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Texas Coastal Defense in the Civil War Book Release

Texas Coastal Defense in the Civil War

Arcadia Publishing New Release

Arcadia Publishing continues their role of releasing geographically specific works of history with their new book release Texas Coastal Defense in the Civil War written by William Nelson Fox.

Texas Coastal Defense in the Civil War book releaseFrom the publisher

Navigate the often-overlooked history of the resolute defense of the Texas coast during the Civil War.

With volumes written on the Civil War, little attention has been given to the defense of the Texas coast. Most military-aged Texans had been dispatched across the Mississippi, but those left behind resolutely weathered naval bombardments and repulsed invasion attempts. It was only at the end of the conflict that Federal troops were able to make their way into South Texas, as the Confederacy prepared its last stand at Caney Creek and the Brazos River. From famous battles to obscure skirmishes, William Nelson Fox provides an account of the Lone Star State’s defensive strategies during the Civil War.

159 pages. Bibliography, index, notes, b/w photos. ISBN 9781467155618. Cover price $24.99.

 

 

Thank you to Arcadia Publishing for providing a complimentary review copy of this book. A review will be forthcoming.

Thank you for reading my post announcing Texas Coastal Defense in the Civil War. This new book release from Arcadia Publishing will add to the growing literature on the role of Texas and naval affairs during the Civil War years. Read my reviews of other Arcadia Publishing titles using THIS LINK.

 

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Click the image or THIS LINK to support this site through Buy Me A Coffee. Your support pays for web services, research trips, photocopies, and photo usage fees.

 

This post may contain affiliate links including Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  If you click these links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. This commission does not affect any price that you pay. Affiliate programs or sponsors providing products do not influence views and opinions provided in my blog.

 

Galveston and the Civil War James M. Schmidt
For those interested in Galveston, TX during the Civil War, I recommend this excellent volume written by James M. Schmidt, and published by Arcadia Publishing.

 

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Haunted America New Releases from Arcadia Publishing

Haunted America New Releases from Arcadia Publishing.

Arcadia Publishing continues their Haunted America series with two new releases for your consideration. Both books are Florida based and should be of interest to readers interested in ghosts, haunted history, and Florida history.

After you enjoy this post about two new releases in the Haunted America series, read more of my posts related to Arcadia Publishing titles,  using   THIS LINK.

Arcadia Publishing has generously supplied complimentary review copies of two new releases in their Haunted America series of books. I will be providing book reviews for these books in the near future. Both books are now available for pre-release purchase through your local bookstore or online outlets.

Haunted America New Releases from Arcadia Publishing.

 

 

 

Haunted Florida Ghost Towns

Haunted Florida Ghost Towns Haunted America New Releases Arcadia Publishing

Leigh, Heather. Haunted Florida Ghost Towns. Charleston: History Press, 2024. 128 pages, ISBN 9781467156479, $21.99.

The term “ghost towns” brings to mind communities from the Old West where there were once bustling Boom Towns but today are abandoned and lonely pieces to the puzzles of the past. With this image ingrained into a person’s mind, it is challenging to visualize ghost towns with sandy beaches and palm trees swaying in the wind. A little-known fact about Florida is it is home to more than 250 ghost towns, many of which remain the home for the spirits of former inhabitants, civil war deserters, pirates, and more. Haunted Florida Ghost Towns covers the many abandoned locations in the Sunshine State where paranormal entities are known to roam. Take a journey into the world of the supernatural and learn the history behind why Florida has so many ghost towns and the energy that remains to fuel paranormal activity.

 

 

Haunted America New Releases from Arcadia Publishing.Take a ghost bus tour in beautiful York, England.
Enjoy 75 spooky minutes of sightseeing in York, England on board the Ghost Bus! Your creepy conductor will show you the city’s top sights and give you bone-chilling and humorous insights into some of the more gruesome events in York, England’s past. Click the image or THIS LINK for information and to book your ghost bus tour.

