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The American Vignola: A Guide to the Making of Classical Architecture
by William R. Ware"Vignola codified the rules of classical architecture for the Italian Renaissance . . . Ware codified Vignola for the American Renaissance." -- John Barrington Bayley, from the Introductory Notes to The American Vignola.From 1890 to 1940, Americans designed and built classical architecture on an extraordinary scale. During this American Renaissance were built countless libraries, museums, universities, courthouses, capitol buildings and other structures, both public and private, rich with domes, pediments, colonnades, and other classical features. "We built with unparalleled grandeur," architect and scholar John Barrington Bayley observes, "and our architecture led the world." More than any other document of the period, The American Vignola laid the groundwork for this grand resurgence in American architecture. Its author, William R. Ware, founded America's first school of architecture at M.I.T. in 1865, and sixteen years later, the School of Architecture at Columbia University. He became America's leading teacher of the art of designing classical architecture. The American Vignola is his textbook on that art. As the Renaissance architect Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola helped to recover the lost laws of classical architecture that made possible the architectural wonders of the Italian Renaissance, Ware helped lay the groundwork for the wonders of the American Renaissance. The American Vignola contains tables of the Tuscan, Ionic, Doric, Corinthian, and Composite Orders; measured drawings of the great monuments of the ancient, Renaissance, and baroque periods; and guides for drawing and establishing geometrical relations. Especially important are its detailed practical instructions for designing classical arches and vaults, roofs and domes, doors and windows, walls and ceilings, steps and staircases, and more. Over 300 illustrations illuminate the text, including 37 full-page plates and 267 smaller figures. Introductory notes by Mr. Bayley and architectural expert Henry Hope Reed set Mr. Ware's great achievement in perspective.
American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America
by Robert HughesWriting with all the brilliance, authority, and pungent wit that have distinguished his art criticism for Time magazine and his greatly acclaimed study of modern art, The Shock of the New, Robert Hughes now addresses his largest subject: the history of art in America. The intense relationship between the American people and their surroundings has been the source of a rich artistic tradition. American Visions is a consistently revealing demonstration of the many ways in which artists have expressed this pervasive connection. In nine eloquent chapters, which span the whole range of events, movements, and personalities of more than three centuries, Robert Hughes shows us the myriad associations between the unique society that is America and the art it has produced: "O My America, My New Founde Land" explores the churches, religious art, and artifacts of the Spanish invaders of the Southwest and the Puritans of New England; the austere esthetic of the Amish, the Quakers, and the Shakers; and the Anglophile culture of Virginia. "The Republic of Virtue" sets forth the ideals of neo-classicism as interpreted in the paintings of Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley, and the Peale family, and in the public architecture of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Latrobe, and Charles Bulfinch. "The Wilderness and the West" discusses the work of landscape painters such as Thomas Cole, Frederick Church, and the Luminists, who viewed the natural world as "the fingerprint of God''s creation," and of those who recorded America''s westward expansion--George Caleb Bingham, Albert Bierstadt, and Frederic Remington--and the accompanying shift in the perception of the Indian, from noble savage to outright demon. "American Renaissance" describes the opulent era that followed the Civil War, a cultural flowering expressed in the sculpture of Augustus Saint-Gaudens; the paintings of John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, and Childe Hassam; the Newport cottages of the super-rich; and the beaux-arts buildings of Stanford White and his partners. "The Gritty Cities" looks at the post-Civil War years from another perspective: cast-iron cityscapes, the architecture of Louis Henri Sullivan, and the new realism of Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, the trompe-l''oeil painters, and the Ashcan School. "Early Modernism" introduces the first American avant garde: the painters Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Joseph Stella, Charles Demuth, Charles Sheeler, and Georgia O''Keeffe, and the premier architect of his time, Frank Lloyd Wright. "Streamlines and Breadlines" surveys the boom years, when skyscrapers and Art Deco were all the rage . . . and the bust years that followed, when painters such as Edward Hopper, Stuart Davis, Thomas Hart Benton, Diego Rivera, and Jacob Lawrence showed Americans "the way we live now. " "The Empire of Signs" examines the American hegemony after World War II, when the Abstract Expressionists (Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, et al. ) ruled the artistic roost, until they were dethroned by Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, the Pop artists, and Andy Warhol, while individualists such as David Smith and Joseph Cornell marched to their own music. "The Age of Anxiety" considers recent events: the return of figurative art and the appearance of minimal and conceptual art; the speculative mania of the 1980s, which led to scandalous auction practices and inflated reputations; and the trends and issues of art in the 90s. Lavishly illustrated and packed with biographies, anecdotes, astute and stimulating critical commentary, and sharp social history, American Visions was originally published in association with a new eight-part PBS television series. Robert Hughes has called it "a love letter to America. " This superb volume, which encompasses and enlarges upon the series, is an incomparably entertaining and insightful contemplation of its splendid subject.
