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History and Current Events March 2019
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| Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of... by Richard GergelWhat it's about: On February 12, l1946, African American veteran Isaac Woodard was beaten and permanently blinded by Batesburg, South Carolina police chief Lynwood Shull after a dispute with a bus driver.
What happened next: President Truman established the President's Committee on Civil Rights, which led to the desegregation of the U.S. armed services in 1948. After Shull was acquitted, Judge J. Waties Waring, who had presided over the case, dedicated the rest of his career to fighting racial injustice. |
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| Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated... by Larry LoftisWho it's about: Odette Sansom, a French woman recruited by England's Special Operations Executive to spy for Britain during World War II.
Is it for you? Readers who enjoy fast-paced histories that read like thrillers will find much to appreciate in this dramatic tale.
Don't miss: Sansom's relationship with her commanding officer is "the stuff of romance novels" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David TreuerWhat it is: a vivid 125-year history of Native America that details the ways that tribes have survived -- and thrived -- in the face of adversity.
About the author: David Treuer is an Ojibwe novelist and historian who grew up on Minnesota's Leech Lake Indian Reservation.
Reviewers say: "A welcome modern rejoinder to classics such as God is Red and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Forgotten & Untold Histories
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| Here is Where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History by Andrew CarrollWhat it is: a rollicking coast-to-coast adventure exploring 50 overlooked historical sites.
Why you might like it: This concise page-turner offers plenty of surprising twists and a guide whose enthusiasm is infectious.
Fascinating finds: the New Jersey railroad stop where John Wilkes Booth's brother saved Abraham Lincoln's son from an accident; a sunken ship in the Mississippi River with a higher death toll than the Titanic. |
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Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places
by Colin Dickey
Explores some of the United States' most infamously haunted places, including old mansions and hotels, abandoned prisons, empty hospitals, and other locations, and reveals the repressed history they represent.
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The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
by Richard Rothstein
Richard Rothstein debunks the myth that America's cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation -- that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate agencies. Rather, The Color of Law makes it clear that it was de jure segregation -- the laws and policy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments -- that actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to this day.
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Unfamiliar Fishes
by Sarah Vowell
An irreverent analysis of late-nineteenth-century imperialism in the United States focuses on the annexation of Hawaii as a defining historical milestone, covering such contributing factors as the missionary overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the activities of whaling fleets
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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