State capitals are an indelible part of the American psyche, spatial representations of state power and national identity. Learning them by heart is a rite of passage in grade school, a pedagogical exercise that emphasizes the importance of committing place-names to memory. But geographers have yet to analyze state capitals in any depth. In American Capitals, Christian Montès takes us on a well-researched journey across America—from Augusta to Sacramento, Albany to Baton Rouge—shedding light along the way on the historical circumstances that led to their appointment, their success or failure, and their evolution over time. While all state capitals have a number of characteristics in common—as symbols of the state, as embodiments of political power and decision making, as public spaces with private interests—Montès does not interpret them through a single lens, in large part because of the differences in their spatial and historical evolutionary patterns. Some have remained small, while others have evolved into bustling metropolises, and Montès explores the dynamics of change and growth. All but eleven state capitals were established in the nineteenth century, thirty-five before 1861, but, rather astonishingly, only eight of the fifty states have maintained their original capitals. Despite their revered status as the most monumental and historical cities in America, capitals come from surprisingly humble beginnings, often plagued by instability, conflict, hostility, and corruption. Montès reminds us of the period in which they came about, “an era of pioneer and idealized territorial vision,” coupled with a still-evolving American citizenry and democracy.

The third in a four-volume series commemorating California's sesquicentennial, this volume brings together the best of the new scholarship on the social and cultural history of the Gold Rush, written in an accessible style and generously illustrated with with black and white and color photographs.

Construction on the California State Capitol began during the Civil War using stone, brick, and iron, showing confidence in the future. The capitol building showed that California had come a long way from the days of its transient, chaotic roots, born of the Gold Rush. Once the capitol was located in Sacramento in 1854, there was still no guarantee that the city would remain its permanent home. When it was completed in 1873, it was the largest structure of its day west of the Mississippi River. Its presence has continued to not only dominate the Sacramento landscape for a century and a half but has also come to shape the very outlook and future of Sacramento and of California itself. The state capitol and its majestic dome have become the iconic symbol of the city.

This volume takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of religious cultural exchanges around the Pacific in the period 1500-1900, relating these to economic and political developments and to the expansion of communication across the area. It brings together twenty-two pieces, from diaries of religious exiles and missionary field observations, to studies from a variety of academic disciplines, so enabling a multitude of voices to be heard. The articles are grouped in sections dealing with the Islamic period, the Iberian Catholic period, the Jewish diaspora, the Russian Orthodox church, the epoch of Protestant culture and finally Asian immigrant religions in the West; a substantial introduction contextualizes these chapters in terms of both historical and contemporary approaches.

This work examines the interplay between the city of Sacramento and the Catholic Church since the 1850s. Avella uses Sacramento as a case study of the role of religious denominations in the development of the American West. In Sacramento, as in other western urban areas, churches brought civility and various cultural amenities, and they helped to create an atmosphere of stability so important to creating a viable urban community. At the same time, churches often had to shape themselves to the secularizing tendencies of western cities while trying to remain faithful to their core values and practices. Besides the numerous institutions that the Church sponsored, it brought together a wide spectrum of the city’s diverse ethnic populations and offered them several routes to assimilation. Catholic Sacramentans have always played an active role in government and in the city’s economy, and Catholic institutions provided a matrix for the creation of new communities as the city spread into neighboring suburbs. At the same time, the Church was forced to adapt itself to the needs and demands of its various ethnic constituents, particularly the flood of Spanish-speaking newcomers in the late twentieth century.

Columnist David Domeniconi has researched close-to-home topics for his new book, G is for Golden: A California Alphabet. This is David's first children's book and it contains 40 pages of entertaining and educational facts about California. David captures California on so many fronts - its natural history, social sciences, inventors, and even its forty-niners. On the T is for Television page, the reader discovers Philo Farnsworth, a 21-year-old farmer who gleaned the idea to transmit the world's first television picture by looking at the patterns in the rows he had plowed in his field. Another California first was the creation of the United Nations Charter, signed by representatives of 50 countries at the San Francisco Opera House in 1945. Readers of G is for Golden also learn about the world's largest find of Ice Age fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits, the 21 missions that line El Camino Real, Cesar Chavez's vision, and Rodia's Watts Towers. The series employs a two-tiered approach to reach all students from Pre-K through 4th grade. A rhyme for each letter of the alphabet captures the attention of younger readers, while older students read the expository text on the same page and gain a richer understanding of the topic. About the Author: David Domeniconi is a third generation San Franciscan. He graduated from San Francisco State College with a degree in Anthropology, and studied creative writing at San Francisco State College. His illustrated travel column, "Travelog," is a regular feature in the Santa Barbara News Press. About the Illustrator: California native Pam Carroll was a finalist in Artist's Magazine's Still Life category for the past two years. Her distinct style of realism and appealing use of light creates an enchanting visual experience for children. G is for Golden is Pam's fourth children's book with Sleeping Bear Press.