The American Vitruvius: An Architects' Handbook of Urban Design
by Werner Hegemann Elbert PeetsThis atlas of architectural design advocates rational as well as humanistic principles in the development of the urban environment. Drawing upon the ideals that inspired the great Roman architect, it promotes the Vitruvian maxims of longevity, beauty, and commodity. It also defines the thinking behind modern American city planning. First published in 1922, The American Vitruvius arose from a collaboration between two students of American urbanism. Werner Hegemann, an urban planner, and Elbert Peets, a graduate of Harvard's School of Landscape Architecture, selected more than 1,200 plans, elevations, and perspective views. Their choices depict a tremendous variety of European and American structures dating from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century. Ranging from Rome's vast Piazza San Pietro to modest German and English garden suburbs, this volume explores all manner of urban design, including American college campuses, parks, and cemeteries; L'Enfant's plan of Washington, DC; and other civic centers. Design Book Review hailed this classic as "the most complete single-volume survey of canonical cases of urbanism," offering "a scintillating collection of uncommon and forgotten designs." An essential reference for every architect and student of architecture, this affordable edition is of particular value in light of the current New Urbanism trend.
American War Cinema and Media since Vietnam
by Patricia Keeton Peter SchecknerNo other cinematic genre more sharply illustrates the contradictions of American society - notions about social class, politics, and socio-economic ideology - than the war film. This book examines the latest cycle of war films to reveal how they mediate and negotiate the complexities of war, class, and a military-political mission largely gone bad.
American War Stories (War Culture)
by Brenda M. BoyleAmerican War Stories asks readers to contemplate what traditionally constitutes a “war story” and how that constitution obscures the normalization of militarism in American culture. The book claims the traditionally narrow scope of “war story,” as by a combatant about his wartime experience, compartmentalizes war, casting armed violence as distinct from everyday American life. Broadening “war story” beyond the specific genres of war narratives such as “war films,” “war fiction,” or “war memoirs,” American War Stories exposes how ingrained militarism is in everyday American life, a condition that challenges the very democratic principles the United States is touted as exemplifying.
American Witness: The Art and Life of Robert Frank
by Rj SmithFrom the author of the acclaimed James Brown biography The One comes the first in-depth biography of renowned photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank, best known for his landmark book The Americans.As well-known as Robert Frank the photographer is, few can say they really know Robert Frank the man. Born and raised in wartime Switzerland, Frank discovered the power and allure of photography at an early age and quickly learned that the art meant significantly more to him than the money, success, or fame. The art was all, and he intended to spend a lifetime pursuing it.American Witness is the first comprehensive look at the life of a man who's as mysterious and evasive as he is prolific and gifted. Leaving his rigid Switzerland for the more fluid United States in 1947, Frank found himself at the red-hot social center of bohemian New York in the '50s and '60s, becoming friends with everyone from Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Peter Orlovsky to photographer Walker Evans, actor Zero Mostel, painter Willem de Kooning, filmmaker Jonas Mekas, Bob Dylan, writer Rudy Wirlitzer, jazz musicians Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus, and more. Frank roamed the country with his young family, taking roughly 27,000 photographs and collecting 83 of them into what is still his most famous work: The Americans. His was an America nobody had seen before, and if it was harshly criticized upon publication for its portrait of a divided country, the collection gradually grew to be recognized as a transformative American vision.And then he turned his back on certain success, giving up photography to reinvent himself as a film and video maker. Frank helped found the American independent cinema of the 1960s and made a legendary film with the Rolling Stones. Today, the nonagenarian is an embodiment of restless creativity and a symbol of what it costs to remain original in America, his life defined by never repeating himself, never being satisfied. American Witness is a portrait of a singular artist and the country that he saw.