 

Haunted Indian River County

Haunted Indian River County Haunted America New Releases from Arcadia PublishingLawson, Lawrence. Haunted Indian River County. Charleston, History Press, 2024. 139 pages, ISBN 978467155748, $21.99

Indian River County is an idyllic vacation spot on Florida’s east coast, not far south of Cape Canaveral. Known as part of the state’s famed “Treasure Coast,” many are unaware of the deep and fascinating history this area played in the development of the Sunshine State. Also lost among its visitors and residents are the chilling stories of the hauntings that accompany this rich history. It is here that a man named Waldo still looks after his family and properties, six decades after his death. Or a retired preacher is seen digging up his hidden treasure, days after he died .

 

 

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Click the image to support this site through Buy Me A Coffee. Your support pays for web services, research trips, photocopies, and photo usage fees.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click these links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. This commission does not affect any price that you pay. Affiliate programs or sponsors providing products do not influence the views expressed in this post

Dead Queens Logo Scoop Neck T-Shirt
</Where history meets art, and queens reign supreme – welcome to the enchanting realm of Dead Queens. Join us as we blend regality with creativity, bringing you a lifestyle brand that transcends time> Order your Dead Queens shirt by clicking the image, or scroll through and see their entire catalog. 

 

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UNC Press 2023 American History Catalog and sale

The Future of Rock & Roll
The Future of Rock & Roll
The Future of Rock & Roll written by Robin James part of the UNC Press 2023 Catalog and Sale

The University of North Carolina Press has created their new 2023 American History Catalog and are currently offering a 30% off sale on selected items.

Click the link for great new books and a special sale. Categories include Civil War, Labor, Immigration, Native American, Political, Southern, and more. There’s a great selection of books available.

Save 30% off cover price using the code 01UNCP30.

Order $75 worth of books and get free shipping to the United States.

Be sure to check the UNC Press website and review the 2023 catalog and take advantage of the 30% off sale, for a limited time only.

This is NOT an affiliate post and I currently do not know how long this sale will last.

 

 

 

UNC Press 2023 American History Catalog and Sale

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New Books for Museum and Archives Professionals

Designing Museum Experiences book cover

Rowman & Littlefield                                                                                                                                   Museums & Archives                                                                                                                                      New Professional Books for 2022

We publish simultaneously in print and e-book editions. We have publishing partnerships with a range of world-leading authorities, including: American Association for State and Local History, The American Foreign Policy Council, Smithsonian Institution, The Center for Strategic and International Studies, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, Fortress Press, Lehigh University Press, Lord Cultural Resources, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Find more partners here.

We are one of America’s largest book distributors: National Book Network (NBN). 

Rowman & Littlefield is based near Washington, DC with offices throughout the US and UK.

Late last week I received the R&L 2022 Museums and Archives catalog. There are any number of excellent books either on the shelves or on their way. Below, I highlight a few that really caught my eye. Click the photos for more information. 

Shellman, Cecile. Effective Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism Practices for Museums.

Equal parts autobiography, cautionary tale, and actionable recommendations, this book is as candid and vulnerable as the author insists all seekers of justice be when they embark on a full-scale DEAI initiative anchored in anti-oppression.

Since the beginning of her professional museum journey, Cecile Shellman—like many who have been marginalized by systems ill-prepared to support them—has had to engage in cultural realms in which she was not fully represented and where she was sometimes misrepresented or understood. It’s difficult being the “only one in the room,” while trying to build relations and succeed in your chosen career. Ms. Shellman shares personal relatable stories that explain how harmful inattention to Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion can be to individuals and to the group dynamic. This rare peek behind the curtain of museum culture leaves no holds barred.

The telling is done in an entirely approachable, if humbling way. Poignant illustrations and vivid verbal descriptions are designed to take you further into the author’s experience as well as providing moments of reflection and humor. Tales from the field—anonymized stories describing microagressions, discrimination, barriers, and roadblocks in the field—are accompanied by questions to spark dialogue and engender empathetic responses. These anecdotes refer to those who share the author’s identity and circumstance as well as those who don’t. As with all stories, lessons and messages about culture and patterns are told as a point of caution. What might you do if you were participants in these events? How can you build your emotional intelligence to a desired level for your current museum and personal needs?

