The story of an educational process that produced a remarkable family—the Comptons—of three college presidents and a Nobel prize winner. Hundreds of interviews, careful reading of volumes of family papers, inquiry along countless separate lines went into the making of this book. The result is a warm tribute to a family, a memorable history, and a fascinating essay on the origins of eminence.
The College Street Coffee House is still a much-revered institution in Kolkata. Its mystique lingers, despite its dilapidated appearance that evokes another era. Intellectuals from a range of disciplines met to discuss compelling ideas in a free-flowing style – the quintessential Bengali adda, punctuated with many cups of coffee. Twenty-six intellectual, political, and cultural icons including Rabin Mandal, Soumitra Chatterjee, Usha Ganguly, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, and Ashim Chatterjee share their memories of Coffee House. Their portrait photos and absorbing reminiscences capture the tumultuous and changing intellectual, political, and cultural currents that surged through Bengal from the 1950s to the 1990s. “Such a pleasure to have this account of a great unofficial institution from a disarming multiplicity of perspectives - photographic, personal, and intellectual - and to listen in on its hubbub.”Amit Chaudhuri
Over 160 years ago, bear and buffalo roamed the prairie and Wichita Indians camped on the banks of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Settlers from places like Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and as far away as England and Ireland began arriving in North Texas. Texas was not yet a part of the United States when Sam Houston, as president of the Republic of Texas, entered into an agreement with the Peters Colony Company to attract settlers to the area with the promise of free land. Carrollton likely received its name from one of these groups that emigrated from Carrollton, Illinois. The city grew as it became a railroad hub and later transitioned from a rural community to a prosperous Dallas suburb. In 1976, the city participated in many national bicentennial celebrations, and volunteers restored and opened a museum to honor its rural beginnings and courageous settlers.
The Lost Boys of Zeta Psi takes us inside the secret, amusing, and sometimes mundane world of a California fraternity around 1900. Gleaning history from recent archaeological excavations and from such intriguing sources as oral histories, architecture, and photographs, Laurie A. Wilkie uncovers details of everyday life in the first fraternity at the University of California, Berkeley, and sets this story into the rich social and historical context of West Coast America at the turn of the last century. In particular, Wilkie examines men’s coming-of-age experiences in a period when gender roles and relations were undergoing dramatic changes. Her innovative study illuminates shifting notions of masculinity and at the same time reveals new insights about the inner workings of fraternal orders and their role in American society.
Putting archive and contemporary photographs of the same landmark side-by-side, Indianapolis Then and Now®? provides a visual chronicle of the city's pastThe development of Indianapolis has taken more unexpected turns than a driver at its world-famous Speedway. Roaring to life after a rather inauspicious start, Indianapolis became known as the "Crossroads of America" during the early 1900s, with a bustling Union Station train terminal as well as a flourishing literary and artistic scene of nationally renowned poets, painters, and playwrights. Mansions were built along the showplace thoroughfare of North Meridian Street, pharmaceutical and automobile industries employed thousands, and jazz music was played into the night. Teenagers at Shortridge High School produced the nation's first high school daily newspaper, and many went on to become novelists and politicians, including Booth Tarkington and Richard Lugar. The Hoosier capital occasionally veered off track; from the 1950s to the 1970s it was referred to as "Naptown" and "India-NO-place." Indianapolis has picked up speed since the 1990s and is once again a vibrant city, warmly nicknamed "Indy," with a spectacularly rejuvenated downtown. Residents have taken extraordinary care to preserve the best of the past, and have supported the development of new sports stadiums and retail outlets. Indianapolis Then and Now® features historic places such as the Indiana Statehouse, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Lockerbie Square, and the Federal Building, as well as modern areas of interest such as the Monon Trail and Circle Centre, all showing the mixture of preservation and change in this historic city.