Americana Portrait Sessions
by Jeff FasanoAmericana Portrait Sessions is the first photography book to take a comprehensive view of contemporary Americana music. The collection features intimate portraits that reveal the strength, heart, and soul of nearly two hundred great artists from the big tent that is Americana music, all shot through the expert lens of Jeff Fasano. Fasano's unparalleled access to Americana artists like Sheryl Crow, Rhiannon Giddens, Vince Gill, Keb' Mo', Judy Collins, John Oates, The Avett Brothers, The McCrary Sisters, Lucinda Williams, Margo Price, Blind Boys of Alabama, and Kris Kristofferson gives Americana Portrait Sessions the kind of authority that comes from true reach into the breadth of the genre. But this collection is as important for the artists few fans know as for the ones with successful careers behind them. While the book champions the diversity of race, gender, sexuality, and age inherent in Americana music, it also spans career arcs to bring lesser-known acts into the spotlight.Americana Portrait Sessions brings you backstage to the greenrooms and quiet corners where artists like The War and Treaty, Jewel, Jason Isbell, and The Wooten Brothers aren't just artists performing, but people hanging out.
Americana Soul: Homes Designed with Love, Comfort, and Intention
by Luke CaldwellEnter the world of Luke Caldwell, founder of the Timber and Love design and build firm and HGTV star of Boise Boys and Outgrown, as he shares his intentional design philosophy for creating timeless and organic home designs in this aspirational and accessible book.If you&’ve seen the popular HGTV shows Boise Boys and Outgrown, you&’ll know Luke Caldwell&’s passion for natural materials and comfortable spaces that are warm, inviting, livable, and beautiful at the same time. Now with Americana Soul, you can make those designs work for you. Organized by design style—Timber and Love, Natural and Organic, and Classic and Cozy—Luke&’s book is filled with photography that showcases the bones and flow of the spaces as well as the details that make them unique. Americana Soul showcases Luke&’s passion for design including curated personal collections and vintage finds, natural stone walls and fireplaces, and exposed wood beams, in a way that will inspire you to create your own.
American–Australian Cinema: Transnational Connections
by Peter C. Kunze Adrian Danks Stephen GaunsonThis edited collection assesses the complex historical and contemporary relationships between US and Australian cinema by tapping directly into discussions of national cinema, transnationalism and global Hollywood. While most equivalent studies aim to define national cinema as independent from or in competition with Hollywood, this collection explores a more porous set of relationships through the varied production, distribution and exhibition associations between Australia and the US. To explore this idea, the book investigates the influence that Australia has had on US cinema through the exportation of its stars, directors and other production personnel to Hollywood, while also charting the sustained influence of US cinema on Australia over the last hundred years. It takes two key points in time--the 1920s and 1930s and the last twenty years--to explore how particular patterns of localism, nationalism, colonialism, transnationalism and globalisation have shaped its course over the last century. The contributors re-examine the concept and definition of Australian cinema in regard to a range of local, international and global practices and trends that blur neat categorisations of national cinema. Although this concentration on US production, or influence, is particularly acute in relation to developments such as the opening of international film studios in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and the Gold Coast over the last thirty years, the book also examines a range of Hollywood financed and/or conceived films shot in Australia since the 1920s.