Finally, there are calls to action at the personal, interpersonal, organizational, and systemic levels. True transformation requires complete reassessment of norms bolstered by a broken society. This book provides strategies for implementing change.

Nosek, Elizabeth. Interpretative Master Planning: A Framework for Historic Sites.

Interpretative Master Planning: A Framework for Historical Sites begins with the basics of any planning experience: why do an interpretative master plan (IMP) and is your institution ready to undergo such a process? These chapters are followed with straightforward guidance on how to go about organizing the necessary funding to pay for an IMP’s development, the core members of your planning team, choosing stakeholders, hosting focus groups, and using all the information gathered to develop an engaging interpretative master plan that is unique to your museum, historic site, or organization.

The book features five case studies highlighting organizations that have undergone the interpretative master planning process. Each case study offers a unique point of view about the process and provides the organization’s conclusions as to what they would or would not do again if they had the choice. The end results showcase the wealth of useful information that can be garnered from an Interpretative Master Planning experience.

Interpretative Master Planning: A Framework for Historical Sites offers a complete framework complemented by real-world examples for creating a blueprint that will strengthen any organization’s interpretation.

Simek, Jamie. Beyond the Bake Sale: Fundraising for Local History Organizations.

If food is nourishment to a person, money is sustenance for most nonprofit organizations. Yet many small organizations rely on one-off efforts and get-rich events in place of real fundraising strategies. Just because an organization is small, or volunteer-run, or located in a rural area, does not mean its leaders can’t professionalize their fundraising, establish effective processes, and build genuine relationships that will lead to the ultimate goal: people giving to people.

Beyond the Bake Sale: Fundraising for Local History Organizations meets organizations where they are, cutting through all of the assumptions and mumbo-jumbo, taking professional fundraising strategies and scaling them to an accessible level. Designed specifically for small cultural heritage organizations, this book is written with their unique challenges in mind. From caring for objects-based collections to succeeding with minimal (or no) permanent staff to grant writing for those who’ve never written grants, this book is for local history organization leaders doing critical work to care for our shared history.

Complete with explanations, examples, and thought-provoking questions, this book challenges local history leaders to brainstorm, communicate, experiment, and plan. Blank worksheets encourage readers to put ideas down in writing and establish processes to build upon. Whether read cover to cover or used as a reference text for specific topics, users will find material that begins with a broad overview before narrowing to focus on tips and tactics that will help grassroots fundraisers feel more comfortable, confident and confident in their efforts.

Above all else, this book is grounded in the idea that fundraising is an intentional, people-focused process built on genuine, personal relationships. This philosophy should be as accessible to leaders at small cultural heritage organizations as to anyone else doing important nonprofit work in their communities.


Wallace, Margot. Writing for Museums: Communicating and Connecting with All Your Audiences.

Words are everywhere in the museum. They swarm amidst all the visual exhibits, and throughout many non-exhibition areas, talking to a vast swath of people in ways that visuals cannot. Signage at the information desk, visitor material, scripts for tour guides, scripts for exhibition videos, education plans, posts, blogs, membership brochures, audio scripts for smart phones, apps for in-depth information, and store labels. In a multi-screen world, where information explodes in every corner of the field of vision, clarity comes from the presence of words to organize the feast of visuals and help all audiences feel at home.

Research bears out the need for a range of learning tools and it’s not just visitors who benefit from verbal cues; donors, educators, community partners and volunteers will all engage more effectively with the museum that explains its brand mission with good writing. Whether written by administrators, staffers, freelancers, or interns, words must be delivered by your museum with the confidence they will connect meaningfully with all audiences. Your story is told everywhere, with every narration opening your doors wider.

Walhimer, Mark. Designing Museum Experiences.

Museums are changing from static, monolithic, and encyclopedic institutions to institutions that are visitor-centric, with shared authority that allows museum and visitors to become co-creators in content creation. Museum content is also changing, from static content to dynamic, evolving content that is multi-cultural and transparent regarding the evolution of facts and histories, allowing multi-person interpretations of events.

