"Half of all the colleges founded before the Civil War did not survive. Wittenberg did. This is the story of a college on the Ohio frontier that sought to Americanize millions of German immigrants and to Americanize the German Lutheran Church. In spite of that, Wittenberg was caught in the anti-foreign prejudice of “Nativists” who feared the influence of immigrants on American institutions. The school prospered after the Civil War as America embraced German culture from classical music to the Christmas tree. The school again faced prejudice in the anti-German furor of World War I. Simultaneously, this is the story of students and faculty coping with the pressures of a nation going from the poverty of the rural frontier to the wealth of an urban-industrial society and how they and Wittenberg changed."

With rare maps, prints, and photographs, this unique volume explores the dramatic history of the Americas through the birth and development of the hemisphere's great cities. Written by award-winning author David F. Marley, Historic Cities of the Americas covers the hard-to-find information of these cities' earliest years, including the unique aspects of each region's economy and demography, such as the growth of local mining, trade, or industry. The chronological layout, aided by the numerous maps and photographs, reveals the exceptional changes, relocations, destruction, and transformations these cities endured to become the metropolises they are today. Historic Cities of the Americas provides over 70 extensively detailed entries covering the foundation and evolution of the most significant urban areas in the western hemisphere. Critically researched, this work offers a rare look into the times prior to Christopher Columbus' arrival in 1492 and explores the common difficulties overcome by these European-conquered or -founded cities as they flourished into some of the most influential locations in the world.

-- Merri Rosenberg, Education Update...