The Americans (TV Milestones Series)
by Linda MizejewskiBased on the actual KGB strategy of planting "illegals" into American life during the Cold War, The Americans (FX 2013–2018) focuses on Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Kerri Russell), Soviet spies posing as middlebrow travel agents in the Virginia suburbs. Groundbreaking and unsettling, The Americans spins its stories of espionage, violence, and politics around narratives of marriage, romance, bromance, and family. Exploring the series’ bold merger of the spy genre and domestic melodrama, author Linda Mizejewski focuses on the characters and relationships that made this series memorable: the extraordinary women who defy the femme fatale stereotype of the spy genre, the conflicted men, and perhaps most shockingly, the children who are both victims and provocateurs Do viewers of this Cold War thriller root for "the good guys"—the American agents in pursuit of the Jennings—or for the Jennings themselves, the attractive couple whose personal stories compel us even as they plot the takedown of the United States? Mizejewski argues for the importance of The Americans’ portrayal of 1980s suburban life as a microcosm of the moral complexities of citizenship and national identity. Drawing on television studies and feminist media theory, this book examines the series’ seamless loop of espionage violence and family melodrama, as well as its savvy uses of 1980s pop culture and music. Far from invoking nostalgia, the replication of the 1980s "look" invokes uncertainties about how, exactly, we should see Reagan’s America and the Cold War. Yet the appeal of this series rests on solid footing in the Americanism it both critiques and espouses. Mizejewski examines The Americans’ struggles with this ambiguity and with the contradictions of identity, gender, marriage, and the meanings of home. Everyone from scholars and students of television and media studies, genre studies, gender and sexuality studies, and popular culture, to superfans who can’t believe the show is over will revel in this highly approachable and fun read.
America's Corporate Art: The Studio Authorship of Hollywood Motion Pictures (1929-2001)
by Jerome ChristensenContrary to theories of single person authorship, America's Corporate Art argues that the corporate studio is the author of Hollywood motion pictures, both during the classical era of the studio system and beyond, when studios became players in global dramas staged by massive entertainment conglomerates. Hollywood movies are examples of a commodity that, until the digital age, was rare: a self-advertising artifact that markets the studio's brand in the very act of consumption. The book covers the history of corporate authorship through the antithetical visions of two of the most dominant Hollywood studios, Warner Bros. and MGM. During the classical era, these studios promoted their brands as competing social visions in strategically significant pictures such as MGM's Singin' in the Rain and Warner's The Fountainhead. Christensen follows the studios' divergent fates as MGM declined into a valuable and portable logo, while Warner Bros. employed Batman, JFK, and You've Got Mail to seal deals that made it the biggest entertainment corporation in the world. The book concludes with an analysis of the Disney-Pixar merger and the first two Toy Story movies in light of the recent judicial extension of constitutional rights of the corporate person.
America's Covered Bridges
by Terry E. Miller Ronald G. KnappThe history of North America is in many ways encapsulated in the history of her covered bridges. The early 1800s saw a tremendous boom in the construction of these bridges, and in the years that followed as many as 15,000 covered bridges were built. Today, fewer than a thousand remain. Without covered bridges to span the rivers and provide access to vast swaths of the interior that had previously been difficult to access-America never would have developed the way she did. In America's Covered Bridges, authors Terry E. Miller and Ronald G. Knapp tell the fascinating story of these bridges, how they were built, the technological breakthroughs required to construct them, and above all the dedication and skill of their builders. Each of the bridges, whether still standing or long gone, has a story to tell about the nature of America at the time-not only about its transportational needs, but the availability of materials and the technological prowess of the people who built it. This book is absolutely packed with fascinating stories and information-passionately told by two leading experts on this subject. The book will be of tremendous interest to anyone interested in American history, carpentry and early technology.
