Previously published: Miami, Fla.: E.A. Seemann Pub., 1974.

Yesterday in the Hills recalls life in North Georgia from the 1890s until World War II and records vanished and vanishing folkways of the region. Here is folklore at its best--seen from the inside and mediated though the heart. Yesterday in the Hills is built upon the bedrock of experience and memory, but its sharply drawn characters and beautifully proportioned narrative transcend reminiscence and realistically depict hill country life as it once was.

As the Civil War drew to a close, newly emancipated black women workers made their way to Atlanta—the economic hub of the newly emerging urban and industrial south—in order to build an independent and free life on the rubble of their enslaved past. In an original and dramatic work of scholarship, Tera Hunter traces their lives in the postbellum era and reveals the centrality of their labors to the African-American struggle for freedom and justice. Household laborers and washerwomen were constrained by their employers’ domestic worlds but constructed their own world of work, play, negotiation, resistance, and community organization. Hunter follows African-American working women from their newfound optimism and hope at the end of the Civil War to their struggles as free domestic laborers in the homes of their former masters. We witness their drive as they build neighborhoods and networks and their energy as they enjoy leisure hours in dance halls and clubs. We learn of their militance and the way they resisted efforts to keep them economically depressed and medically victimized. Finally, we understand the despair and defeat provoked by Jim Crow laws and segregation and how they spurred large numbers of black laboring women to migrate north. Hunter weaves a rich and diverse tapestry of the culture and experience of black women workers in the post–Civil War south. Through anecdote and data, analysis and interpretation, she manages to penetrate African-American life and labor and to reveal the centrality of women at the inception—and at the heart—of the new south.

In this panoramic survey of urbanization in the American South from its beginnings in the colonial period through the "Sunbelt" era of today, Lawrence Larsen examines both the ways in which southern urbanization has paralleled that of other regions and the distinctive marks of "southernness" in the historical process. Larsen is the first historian to show that southern cities developed in "layers" spreading ever westward in response to the expanding transportation needs of the Cotton Kingdom. Yet in other respects, southern cities developed in much the same way as cities elsewhere in America, despite the constraints of regional, racial, and agrarian factors. And southern urbanites, far from resisting change, quickly seized upon technological innovations- most recently air conditioning- to improve the quality of urban life. Treating urbanization as an independent variable without an ideological foundation, Larsen demonstrates that focusing on the introduction of certain city services, such as sewerage and professional fire departments, enables the historian to determine points of urban progress. Larsen's landmark study provides a new perspective not only on a much ignored aspect of the history of the South but also on the relationship of the distinctive cities of the Old South to the new concept of the Sunbelt city. Carrying his story down to the present, he concludes that southern cities have gained parity with others throughout America. This important work will be of value to all students of the South as well as to urban historians.

Brief text and numerous historical photographs, engravings, drawings, woodcuts, etc., trace Cincinnati's history from first settlement to the early 1950's.

"A terrifically exciting novel. Plenty of steam and excitement to delight both men and women readers. You won't be able to put it down." -Bill Eichenberger, Book Editor, Columbus Dispatch Yesterday's Shadow is an intriguing tale of calculated betrayal and deceptions that unfolds with unexpected twists. Ian McBride and his attorney friend encounter a pair of attractive women in Charleston and plan romance on beautiful Hilton Head Island. But are any of the four who they appear to be? The designing women each have a private agenda. They clash with each other as well as the men-a four-way personality tangle ensues and male-female chemistry ignites. But, the island paradise mood is soon torn by a deadly kidnapping and extortion plot. Intrigue and tensions spike-the criminal conspiracy must be stopped. However, one mistake could cost the lives of Ian and those close to him. "You'll almost hear the surf and feel the sand between your toes as you're sucked into this engaging novel. The author's FBI Agent expertise adds authenticity. Enjoyable, well-drawn characters make you feel involved." -Vicky Hunnings, Author of The Bride Wore Blood and Turn of Fortune "Ray McElhaney has created a delicately balanced thriller that bridges two genres with the deft of an engineer. A fast-paced, genuinely satisfying read." -Steven Gladis, Ph.D., Associate Dean, University of Virginia