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"John W. Garrett and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad" with Kathleen Waters Sander Oct 02, 2017

Show notes

Historian Kathleen Waters Sander tells the story of B&O Railroad President John W. Garrett and the B&O's plan to build a rail line from Baltimore over the Allegheny Mountains to the Ohio River. The B&O's success ignited "railroad fever" and helped to catapult railroading to America's most influential industry in the nineteenth century. After the Civil War, John W. Garrett became one of the first of the famed Gilded Age tycoons, rising to unimagined power and wealth. Sander explores how—when he was not fighting fierce railroad wars with competitors—Garrett steered the B&O into highly successful entrepreneurial endeavors, quadrupling track mileage to reach important commercial markets, jumpstarting Baltimore's moribund postwar economy, and constructing lavish hotels in Western Maryland to open tourism in the region.

Kathleen Waters Sander teaches history at the University of Maryland University College. She is the author of "The Business of Charity: The Woman's Exchange Movement, 1832–1900" and "Mary Elizabeth Garrett: Society and Philanthropy in the Gilded Age."

Description courtesy of Johns Hopkins University Press.

"Autumn of the Black Snake: The Creation of the U.S. Army and the Invasion That Opened the West" with William Hogeland Sep 18, 2017

Show notes

When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, the newly independent United States savored its victory and hoped for a great future. And yet the republic soon found itself losing an escalating military conflict on its borderlands. In 1791, years of skirmishes, raids, and quagmire climaxed in the grisly defeat of American militiamen by a brilliantly organized confederation of Shawnee, Miami, and Delaware Indians. With nearly one thousand U.S. casualties, this was the worst defeat the nation would ever suffer at native hands. Americans were shocked, perhaps none more so than their commander in chief, George Washington, who saw in the debacle an urgent lesson: the United States needed an army.

"Autumn of the Black Snake: The Creation of the U.S. Army and the Invasion That Opened the West" tells the overlooked story of how Washington achieved his aim. In evocative and absorbing prose, William Hogeland conjures up the woodland battles and the hardball politics that formed the Legion of the United States, our first true standing army. His memorable portraits of leaders on both sides—from the daring war chiefs Blue Jacket and Little Turtle to the doomed commander Richard Butler and a steely, even ruthless Washington—drive a tale of horrific violence, brilliant strategizing, stupendous blunders, and valorous deeds. This sweeping account, at once exciting and dark, builds to a crescendo as Washington and Alexander Hamilton, at enormous risk, outmaneuver Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other skeptics of standing armies—and Washington appoints the seemingly disreputable Anthony Wayne, known as Mad Anthony, to lead the legion. Wayne marches into the forests of the Old Northwest, where the very Indians he is charged with defeating will bestow on him, with grudging admiration, a new name: the Black Snake.

William Hogeland is the author of three books on founding U.S. history—"The Whiskey Rebellion," "Declaration," and "Founding Finance"—as well as a collection of essays, "Inventing American History." Born in Virginia and raised in Brooklyn, he lives in New York City.

"Chief Engineer: Washington Roebling, The Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge" with Erica Wagner Sep 12, 2017

Show notes

"Chief Engineer" tells the story of Washington Roebling, the engineer known for building one of the most iconic American structures, the Brooklyn Bridge. "Chief Engineer" reveals that his father, John-a renowned engineer who made his life in America after humble beginnings in Germany-was a tyrannical presence in Washington's life, so his own adoption of that career was hard won. A young man when the Civil War broke out, Washington joined the Union Army, building bridges that carried soldiers across rivers and seeing action in many pivotal battles, from Antietam to Gettysburg-aspects of his life never before fully brought to light. Safely returned, he married the remarkable Emily Warren Roebling, who would play a crucial role in the construction of the unprecedented Brooklyn Bridge. It would be Washington Roebling's grandest achievement, but by no means the only one.

Erica Wagner was literary editor of The Times for seventeen years, and she is now a contributing writer for New Statesman and consulting literary editor for Harper's Bazaar, as well as writing for many publications in Britain and the United States.

"The Slide: Leyland, Bonds, & The Star-Crossed Pittsburgh Pirates" with Richard Peterson and Stephen Peterson Jul 24, 2017

Show notes

In the deciding game of the 1992 National League Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves, the Pittsburgh Pirates suffered the most dramatic and devastating loss in team history when former Pirate Sid Bream slid home with the winning run. Bream's infamous slide ended the last game played by Barry Bonds in a Pirates uniform and sent the franchise reeling into a record twenty-season losing streak. "The Slide" tells the story of the myriad events, beginning with the aftermath of the 1979 World Series, which led to the fated 1992 championship game and beyond.

