Ghosts and other supernatural phenomena are widely represented throughout modern culture. They can be found in any number of entertainment, commercial, and other contexts, but popular media or commodified representations of ghosts can be quite different from the beliefs people hold about them, based on tradition or direct experience. Personal belief and cultural tradition on the one hand, and popular and commercial representation on the other, nevertheless continually feed each other. They frequently share space in how people think about the supernatural. In Haunting Experiences, three well-known folklorists seek to broaden the discussion of ghost lore by examining it from a variety of angles in various modern contexts. Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas take ghosts seriously, as they draw on contemporary scholarship that emphasizes both the basis of belief in experience (rather than mere fantasy) and the usefulness of ghost stories. They look closely at the narrative role of such lore in matters such as socialization and gender. And they unravel the complex mix of mass media, commodification, and popular culture that today puts old spirits into new contexts.

With its humble beginnings as a small train junction in Virginias northern piedmont region, Manassas has evolved from a traditional rural community into a leading city of the New South, serving as a focal point for new businesses and growth outside of our nations capital. Though the Civil War left an indelible mark on the character of Manassas, the areas citizens and post-war newcomers were able to begin anew, building a progressive town, full of promise and hope, upon the four-year conflicts ashes and battle-scarred landscape. In Manassas: A Place of Passages, this historic town comes alive, allowing the reader to take an entertaining and educational visual journey from the early days of the Iron Horse at Manassas Junction in the mid-nineteenth century to a more prosperous Manassas in the early twentieth century, when the streets were newly paved and lined with family-owned businesses. This comprehensive volume touches upon every facet of community life: schools, such as the Manassas Institute and the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth; the towns many historic churches, which were acknowledged, at one time, by Ripleys Believe It or Not!; several prominent families and civic leaders; and general scenes of people participating in recreational activities, from piano lessons and plays to athletic teams and parades.

The family, of English origin, first settled in the Connecticut valley in 1636.

This text presents the history of the development of fibre optic technology, explaining the scientific challenges that needed to be overcome, the range of applications and future potential for this fundamental communications technology.