarket Martyrs. Writing in the tradition of Howard Zinn, Kevin Coval’s A People’s History of Chicago celebrates the history of this great American city from the perspective of those on the margins, whose stories often go untold. These seventy-seven poems (for the city’s seventy-seven neighborhoods) honor the everyday lives and enduring resistance of the city’s workers, poor people, and people of color, whose cultural and political revolutions continue to shape the social landscape. Kevin Coval is the poet/author/editor of seven books including The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop and the play, This Iis Modern Art , co-written with Idris Goodwin. Founder of Louder Than A Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival and the Artistic Director of Young Chicago Authors, Coval teaches hip-hop aesthetics at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The Chicago Tribune has named him the voice of the new Chicago and the Boston Globe calls him the city’s unofficial poet laureate.”
A Pocketful of Passage
A Pocketful of Passage is based on the memories of Annie Bowen Hoge, whose father was a lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes for many years. Every summer until she was nine, Annie went with her brother, sister, and mother to live at Passage Island, where her father tended the signal that guided ships through an important shipping lane between Passage Island and Isle Royale in Lake Superior. A Pocketful of Passage is told from the point of view of nine-year-old Annie, who loved living in the old, secluded lighthouse amid the breathtaking scenery of northern Michigan. Her surroundings provide a wonderland of places to play and explore. Annie’s stories include boat trips to nearby Isle Royale (“the big island”), tales of mischief with visiting children, and a visit from the crew of a fishing boat lost in the lake. She also describes the day-to-day life of the lighthouse keepers, giving simple explanations about the purpose and the procedure of her father’s job. Yet Annie’s parents see beyond the adventures of Passage Island to recognize the danger for their young children, living isolated from doctors, stores, churches, and schools. When they tell Annie that this will be their final summer at Passage Island, her stories take on a new significance. Loraine Campbell has combined Annie’s recollections with extensive research about lighthouse keeping to present an informative and enjoyable account of Michigan history for young readers. Maps are also included to illustrate the locations mentioned in the book.
A Sailor's Logbook: A Season Aboard Great Lakes Freighters
In this firsthand account of life aboard the ships of the Great Lakes, Mark Thompson weaves together the threads of a story that relives a centuries-old tradition. Thompson began his logbook after he reported for duty aboard the Calcite II at Fraser Shipyard in Superior, Wisconsin, for the 1996 shipping season. A Sailor's Logbook is the first such book to chronicle a sailor's life at the end of the twentieth century. Not just a detailing of weather, cargo, and crew relations, A Sailor's Logbook is also an account of the daily lives of a diverse group of crewmembers as they share their sailing knowledge, "sea stories," and the many memories that accompany the pictures. Although there are ample resources in museums, archival collections, and company files regarding statistical logbook information, A Sailor's Logbook details the intricacies of daily life on a Great Lakes freighter. Thompson navigates the reader through the waters of the Great Lakes and his own life in this very special narrative.
Allegiance
The full-length debut from francine j. harris, allegiance is about Detroit, sort of. Although many of the poems are inspired by and dwell in the spaces of the city, this collection does not revel in any of the cliché cultural tropes normally associated with Detroit. Instead, these poems artfully explore life in a city where order coexists with chaos and much is lost in social and physical breakdown. Narrative poems on the hazards, betrayals, and annoyances of city life mix with impressionistic poems that evoke the natural world, as harris grapples with issues of beauty and horror, loyalty and individuality, and memory and loss on Detroit’s complicated canvas. In twelve sections, harris introduces readers to loungers and bystanders, prisoners’ wives, poets pictured on book jackets, Caravaggio’s Jesus, and city priests. She leads readers past the lone house on the block that cannot be walked down, through layers of discarded objects in the high school yard, and into various classrooms, bars, and living rooms. Shorter poems highlight the persistence of nature—in water, weeds, orchids, begonias, insects, pigeons, and pheasants. Some poems convey a sense of the underbelly, desire, and disgust while others treat issues of religion, both in institutional settings and personal prayers. In her honest but unsentimental voice, harris layers personal history and rich details to explore how our surroundings shape our selves and what allegiance we owe them when they have turn almost everything to ashes. Throughout allegiance, harris presents herself as an extraordinarily perceptive poet with a compelling and original voice. Poetry lovers will appreciate this exciting debut collection.