Designing Museum Experiences leads readers through the methods and tools of the three stages of a museum visit (Pre-visit, In-Person Visit, and Post-visit), with a goal of motivating visitors to return and revisit the museum in the future. This museum visitation loop creates meaningful intellectual, emotional, and experiential value for the visitor.

Using the business-world-proven methodologies of user centered design, Museum Visitor Experience leads the reader through the process of creating value for the visitor. Providing consistent messaging at all touchpoints (website, social media, museum staff visitor services, museum signage, etc.) creates a trusted bond between visitor and museum. The tools used to increase understanding of and encourage empathy for the museum visitor, and understand visitor motivations include: Empathy Mapping, Personas, Audience segmentation, Visitor Journey Mapping, Service Design Blueprints, System Mapping, Content Mapping, Museum Context Mapping, Stakeholder Mapping, and the Visitor Value Proposition.

In the end, the reason for using the tools is to empower visitors and meet their emotional and intellectual needs, with the goal of creating a lifelong bond between museum and visitor. This is especially important as museums face a new post COVID-19 reality; only the most nimble, visitor-centered museums are likely to survive.

Young, Tara. Creating Meaningful Museum Experiences for K-12 Audiences: How to Connect with Teachers and Engage Students.

Creating Meaningful Museum Experiences for K–12 Audiences: How to Connect with Teachers and Engage Students is the first book in more than a decade to provide a comprehensive look at best practices in working with this crucial segment of museum visitors. With more than 40 contributors from art, history, science, natural history, and specialty museums across the country, the book asks probing questions about museum-school relationships, suggests new paradigms, and offers creative approaches. Fully up-to-date with current issues relevant to museums’ work with schools, including anti-racist teaching approaches and pivoting to virtual programming during the pandemic, this book is essential for both established and emerging museum educators to ensure they are current on best practices in the field.

The book features four parts: Setting the Stage looks at the how museums establish and finance K-12 programs, and how to engage with the youngest audiences. Building Blocks considers the core elements of successful K-12 programming, including mission alignment, educator recruitment and training, working with teacher advisory boards, and anti-racist teaching practices. Questions and New Paradigms presents case studies in which practitioners reconsider established approaches to museums’ work with schools and engage in iterative processes to update and improve them—from evaluating K–12 museum programs to diversifying program content, to prioritizing virtual programming. Solutions and Innovative Models offers examples of programs that have been reimagined for the current landscape of museum-school collaborations, including practicing self-care for teachers and museum educators, investing in extended school relationships over one-time visits, and highlighting the stories of enslaved people who lived at historic sites.

Vanderwarf, Sandra and Bethany Romanowski. Inventorying Cultural Heritage Collections: A Guide for Museums and Historical Societies.

This two-part text opens with an argument few collections practitioners would contest: Regular inventories are central to meaningful, sustainable, and ethical collections preservation and access. But Vanderwarf and Romanowski argue that in practice—some 25 years working with diverse collections between them—inventories are uncommon: instead of functioning as a commonplace feature of collections care, they tend to be evoked as a last resort when a museum has lost control of its collection.

Part I offers a flexible project management framework that illustrates strategies for reining in control of collections now. From identifying objectives that best serve the collection in question to securing stakeholder support and planning time and resources, Part I eliminates some guesswork around what may be an unprecedented and intensive project. To maintain the benefits of a project-style inventory, the authors then encourage practitioners to embrace inventory as an ongoing, evolving collections care function that reflects changing professional values and expectations from the communities museums serve. By centering computerized databases, barcoding, and digital collections, the authors further acknowledge these technologies as permanent, evolving features of collections and inventory practice that merit increased resourcing.

Part II gives voice to practitioners around the world through case studies that affirm the vital role of inventories in regaining control of collections. Some of these inventories occurred during the course of everyday work, while others were responses to natural disasters and armed conflict. Still others may be seen as expressions of social justice. As much as the authors offer a guide to performing inventories, thereby filling a longstanding gap in the literature, they invite cultural heritage institutions to rethink how the stories held in collections can be better told and preserved through enhanced inventory practice.

