Tidings from Zion

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Julie Williams

In 1910, Orville and Wilbur Wright opened the first US civilian flight school in Montgomery, Alabama. Author Julie Hedgepeth Williams chronicles the short life of this flight school as seen mainly through the eyes of the Alabama press, whose reporting and sometimes mis-reporting "reflected the misconceptions, hopes, dreams, and fears about aviation in 1910, painting a picture of a time when flight was untested, unsteady, and unavailable to most people."--Publisher description.

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David A. Adler

Details the life and achievements of abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe whose book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, is said to have started the Civil War.

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Jacob R. Hildebrand

A Mennonite Journal is a unique story of Civil War home-front life recorded by Jacob R. Hildebrand, a devout father, faithful Mennonite, and successful farmer. It provides insight into his political activities, support of the Southern cause, and the military service of his three sons, not all fully consistent with Mennonite beliefs. Jacob Hildebrand took practical steps to assist his three sons in the Army of Northern Virginia; often traveling to their camps to deliver food and clothing necessary to supplement inadequate army rations. The family's story shows that the strong pacifist beliefs of the Mennonite church were not always observed by many of its members who supported the Southern cause and honored days of prayer and humility proclaimed by Jefferson Davis. The Journal describes Augusta County's contribution of men and supplies to three Virginia regiments: the 5th and 52nd Infantry and the 1st Cavalry: it includes Jacob's observations of Jackson's 1862 Valley Campaign, the 1864 raids by Hunter and Sheridan, the Battle of Piedmont and the death of General W. E. "Grumble" Jones and the Battle of Waynesboro, which marked the end of Jubal Early's military career and the last major battle in the Valley. The Journal also describes the war's many impacts on families in the Augusta County farming community just north of Staunton and Waynesboro, Virginia.

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Columbus Salley

Who are the most influential African-Americans that ever lived? After extensive thought and research, author and educator Dr. Columbus Salley has selected the one hundred most influential African-Americans of all time and ranked them according to their contributions to the struggle for equality. The Black 100 is not a debate on the most talented or most famous black Americans but a listing - and a ranking - of those who have had the greatest impact on the progress toward complete participation in our society. Here are the one hundred who have fundamentally altered the ways in which millions of Americans - of all races - live today. The names in The Black 100 read like a history of African-Americans over nearly four hundred years. They include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Zora Neale Hurston, Paul Robeson, Muhammad Ali, James Baldwin, Jackie Robinson, Toni Morrison, Marcus Garvey, Thurgood Marshall, and Arthur Ashe. For each of the one hundred Dr. Salley provides a biographical sketch and an account of the reasons why each individual is ranked where he or she is. This revised and updated edition now includes Oprah Winfrey and August Wilson among the one hundred most influential African-Americans.