America's Covered Bridges
by Terry E. Miller A. Chester Ong Ronald G. KnappThe history of North America is in many ways encapsulated in the history of her covered bridges. The early 1800s saw a tremendous boom in the construction of these bridges, and in the years that followed as many as 15,000 covered bridges were built. Today, fewer than a thousand remain.Without covered bridges to span the rivers and provide access to vast swaths of the interior that had previously been difficult to access-America never would have developed the way she did. In America's Covered Bridges, authors Terry E. Miller and Ronald G. Knapp tell the fascinating story of these bridges, how they were built, the technological breakthroughs required to construct them, and above all the dedication and skill of their builders. Each of the bridges, whether still standing or long gone, has a story to tell about the nature of America at the time-not only about its transportational needs, but the availability of materials and the technological prowess of the people who built it.This book is absolutely packed with fascinating stories and information-passionately told by two leading experts on this subject. The book will be of tremendous interest to anyone interested in American history, carpentry and early technology.
America's Cup Yachts, The: The Rhode Island Connection
by Richard V. SimpsonThe dominance of the New York Yacht Club, in possession of the America's Cup between 1851 and 1983, has given Newport, Rhode Island, the status of yachting capital of the world. Seven of the most respected America's Cup defenders were built in Bristol, Rhode Island. The state's contribution to racing yacht technology began in Bristol, when N.G. Herreshoff designed and built the Vigilant in 1893. The Goetz Custom Sailboat Company continues the Bristol tradition of building superior sailing vessels, many of which have been challengers for the coveted America's Cup, beginning with the America 3 in 1992. In his sixth volume for the Images of America series, author Richard V. Simpson explores the allure of the America's Cup yachts and racing through more than 200 images from his own diverse collection. The photographs focus on the beauty and dignity of the yachts, the genius of engineering minds, and the handiwork of skilled crafters. Within these pages, view a variety of rare images captured by turn-of-the-century biograph and stereoscopic cameras, and experience the majestic dance of the yachts as they jockey for position, from the starting gun to the crossing of the finish line.
America's Favorite Radio Station: WKRP in Cincinnati
by Michael B. KasselAlthough it became one of the most successful programs in syndicated television history, WKRP in Cincinnati faced an uphill struggle trying to obtain prime-time success. Kassel chronicles the decisions and problems that affected WKRP's primetime success, and explores the reasons why it went on to become a classic.
America's Japan and Japan's Performing Arts: Cultural Mobility and Exchange in New York, 1952-2011
by Thornbury Barbara E.America’s Japan and Japan’s Performing Arts studies the images and myths that have shaped the reception of Japan-related theater, music, and dance in the United States since the 1950s. Soon after World War II, visits by Japanese performing artists to the United States emerged as a significant category of American cultural-exchange initiatives aimed at helping establish and build friendly ties with Japan. Barbara E. Thornbury explores how “Japan” and “Japanese culture” have been constructed, reconstructed, and transformed in response to the hundreds of productions that have taken place over the past sixty years in New York, the main entry point and defining cultural nexus in the United States for the global touring market in the performing arts. Thornbury crosses disciplinary boundaries in her wide range of both primary sources and published scholarship, making the book of interest to students and scholars of performing arts studies, Japanese studies, and cultural studies.
America's Medicis: The Rockefellers and Their Astonishing Cultural Legacy
by Suzanne LoeblFrom literary polymath Suzanne Loebl (the author of ten books, most recently the acclaimed America’s Art Museums) comes the captivating, first-of-its kind exploration into the philanthropic and cultural legacy of one of America’s wealthiest and most influential families: The Rockefellers. Fueled by John D. Rockefeller’s vast petroleum fortune, the entire family’s terrific passion for the arts transformed the artistic infrastructure of twentieth century America. Funding museums like the MoMA, the Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of the Oriental Art at the University of Chicago, and commissioning major architectural projects like Rockefeller Center, Riverside Church, and Lincoln Center, the Rockefellers’ achievements forever changed the cultural landscape of the Western world. Loebl’s penetrating biography is the first book to deeply explore the family’s critical role as collectors and patrons of the arts.
