Bücher veröffentlicht von Texas A & M University Press

Combines excerpts from personal letters, diaries, and interviews with government statistics to present a collective view of discrimination and culture and the strength of both in the face of crisis.

In southern Italy in January 1944, American forces at the base of the Monte Cassino height tried to cross the Rapido River and registered one of the most bitter failures of World War II. Conceived by General Mark Clark to help the Allied landings at Anzio, the attack at the river was part of a coordinated effort to capture Rome. Bloody River, first published in 1970, presents a detailed and impartial examination of this still controversial disaster. Unlike other accounts, Blumenson's focuses on the event itself, its circumstances and the people directly involved. Questioning why the attack failed, Blumenson finds the answers in the relationship among Clark, Walker and Major General Geoffrey Keyes, the corps commander in the middle.

Like many pioneer western cattlemen, Ed C. Lasater was confident, optimistic, and an aggressive user of bank credit. This history of the South Texas rancher and dairyman paints a vivid picture of frontier agriculture in an era that featured some of the region and the nation's most progressive and most trying times. Lasater, born near Goliad in 1860, purchased extensive landholdings in South Texas in the late nineteenth century. In 1904 he founded the town of Falfurrias. The author, a grandson of Ed C. Lasater, describes the settlers' arrival near the Loma Blanca, the area's principal landmark, and the pioneering efforts of the families who moved to the developing region. Falfurrias describes not only the development of Lasater's agricultural interests, which included the world's largest herd of Jersey milk cows and a creamery whose brand-name butter is still sold in the region today. Lasater was also active in politics, combating the early signs of "bossism" in South Texas counties. He ran for governor on the Progressive ticket in 1912, and served as an appointee in the U.S. Food Administration in 1917.

For three years during the American Civil War an oddly assorted brigade of Texans served the Confederacy in the Trans-Mississippi theater and then, for one hundred years, disappeared from history. Some five thousand men, raised largely from the communities and farmsteads of North Texas, served in cavalry and infantry units, and were commanded for part of that time by the only foreign general of the Confederacy, Prince Camille de Polignac. This group of soldiers fought in numerous skirmishes from Missouri to Louisiana. They endured a fearfully cold winter march through Indian Territory, were bombarded by gunboat shells along the banks of the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red Rivers, and engaged in a stand-up, no-quarter fight along Yellow Bayou. By the summer of 1864, the brigade was engaged in little fighting, and in 1865 returned to Texas, where it was disbanded in May. More than a hundred men had been killed on the battlefields, and many others had died of disease and cold. "Our trail," wrote one brigade member, "was a long graveyard." First published in 1964 by the Texas Gulf Coast Historical Association, Alwyn Barr's study of this previously little-known brigade not only detailed an aspect of the less-studied war in the West, but also showed in stark, first-person accounts the toll of war at the level of the common fighting man. Available again after only a limited print run in its first edition, this little masterpiece of Civil War history now includes a new preface by Barr that updates what is known of the brigade and its significance to the Trans-Mississippi campaign.

Harlem symbolized the urbanization of black America in the 1920s and 1930s. Home to the largest concentration of African Americans who settled outside the South, it spawned the literary and artistic movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Its writers were in the vanguard of an attempt to come to terms with black urbanization. They lived it and wrote about it. First published in 1988, Black Culture and the Harlem Renaissance examines the relationship between the community and its literature. Author Cary Wintz analyzes the movement's emergence within the framework of the black social and intellectual history of early twentieth-century America. He begins with Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and others whose work broke barriers for the Renaissance writers to come. With an emphasis on social issues--like writers and politics, the role of black women, and the interplay between black writers and the white community--Wintz traces the rise and fall of the movement. Of special interest is material from the Knopf Collection and the papers of several Renaissance figures acquired by the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. It reveals much of interest about the relationship between the publishing world, its writers, and their patrons--both black and white.

As Africans and descendants of slaves have sought to expand an understanding of their history, focus on the African diaspora--the global dispersal of a people and their culture--has increased. African studies have assumed a prominent place in historical scholarship, and a growing number of non-African scholars has helped revise a discipline established over several decades. The six contributions in this volume were compiled as a result of the thirtieth Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lecture held at the University of Texas at Arlington. The contributors, nationally recognized in the field, represent a collaborative analysis of the African diaspora from African and non-African perspectives. Joseph E. Harris discusses how the African diaspora influences the economies, politics, and social dynamics of both the homeland and the host country. Alusine Jalloh reconstructs the mercantile activities of the Fula in colonial Sierra Leone. Joseph E. Inikori argues that slavery and serfdom in medieval Europe provide greater insights into precolonial Africa than do standard New World comparisons. Colin A. Palmer examines the power relationships that undergirded American slavery in order to better understand the enslaved. Douglas B. Chambers reveals the enduring influence of Africanisms in the historical development of Afro-Virginian slave culture. And Dale T. Graden looks at African slavery in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil between 1848 and 1856, focusing on the Bahian elite and their response to slave resistance.