The book will benefit seasoned museum collections practitioners as well as those who lack access to formal museology education and training. The book targets stewards of cultural heritage and material culture collections with varying resources

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click these links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. This commission does not affect any price that you pay. All views and opinions provided are my own and are never influenced by affiliate programs or sponsors providing products.

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University Press of Florida Announces Their Fall 2021 Catalog

Picturing the Space Shuttle book cover

The University Press of Florida has released their Fall 2021 catalog and there are some titles that history
enthusiasts should take note of. I have not posted all the interesting titles, allowing you to make
discoveries on your own. This cycle is heavy on archaeology. As always with academic press books, the
hardcover prices can be quite steep. Watch their website for promotions and check Amazon and others
for price discounts.

Picturing the Space Shuttle: The Early Years written by John Bisney and J. L. Pickering. September release. ISBN 9781683402053, $45.

Showcasing over 450 unpublished and lesser-known images, this book traces the growth of the Space Shuttle from 1965 to 1982, from initial concept through its first four space flights. The photographs offer windows into designing the first reusable space vehicle as well as the construction and testing of the prototype shuttle Enterprise. They also show the factory assembly and delivery of the Space Shuttle Columbia, preparations at the major NASA field centers, and astronaut selection and training. Finally, the book devotes a chapter to each of the first four orbital missions, STS-1 through STS-4, providing an abundance of seldom-seen photos for each flight.

 

The Nine Lives of Florida’s Famous Key Marco Cat written by Austin J. Bell. September release. ISBN 9780813066998, $26.95.

Excavated from a waterlogged archaeological site on the shores of subtropical Florida by legendary anthropologist Frank Hamilton Cushing in 1896, the Key Marco Cat has become a modern icon of heritage, history, and local identity. This book takes readers into the deep past of the artifact and the Native American society in which it was created.

 

 

 

Unearthing the Missions of Spanish Florida edited by Tanya M. Peres and Rochelle A. Marrinan. November release. ISBN 9781683402510, $90.

This volume presents new data and interpretations from research at Florida’s Spanish missions, outposts established in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to strengthen the colonizing empire and convert Indigenous groups to Christianity. In these chapters, archaeologists, historians, and ethnomusicologists draw on the past thirty years of work at sites from St. Augustine to the panhandle.

 

New in paperback:

Public Health Nurses of Jim Crow Florida written by Christine Ardalan. November release. ISBN
9780813066158, $24.95.

Highlighting the long unacknowledged role of a group of pioneering professional women, The Public Health Nurses of Jim Crow Florida tells the story of healthcare workers who battled racism in a state where white supremacy formed the bedrock of society. They aimed to serve those people out of reach of modern medical care.

 

 

 

Queering the Redneck Riviera: Sexuality and the Rise of Florida Tourism written by Jerry T. Watkins III. April 2022 release. ISBN 9780813056913, $24.95.

Queering the Redneck Riviera recovers the forgotten and erased history of gay men and lesbians in North Florida, a region often overlooked in the story of the LGBTQ experience in the United States. Jerry Watkins reveals both the challenges these men and women faced in the years following World War II and the essential role they played in making the Emerald Coast a major tourist destination.

 

 

 

Fort St. Joseph Revealed: The Historical Archaeology of a Fur Trading Post edited by Michael S. Nassaney. November release. ISBN 9780813068497, $26.95.

Fort St. Joseph Revealed is the first synthesis of archaeological and documentary data on one of the most important French colonial outposts in the western Great Lakes region. Located in what is now Michigan, Fort St. Joseph was home to a flourishing fur trade society from the 1680s to 1781. Material evidence of the site—lost for centuries—was discovered in 1998 by volume editor Michael Nassaney and his colleagues, who summarize their extensive excavations at the fort and surrounding areas in these essays.

 

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click these links and make a purchase, I may receive a small
commission. This commission does not affect any price that you pay. All views and opinions provided
are my own and are never influenced by affiliate programs or sponsors providing products.