America’s Most Famous Catholic: Stephen Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-First Century (Catholic Practice In North America Ser.)
by Stephanie N. BrehmFor nine years, Stephen Colbert’s persona, “Colbert”—a Republican superhero and parody of conservative political pundits—informed audiences on current events, politics, social issues, and religion while lampooning conservative political policy, biblical literalism, and religious hypocrisy. As devout, vocal, and authoritative lay Catholics, religion is central to both the actor and his most famous character. Yet many viewers wonder, “Is Colbert a practicing Catholic in real life or is this part of his act?” America’s Most Famous Catholic (According to Himself) examines the ways in which Colbert challenges perceptions of Catholicism and Catholic mores through his faith and comedy.Religion and the foibles of religious institutions have served as rich fodder for scores of comedians over the years. What set “Colbert” apart on his Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report, was that his critical observations were made more powerful and harder to ignore because he approached religious material not from the predictable stance of the irreverent secular comedian but from his position as one of the faithful. He is a Catholic celebrity who can bridge critical outsider and participating insider, neither fully reverent nor fully irreverent.Providing a digital media ethnography and rhetorical analysis of Stephen Colbert and his character from 2005 to 2014, author Stephanie N. Brehm examines the intersection between lived religion and mass media, moving from an exploration of how Catholicism shapes Colbert’s life and world toward a conversation about how “Colbert” shapes Catholicism. Brehm provides historical context by discovering how “Colbert” compares to other Catholic figures, such Don Novello, George Carlin, Louis C.K., and Jim Gaffigan, who have each presented their views of Catholicism to Americans through radio, film, and television. The last chapter provides a current glimpse of Colbert on The Late Show, where he continues to be a voice for Catholicism on late night, now to an even broader audience.America’s Most Famous Catholic (According to Himself) also explores how Colbert carved space for Americans who currently define their religious lives through absence, ambivalence, and alternatives. Brehm reflects on the complexity of contemporary American Catholicism as it is lived today in the often-ignored form of Catholic multiplicity: thinking Catholics, cultural Catholics, cafeteria Catholics, and lukewarm Catholics, or what others have called Colbert Catholicism, an emphasis on the joy of religion in concert with the suffering. By examining the humor in religion, Brehm allows us to see clearly the religious elements in the work and life of comedian Stephen Colbert.
Ames (Images of America)
by Gloria J. Betcher Douglas L. BiggsAmes began as two communities. At its founding in 1864, Ames Station, on the Chicago & North Western Railway's main line, lay two miles east of Iowa Agricultural College, across the Squaw Creek. When the Ames & College Railway joined the college to the town in 1891, a cooperative spirit emerged that exists to this day. A rich history of achievements and colorful characters marks Ames's 150 years. One founding father commanded the 20th US Colored Infantry in the Civil War, while a Confederate veteran served as commander of the Iowa State College corps of cadets. Physicists at Iowa State College developed the uranium refinement process for the first atomic bomb and established the Ames Laboratory, the smallest US Department of Energy National Laboratory. Companies like Collegiate Manufacturing made material for the soldiers in World War II, and Kingland Systems now stands among global leaders in reference data software. Ames's businesses, citizens, and institutions, past and present, have created a rich community heritage for a vibrant, 21st-century city.
Ames: A Ride Through Town on the "Dinkey" (Images of America)
by Farwell T. BrownAmes has been referred to as a railroad town; more correctly the railroad established itself at the same moment that Iowa Agricultural College, now Iowa State University, was taking form. While the railroad helped to develop Ames, it was the college that drew people with names like Welch, Beardshear, "Tama Jim" Wilson, Charles F. Curtiss, and their successors. The flourishing academic community also drew families like the Loughrans and the Tildens, who were attracted by the positive town-gown relationship.In Ames: A Ride Through Town on the "Dinkey," readers will meet some of these people and tour historic Ames, as the narrow-gauge train nicknamed the "Dinkey" weaves its way through the city's history in over 220 vintage photographs. The images in this book, featuring people and landmarks both past and present, include Ames native J. Herman Banning, the first African-American aviator to be licensed in the U.S.; the dramatic 1922 burning and destruction of the Iowa State College Armory; a rare image of the 1895 Iowa State football team, the first to be called the Cyclones; and finally, downtown Ames' growth from dirt streets with wooden sidewalks to a modern college town.
