NCW Libraries

Weatherford was settled in the 1850s, when the pioneers and Indians came for its rich soil and water sources. The mark of fame for Weatherford is the Goodnight-Loving Trail, which was driven by two cattle drivers, Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. Charles Goodnight, who was killed in an Indian attack, is buried in Weatherford, and a historical marker is placed at his grave in the historic Greenwood Cemetery. Cotton and watermelon were the popular...

A notorious case of terror and extortion in the Buckeye State In the early 1900s, a criminal society known as the Black Hand became feared across the United States as it extorted hard-working immigrants. In 1908, Agostino Iannarino received a series of threatening letters and when he refused to pay, a bomb exploded at the entrance of his Columbus home. His family fled to Sicily only to continue receiving threats. The following year, U.S. Post Office...

One of the unsung heroes of the auto world, C. Harold Wills designed the Model T when he worked as Henry Ford's right-hand man. Later, he founded his own company to produce the legendary Wills Sainte Claire. Every endeavor displayed his trademark inventiveness, from the development of the overhead cam engine to the toboggan run on the roof of his house. He used his money to create one of the first worker model cities at Marysville, Michigan. In this...

Cadwallader Colden's History of the Five Indian Nations Depending on the Province of New-York in America, originally published in 1727 and revised in 1747, is one of the most important intellectual works published in eighteenth-century British America. Colden was among the most learned American men of his time, and his history of the Iroquois tribes makes fascinating reading. The author discusses the religion, manners, customs, laws, and forms of...

Jina and her family like to spend time in nature. When Jina learns that a lot of kids don't often experience the great outdoors, she comes up with plans to start her very own nature club. But when Jina's parents put a damper on her plans, Jina has to find another way to make a difference. Can she introduce other kids to the joys of nature?

Elizabeth Blackwell shattered the glass ceiling as the first woman doctor. Learn how she defied stereotypes and opened a medical practice to treat female patients.

Master storyteller Sherman Carmichael ventures into the Tar Heel State to deliver strange and mysterious tales along the coast. Read about shipwrecks such as that of the SS Liberator, which still sits at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Diamond Shoals, and legendary storms like the 1911 Water Spouts, which were described as tornadoes spinning wildly atop the ocean. Find out why the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is said to be haunted by a large...

"Winner of the 2016 AAAS Award for Best Book in History, Association for Asian American Studies" "Winner of the 2014 Best First Book, Immigration and Ethnic History Society" "Finalist for the 2015 Theodore Saloutos Memorial Book Award, Immigration and Ethnic History Society" Ellen D. Wu is assistant professor of history at Indiana University, Bloomington. The Color of Success tells of the astonishing transformation of Asians in the United States...

How did Ellison Onizuka become an astronaut? Readers will learn all about how this famous Asian American went from Air Force pilot to NASA astronaut in this low-leveled biography.

Settled as a maritime and agricultural colony, North Carolina's history has always been intertwined with agriculture and farming. After the Civil War, North Carolina became the nation's top grower of tobacco, and one of the country's largest tobacco companies-the American Tobacco Company-flourished from the huge quantities of Eastern North Carolina–grown tobacco that was purchased. With the growing success of cotton farming and other crops and livestock-including...