Best of
Local-History

1983

Aunt Arie: A Foxfire Portrait


Linda Garland Page - 1983
    For all those who have read and cherished the Foxfire books, here is a loving portrait of a fondly remembered friend. This book is not just about Aunt Arie; it is Aunt Arie. In her own words, she discusses everything from planting, harvesting, and cooking to her thoughts about religion and her feelings about living alone. Also included are testimonials from many who knew her and a wealth of photographs.

Still Philadelphia


Fredric M. Miller - 1983
    On one level, this is the pictorial story of a great industrial metropolis in transition. It is the story of a railroad city, a city of trolleys and subways and horse-drawn vehicles, as it gradually succumbed to the automobile. It is the story of a city filled with neighborhood industry giving way to suburbs, to commuter travel, and to a change in the very nature of work. It is the story of a city spreading out, expanding and doubling in population in fifty years. It is the story of urban exuberance and vitality where ethnic groups mixed and mingled, but it is also the story of slums and poverty, crime and conflict. A Philadelphia family album, filled with pictures of ordinary people, Still Philadelphia focuses on the city of immigrants and industry, not on the lives and houses of the wealthy.

Pat Garrett: The Story of a Western Lawman


Leon Claire Metz - 1983
    He was more than just a famous western sheriff, more than the slayer of the legendary Billy the Kid. While on occasion his gun was for hire, and while he was sometimes known to protect special interests-particularly those of the cattle barons-more often than not Pat Garrett combined in his six-foot five-inch frame the good, honest, and honorable qualities that went to make up the lawman of the Old West.Garrett is, of course, immortal for his successful efforts to end the career of the Kid, but, as the author amply demonstrates, Garrett's career by no means ended on that hot evening in July, 1881, in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Within days Garrett had established a reputation as an implacable foe of western criminals, a reputation that was to follow (and sometimes haunt) him for the rest of his life. He was an important figure in the frontier politics of Texas and New Mexico, and he rubbed shoulders with the great and the near great of the region.Through the story of Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett the panorama of the Southwest unfolds: its dreams, its courage, its explorations, its mistakes, its violence, its conquests, and ultimately its emergence as a settled society. No other character in southwestern history is more closely identified with the land and the people of America's last frontier.

Flatlanders and Ridgerunners: Folktales from the Mountains of Northern Pennsylvania


James York Glimm - 1983
    Oral folklore is vital to people in this kind of culture: it entertains them, it informs them, and it serves them as a glue that keeps the society together. These tales are more than a defensive reaction to outside pressure; they are an attempt to maintain cultural balance within the community by taking something threatening and turning it into something harmless and silly.

Epitaph and Icon: A Field Guide to the Old Burying Grounds of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, ..


Diana Hume George - 1983
    

The First Chouteaus: RIVER BARONS OF EARLY ST. LOUIS


William E. Foley - 1983
    In their various roles as merchants, Indian traders, bankers, land speculators, governmental advisors, public officials, and community leaders, the Chouteau brothers exerted a tremendous influence on westward expansion. This is the first full account of their lives and illustrious careers.

A Walker's Guide to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia


Dave Gilbert - 1983
    Full of historical tidbits.

The Social Order of a Frontier Community: Jacksonville, Illinois, 1825-70


Don H. Doyle - 1983