Amesbury (Images of Modern America)
by Margie WalkerIn 1968, Amesbury celebrated its 300th anniversary. Residents compiled a cookbook, commemorative coins were sold, dances and plays were held, and townspeople dressed in period costume as part of the many events for the town's tercentenary. Since then, Amesbury has grown considerably, with many new businesses--furniture makers, fine food products, Norman's Restaurant, and clothing shops--emerging. Old mills have been reinvented into spaces for artists, photographers, and other creative outlets. The downtown area has been redeveloped and is a welcoming site as one enters Amesbury. One only needs to sit in Market Square, stroll along the Riverwalk, watch the falls of the Powow River in the Millyard, or listen to a concert in the amphitheater to experience Amesbury's charm. Despite a 1996 vote changing the town into a city, this great community retains the same small-town feel it has held for so many years.
Amherst: 1881-1982 (Images of America)
by Amherst Historical Society Donna M. Deblasio Martha I. PallanteEstablished in 1811, Amherst has been actively engaged in the quarrying of high-quality sandstone since before the American Civil War. The products of the town's quarries have graced buildings and other structures in the United States and around the world. The promise of work at the quarries drew potential employees from the surrounding countryside, as well as from across the ocean, giving the community's population its diverse character. This photographic history presents the unique and fascinating story of Amherst, the self-described "Sandstone Center of the World."
Amherst
by Joseph A. GrandeAmherst depicts the breathtaking evolution of a small farming community into a major economic, educational, and medical hub of western New York. The book reveals how Amherst's rich soils, rapid falls, and near-Buffalo location led to the community's great progress and growth. In a single century, the population rose from just over four thousand in 1900 to one hundred fifteen thousand in 2000. Today, the town includes the thousand-acre campus of the new State University of New York at Buffalo and the Amherst Museum, visited by more than fifty thousand people each year.
Amherst and Hadley: Through the Seasons (Images of America)
by Daniel LombardoNestled deep in the Connecticut River Valley areAmherst and Hadley, two New England towns responsible for the inspiration of many classic poets, writers, and thinkers of America. In Amherst and Hadley: Through the Seasons, the landscape changes continuously throughout the seasons. Each season brings its own natural beauty and dangers, from the scorching summers to the bitter winters.This photographic history offers a rare glimpse of Robert Frost's world of fire and ice. Visit a place where Ralph Waldo Emerson ate dinners with Emily Dickinson's family and see the site on which Noah Webster founded Amherst College. Look through a visual record of small towns, where the seasonal changes of the hills, fields, and woods inspired local writer Ray Stannard Baker and area photographer Clifton Johnson. Meander through a place that left fond memories in the hearts and minds of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone and writer Sylvia Plath.
Amherst and Hadley, Massachusetts (Images of America)
by Daniel LombardoOnce part of Hadley, the town of Amherst is known the world over as the home of celebrated poet Emily Dickinson. This photographic portrait of Emily'ssurroundings reveals the beautiful landscape that inspired her art, and also includes less typical but nonetheless significant images of hard-working farmhands, Irish laborers, Italian peanut vendors, riotous college students, and feuding factory workers. These two towns at the heart of the Connecticut River Valley have been appreciated by poets and artists for many years, and their bucolic and pastoral character is celebrated in this marvelous new examination of the towns' historyin photographs from 1860 through the early twentiethcentury. Famous residents of and visitors to the area are featured, including Dickinson, Robert Frost, Henry Ward Beecher and Noah Webster. Mr. Lombardo's book combines a serious look at these historical figures with a humorous perspective on some of the area's more colorful characters, such as Charles King, the Amherst barber who became famous for eating fifty eggs in fifteen minutes.