Richard "Pete" Peterson is the author and editor of several baseball books, including "The Pirates Reader," "Growing Up With Clemente," "Pops: The Willie Stargell Story," and "Extra Innings: Writing on Baseball." A Pittsburgh native, Peterson is professor emeritus of English at Southern Illinois University.

Stephen Peterson has worked as a teacher and screenwriter for the last ten years. He resides in Los Angeles, CA.

"Pennsylvania: A Military History" with Barbara Gannon and Christian Keller Jul 17, 2017

Show notes

Founded in 1682 by a society that had no military, eschewed violence as a means of solving conflicts, and tolerated a wide variety of religions, Pennsylvania began as a "peaceable kingdom"—but war was essential to both Pennsylvania's founding and its history. Pennsylvania was the site of some of the most important military events in American history, including the destruction of the Braddock Expedition, the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, Valley Forge, the Whiskey Rebellion, and the Battle of Gettysburg. Pennsylvania was also a leader in America's modern wars, with the Pennsylvania-based 28th Infantry Division serving with distinction in both world wars as well as in Iraq, and the state's industry, particularly steel production and ship building, being essential to the natinal effort. Complete with a list of historical sites and a comprehensive bibliography, "Pennsylvania: A Military History" is an important reference for those interested in the role of the Keystone State in our nation's wars.

Barbara Gannon is associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida.

Christian Keller is a professor in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U. S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA.

"Pittsburgh Drinks: A History of Cocktails, Nightlife & Bartending Tradition" with Cody McDevitt and Sean Enright Jun 19, 2017

Show notes

Pittsburgh's drinking culture is a story of its people: vibrant, hardworking and innovative. During Prohibition, the Hill District became a center of jazz, speakeasies and creative cocktails. In the following decades, a group of Cuban bartenders brought the nightlife of Havana to a robust café culture along Diamond Street. Disco clubs gripped the city in the 1970s, and a music-centered nightlife began to grow in Oakland with such clubs as the Electric Banana. Today, pioneering mixologists are forging a new and exciting bar revival in the South Side and throughout the city.

Cody McDevitt is an award-winning journalist who works full time for the Somerset Daily American. His work has appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Table Magazine and Pittsburgh Quarterly.

Sean Enright is one of the founding fathers of the craft cocktail movement in Pittsburgh. He has managed many of Pittsburgh's most prestigious restaurants and helped found the Pittsburgh Chapter of the United States Bartenders' Guild. Sean has also been active in the Pittsburgh art community, where he produced a literary art magazine called yawp.

"Silk Stockings and Socialism" with Sharon McConnell-Sidorick Jun 12, 2017

Show notes

The 1920s Jazz Age is remembered for flappers and speakeasies, not for the success of a declining labor movement. A more complex story was unfolding among the young women and men in the hosiery mills of Kensington, the working-class heart of Philadelphia. Their product was silk stockings, the iconic fashion item of the flapper culture then sweeping America and the world. Although the young people who flooded into this booming industry were avid participants in Jazz Age culture, they also embraced a surprising, rights-based labor movement, headed by the socialist-led American Federation of Full-Fashioned Hosiery Workers (AFFFHW). In this first history of this remarkable union, Sharon McConnell-Sidorick reveals how activists ingeniously fused youth culture and radical politics to build a subculture that included dances and parties as well as picket lines and sit-down strikes, while forging a vision for social change. In documenting AFFFHW members and the Kensington community, McConnell-Sidorick shows how labor federations like the Congress of Industrial Organizations and government programs like the New Deal did not spring from the heads of union leaders or policy experts but were instead nurtured by grassroots social movements across America.

Sharon McConnell-Sidorick is an independent scholar and lives in the Philadelphia area.

"Keystone Fly Fishing" with Henry Ramsay, Dave Rothrock and Len Lichvar Jun 05, 2017

Show notes

The definitive, up-to-date guide to Pennsylvania's best fly fishing by regional experts and guides. Includes over 200 rivers and streams across the state as well as information on where to fish for trout, smallmouth bass, and other game fish species. First ever guidebook to the state written by a group of regional experts (professional guides, fly fishing instructors, lecturers, fly tiers) to provide insider knowledge to the best fishing opportunities. Stunning color photographs, accurate maps (created with GIS), and over 200 local fly patterns are featured.