Amish SoupsCasseroles(With: Anna Kauffman)
75 authentic Amish soups, stews, casseroles—and delicious bread to go with them. Gathered from interviews with real Amish grandmothers, tattered recipe boxes, and old books and diaries, here is an assortment of delicious baked goods that have been and continue to be popular in eastern Pennsylvania, particularly in the Lancaster area. Now you too can experience the warm, comforting recipes of old order Amish cooks. Prepare to make wonderful treats such as: Chicken Corn Soup Ham, Green Beans, and Potato Stew Beef Vegetable Soup Rivvel Soup Breakfast Casserole Green Bean and Sausage Casserole Roasht (or Chicken Filling) Becky Zook Bread Potato Rolls And more! These recipes will soon become your family favorites and go-to meals for church suppers or potluck dinners. With simple ingredients and instructions that are easy to follow, you'll find yourself whipping up the same wonderful and comforting meals you'll find in Amish country.
Among the Enemy: A Michigan Soldier's Civil War Journal
Though many Union soldiers wrote about their experiences in the American Civil War, few had the vantage point of William Horton Kimball, a member of the First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics. As a military engineer, Kimball spent most of his time behind the major lines of conflict and often worked among civilians who sympathized with the enemy. In Among the Enemy: A Michigan Soldier's Civil War Journal, author Mark Hoffman presents Kimball's journal as a unique window into wartime experience. Kimball was a prolific writer, and his journal is full of detailed accounts of expeditions into a hostile countryside, the bitter war against guerillas, and of the civilians caught in the middle of a traditional war waged with nontraditional means. He comments freely and openly on the strengths and weaknesses of his officers and comrades caught up in the same war. At the same time, Kimball provides moving accounts of when the Engineers were thrown into the line of battle at Perryville and Lavergne and proved themselves as soldiers capable of traditional combat. Through Kimball's account, readers can chart the important evolution of Union war policy regarding occupied populations, as well as how the American views of warfare broke down when combat moved from battlefield to countryside and soldiers in the rear became important targets for enemy action. Civil War historian Mark Hoffman introduces Kimball's writings and provides some background on Kimball's life as a soldier. He accompanies the journal entries with illustrations and maps. Kimball's account reminds readers that there was a time when Americans who honored the same founders and national holidays were seeking to kill each other in a bitter war behind the lines of traditional armies. Readers interested in military history and the Civil War will enjoy the inside perspective of Among the Enemy.
Arab Detroit 9/11: Life in the Terror Decade
Contributors explore the trauma, unexpected political gains, and moral ambiguities faced by Arab Detroiters in post-9/11 America. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Detroit's large and nationally prominent Arab and Muslim communities have faced heightened prejudice, government surveillance, and political scapegoating, yet they have also enjoyed unexpected gains in economic, political, and cultural influence. Museums, festivals, and cultural events flourish alongside the construction of new mosques and churches, and more Arabs are being elected and appointed to public office. Detroit's Arab population is growing even as the city's non-Arab sectors, and the state of Michigan as a whole, have steadily lost population. In Arab Detroit 9/11: Life in the Terror Decade, a follow-up to their volume Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream (Wayne State University Press, 2000), editors Nabeel Abraham, Sally Howell, and Andrew Shryock present accounts of how life in post-9/11 Detroit has changed over the last ten years. Abraham, Howell, and Shryock have assembled a diverse group of contributors whose essays range from the scholarly to the artistic and include voices that are Palestinian, Iraqi, Yemeni, and Lebanese; Muslim and Christian; American born and immigrant. The book is divided into six sections and begins with wide-angle views of Arab Detroit, looking first at how the community fits within greater Detroit as a whole, then presenting closer portraits of Arab Detroit's key ethnonational and religious subgroups. More personal, everyday accounts of life in the Terror Decade follow as focus shifts to practical matters such as family life, neighborhood interactions, going to school, traveling domestically, and visiting home countries. Finally, contributors consider the interface between Arab Detroit and the larger society, how this relationship is maintained, how the War on Terror has distorted it, and what lessons might be drawn about citizenship, inclusion, and exclusion by situating Arab Detroit in broader and deeper historical contexts. In Detroit, new realities of political marginalization and empowerment are evolving side by side. As they explore the complex demands of life in the Terror Decade, the contributors to this volume create vivid portraits of a community that has fought back successfully against attempts to deny its national identity and diminish its civil rights. Readers interested in Arab studies, Detroit culture and history, transnational politics, and the changing dynamics of race and ethnicity in America will enjoy the personal reflection and analytical insight of Arab Detroit 9/11 .
Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II
Examines the role of the American automobile industry in producing vehicles, weapons, and other war products during World War II. Throughout World War II, Detroit's automobile manufacturers accounted for one-fifth of the dollar value of the nation's total war production, and this amazing output from "the arsenal of democracy" directly contributed to the allied victory. In fact, automobile makers achieved such production miracles that many of their methods were adopted by other defense industries, particularly the aircraft industry. In Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II, award-winning historian Charles K. Hyde details the industry's transition to a wartime production powerhouse and some of its notable achievements along the way. Hyde examines several innovative cooperative relationships that developed between the executive branch of the federal government, U.S. military services, automobile industry leaders, auto industry suppliers, and the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union, which set up the industry to achieve production miracles. He goes on to examine the struggles and achievements of individual automakers during the war years in producing items like aircraft engines, aircraft components, and complete aircraft; tanks and other armored vehicles; jeeps, trucks, and amphibians; guns, shells, and bullets of all types; and a wide range of other weapons and war goods ranging from search lights to submarine nets and gyroscopes. Hyde also considers the important role played by previously underused workers-namely African Americans and women-in the war effort and their experiences on the line. Arsenal of Democracy includes an analysis of wartime production nationally, on the automotive industry level, by individual automakers, and at the single plant level. For this thorough history, Hyde has consulted previously overlooked records collected by the Automobile Manufacturers Association that are now housed in the National Automotive History Collection of the Detroit Public Library. Automotive historians, World War II scholars, and American history buffs will welcome the compelling look at wartime industry in Arsenal of Democracy.
Brewed in Michigan
A celebration of Michigan craft beer. Brewed in Michigan: The New Golden Age of Brewing in the Great Beer State is William Rapai's "Ode on a Grecian Urn"—a discussion of art and art's audience. The art in this case is beer. Craft beer. Michigan craft beer, to be exact. Like the Great Lakes and the automobile, beer has become a part of Michigan's identity. In 2016, Michigan ranked fifth in the number of craft breweries in the nation and tenth in the nation in craft beer production. Craft brewing now contributes more than $1.8 billion annually to the state's economy and is proving to be an economic catalyst, helping to revive declining cities and invigorate neighborhoods. This book is not a beer-tasting guide. Instead, Rapai aims to highlight the unique forces behind and exceptional attributes of the leading craft breweries in Michigan. Through a series of interviews with brewmasters over an eighteenth-month sojourn to microbreweries around the state, the author argues that Michigan craft beer is brewed by individuals with a passion for excellence who refuse to be process drones. It is brewed by people who have created a culture that values quality over quantity and measures tradition and innovation in equal parts. Similarly, the taprooms associated with these craft breweries have become a conduit for conversation—places for people to gather and discuss current events, raise money for charities, and search for ways to improve their communities. They're places where strangers become friends, friends fall in love, and lovers get married. These brewpubs and taprooms are an example in resourcefulness—renovating old churches and abandoned auto dealerships in Michigan's biggest cities, tiny suburbs, working-class neighborhoods, and farm towns. Beer, as it turns out, can be the lifeblood of a community. Brewed in Michigan is a book for beer enthusiasts and for people who want a better understanding of what makes Michigan beer special. Cheers!