To mark the 100th anniversary of Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag, authors Jasen and Jones have written a fascinating history of the ragtime era throughout the United States. Following the craze as it spread from St. Louis through the mid-West & South, to the West & finally to the East Coast & New York, they provide a cultural history of America through its popular culture.
This comprehensive "natural history" of a traditional art form honors more than a hundred contemporary Finnish American rag rug weavers and loom builders, whom the author has met and interviewed during more than two decades of research, mostly in Michigan's western Upper Peninsula. As in the classic Finnish American rag rug, Lockwood weaves a colorful yet subdued, artfully lasting, and deeply symbolic tribute that reclaims remnants of past Michigan Traditional Arts Program productions in a fresh composition that will appeal to rag rug artisans, Finns and Finnish Americans, scholars, and a broad public alike. Janet C. Gilmore, Independent Folklorist & Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison --
Winner, 2016 Best First Book Prize from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society Finalist, 2016 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Winner, 2015 Book Prize from the Southern Jewish Historical Society Finalist, 2015 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award from the Association for Jewish Studies Winner, 2014 National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies from the Jewish Book Council The majority of Jewish immigrants who made their way to the United States between 1820 and 1924 arrived nearly penniless; yet today their descendants stand out as exceptionally successful. How can we explain their dramatic economic ascent? Have Jews been successful because of cultural factors distinct to them as a group, or because of the particular circumstances that they encountered in America? The Rag Race argues that the Jews who flocked to the United States during the age of mass migration were aided appreciably by their association with a particular corner of the American economy: the rag trade. From humble beginnings, Jews rode the coattails of the clothing trade from the margins of economic life to a position of unusual promise and prominence, shaping both their societal status and the clothing industry as a whole. Comparing the history of Jewish participation within the clothing trade in the United States with that of Jews in the same business in England, The Rag Race demonstrates that differences within the garment industry on either side of the Atlantic contributed to a very real divergence in social and economic outcomes for Jews in each setting.
Definitive history traces the genre's growth and diversification from its 19th-century origins through its heyday and modern revival. Discusses 48 major composers and 800 rags. More than 100 photos.
In America's Simple Solutions, author Mark Werts tackles education, healthcare, immigration, taxes, gun control, the environment, gender, equality, and many other issues, and offers Americans simple solutions free of partisan bias, based on how these challenges are handled around the world. Having lived, worked, and traveled across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, Werts has observed how people in other countries have approached the same dilemmas that we face in the United States. "I have come to understand what is practical and works. I have also seen what is impractical and doesn't work. In our global world, why would America pursue an idea that has been proven again and again not to work in other places?" he writes. Werts also reflects on the views of our country's Founding Fathers, and suggests that we have forgotten much of their considerable wisdom. Throughout, Werts emphasizes the importance of expanded freedom, especially for entrepreneurs and business. He also stresses the critical roles played by education and political participation. "A good, solid education for all of our citizens is the ultimate answer to our many challenges . . . and to get the best teachers, we must offer the best salaries," he says. And he laments low voter turnout, urging all eligible Americans not only to vote, but to get involved in local boards and commissions. With freedom, education, and voting as an underlying theme, Werts believes that we are at a monumental juncture, and that the future of our individual freedom is at stake. In reading, America's Simple Solutions will empower people to get involved, and make the choices that will fuel both growth and freedom.
Reveals how the new technologies of mass culture--the phonograph, radio, and film--played a key role in accelerating the diffusion of jazz as a modernist art form across the nation's racial divide. Focuses on four cities--New Orleans, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles--to show how each city produced a distinctive style of jazz.
(Faber Piano Adventures ). 12 songs carefully graded for students to enjoy, including: Colors of the Wind * Eleanor Rigby * La Bamba * The Lion Sleeps Tonight * Pachelbel Canon * Star Wars * and more.
In 1974, the academy award-winning film The Sting brought back the music of Scott Joplin, a black ragtime composer who died in 1917. Led by The Entertainer, one of the most popular pieces of the mid-1970s, a revival of his music resulted in events unprecedented in American musical history. Never before had any composer's music been so acclaimed by both the popular and classical music worlds. While reaching a "Top Ten" position in the pop charts, Joplin's music was also being performed in classical recitals and setting new heights for sales of classical records. His opera Treemonisha was performed both in opera houses and on Broadway. Destined to be the definitive work on the man and his music, King of Ragtime is written by Edward A. Berlin. A renowned authority on Joplin and the author of the acclaimed and widely cited Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History, Berlin redefines the Scott Joplin biography. Using the tools of a trained musicologist, he has uncovered a vast amount of new information about Joplin. His biography truly documents the story of the composer, replacing the myths and unsupported anecdotes of previous histories. He shows how Joplin's opera Treemonisha was a tribute to the woman he loved, a woman other biographers never even mentioned. Berlin also reveals that Joplin was an associate of Irving Berlin, and that he accused Berlin of stealing his music to compose Alexander's Ragtime Band in 1911. Berlin paints a vivid picture of the ragtime years, placing Scott Joplin's story in its historical context. The composer emerges as a representative of the first post-Civil War generation of African Americans, of the men and women who found in the world of entertainment a way out of poverty and lowly social status. King of Ragtime recreates the excitement of these pioneers, who dreamed of greatness as they sought to expand the limits society placed upon their race.
This is a book that should be read by every American. It is a combination of both fact and fiction. The facts detail what is happened in our country over the past years, and the fiction is what may occur if America continues down the current road. It is a frightening scenario and then a heroic account of how Americans react to the loss of their freedoms. I highly recommend it. David Moxley CEO Americas Web Radio, Inc. 1984 meets The Hunger Games meets The Patriot. The Rag takes you on an adventure into what America could become and what makes America great. God fearing patriotic Americans. Men and women willing to pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. A vivid picture of oppression and hopelessness is suddenly infused with heroism and true grit. Get ready to spend a late night with a book you wont be able to put down. Amazing characters, vivid descriptions and.....a must read! Pastor Greg Young Host of the Nationally Syndicated Radio Show Chosen Generation www.pastorgregyoung.org The Rag is a story of America rising from the ashes of the destruction of its Constitutional Republic and a devastating EMP attack that results in the deaths of millions of Americans and a brutal dictatorship killing many more. It is a tale of ordinary American citizens who form militias that stand up against the oppressive federal government forces and their foreign mercenaries. It is a heroic story of a new American revolution, and the brave men and women who refused to give up their rights and decided to go to war to fight for their God and their Country. It is a tale of epic battles by patriots who are usually outnumbered and out-gunned, but still find ways to win. It also a story of deception and betrayal, and of American people who despite all of these challenges prove that true Americans and the things they believe in can survive despite all odds.