Henry Ramsay is a part-time guide, instructor, writer, and photographer. He is author of Matching Major Eastern Hatches: New Patterns for Selective Trout (Stackpole/Headwater) and has written for Eastern Fly Fishing and Fly Fisherman magazines. His flies have appeared in a number of magazines and books, and he presents at many shows, clubs, and Trout Unlimited chapters in the eastern U.S. He is a pro staff member for Daiichi Hooks and Regal Vises, and is a contract fly designer for Umpqua Feather Merchants. He lives in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania.

Dave Rothrock is a part-time guide and fly fishing and casting instructor (Salmo Trutta Enterprises). His articles have appeared in Fly Fisherman, American Angler, and Pennsylvania Angler magazines as well as other publications. His fly patterns have graced the pages of various publications, books, and calendars. He has presented programs on fly-fishing related topics to groups throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada and was previously an instructor in the L. L. Bean fly fishing schools. He lives in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.

Len Lichvar is the District Manager of the Somerset Conservation District, District 4 Commissioner, professional freelance outdoor writer/photographer published in local, state, and national publications, and the Outdoors Correspondent for the Somerset Daily American. A long time member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, he is also an active member of many local and state sportsmen's groups, as well as conservation and civic improvement organizations. Len resides in Boswell, Pennsylvania. Along with wife, Becky, he has two children, Laurel and Logan, and a granddaughter, Mackenzie.

"Sesqui!: Greed, Graft, and the Forgotten World's Fair of 1926" with Thomas Keels Jun 05, 2017

Show notes

In 1916, department store magnate and Grand Old Philadelphian John Wanamaker launched plans for a Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition in his hometown in 1926. It would be a magnificent world's fair to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Wanamaker hoped that the "Sesqui" would also transform sooty, industrial Philadelphia into a beautiful Beaux-Arts city. However, when the Sesqui opened on May 31, 1926, in the remote, muddy swamps of South Philadelphia, the first visitors were stunned to find an unfinished fair, with a few shabbily built and mostly empty structures. Crowds stayed away in droves: fewer than five million paying customers attended the Sesqui, costing the city millions of dollars. Philadelphia became a national scandal—a city so corrupt that one political boss could kidnap an entire world's fair. In his fascinating history Sesqui!, noted historian Thomas Keels situates this ill-fated celebration—a personal boondoggle by the all-powerful Congressman William S. Vare-against the transformations taking place in America during the 1920s. Keels provides a comprehensive account of the Sesqui as a meeting ground for cultural changes sweeping the country: women's and African-American rights, anti-Semitism, eugenics, Prohibition, and technological advances.

Thomas H. Keels is a historian and lecturer who has authored or co-authored seven books and numerous articles on Philadelphia history. A confirmed taphophile, Keels has been a tour guide at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia's premier Victorian necropolis, for two decades.

"Embattled Freedom: Chronicle of a Fugitive-Slave Haven in the Wary North" with Jim Remsen Jun 05, 2017

Show notes

Rural Northeastern Pennsylvania was a bucolic farming region in the 1800s—but political tensions churned below the surface. When a group of fugitive slaves dared to settle in the Underground Railroad village of Waverly, near Scranton, before the Civil War, they encountered a mix of support from abolitionists and animosity from white supremacists. Once the war came, 13 of Waverly's black fathers and sons returned south, into the bowels of slavery, to fight for the Union. Their valor under fire helped to change many minds about blacks. "Embattled Freedom" lifts these 13 remarkable lives out of the shadows, while also shedding light on the racial politics and social codes they and their people endured in the divided North. The men had found a safe haven in Waverly, but like other people of color in the 1800s and early 1900s, their freedom was uneasy, their battle for respect never-ending.

Jim Remsen is a journalist and author of two prior books, "The Intermarriage Handbook" (HarperCollins, 1988) and "Visions of Teaoga" (Sunbury, 2014). Since retiring as Religion Editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jim has pursued his keen interest in history, with a focus on underappreciated aspects of our nation's local histories. Being a native of Waverly, Pa., he is pleased to be bringing his old hometown's remarkable black and abolitionist period to light.

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