All wooden ships leak and maritime historical literature is filled with horrific descriptions of being aboard a slowly sinking ship. Starting from this human perspective, this work traces the evolution of the ship bilge pump, a seemingly mundane but obviously vital piece of seafaring equipment.

When America entered World War II, the surge of patriotism was not confined to men. Congress authorized the organization of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (later renamed Women's Army Corps) in 1942, and hundreds of women were able to join in the war effort. Charity Edna Adams became the first black woman commissioned as an officer. Black members of the WAC had to fight the prejudices not only of males who did not want women in their man's army, but also of those who could not accept blacks in positions of authority or responsibility, even in the segregated military. With unblinking candor, Charity Adams Earley tells of her struggles and successes as the WAC's first black officer and as commanding officer of the only organization of black women to serve overseas during World War II. The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion broke all records for redirecting military mail as she commanded the group through its moves from England to France and stood up to the racist slurs of the general under whose command the battalion operated. The Six Triple Eight stood up for its commanding officer, supporting her boycott of segregated living quarters and recreational facilities. This book is a tribute to those courageous women who paved the way for patriots, regardless of color or gender, to serve their country.

Entering World War II as the second of the Essexclass carriers, the Lexington destroyed more than one thousand Japanese aircraft, and was the first American warship to enter Tokyo Bay in victory. This photographic tour of the ship gives readers a look at the technological wonders and history of US Naval aviation.

This brief and entertaining history of the Texas Longhorn details the development of the first distinct American breed of beef cattle. The Spanish herds that had roamed Texas for generations, when mixed with English Longhorns brought by Anglo settlers in the early 1800s, yielded a rangy hybrid that could thrive in Texas' climate and was ideally suited to ranchers' aspirations. Almost extinct by the turn of the century, the Texas Longhorn was preserved by the efforts of just a few people who recalled with fondness the days when the cattle had thundered on the trails. Some U.S. Forest Service officials, several ranchers, and even a folklorist--J. Frank Dobie--gathered the animals for breeding and successfully managed the small herds until they stabilized and began to increase. The Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America was formed in 1964 to preserve and promote the breed, and a growing interest in improving health by eating leaner meat has spurred renewed interest in the lean Longhorn as more than just a nostalgic novelty.

September 17, 1862, at Antietam Creek was the bloodiest day of the Civil War, as both armies made heavy use of field artillery, the long arm. In Artillery Hell Curt Johnson and Richard C. Anderson, Jr., provide a detailed examination of the role of field artillery in the Battle of Antietam. Johnson sets the context with an overview of organizational problems on the eve of a great battle. Anderson's concise discussion of different types of artillery and their capabilities and ammunition is presented in accessible language. The heart of Artillery Hell is Maj. Joseph Mills Hanson's unpublished 1940 report, Employment of Artillery. It includes compilations of the batteries in the respective armies at Antietam, a review of the battle actions of the individual batteries, and a list of battery positions in a tentative order. Johnson and Anderson build upon Hanson's reports with individual chapters on the Union and the Confederate artillery at Antietam. Utilizing previously untapped or unavailable sources, especially the Henry Jackson Hunt Papers at the Library of Congress, they answer questions that have long challenged historians and others interested in the battle. Artillery Hell discusses virtually every aspect of field artillery used during the Civil War. Battlefield visitors can use it to identify and understand the different types of cannon and their capabilities, and historians will find in it the military perspective so many studies of the battle lack.

Texas A&M University has many unique traditions, but the annual muster ceremony held on April 21 is among the most hallowed. No other gathering brings more former students together for a single event, marked by Aggies in more than four hundred locations worldwide. Aggies originally observed San Jacinto Day--the victory on April 21, 1836, by the Texans over Santa Anna--with club activities. During the WWII defense of Corregidor in Manila Bay the muster tradition gained broader significance. Surrounded, pounded by several quarter-ton shells a minute, and with little hope of relief that April of 1942, Gen. George F. Moore '08 thought of his alma mater and sought out a roster of all Aggies on Corregidor. News of the Aggie spirit in that dark hour electrified the nation. This book traces the evolution of Aggie Muster from its early roots to the modern-day observance. Through research and hundreds of interviews, John A. Adams, Jr. '73 has captured the essence and spirit of this honored Texas Aggie tradition.

It is pleasant to stray in the Big Bend and Davis Mountains country of Far West Texas. The vast spaces, rugged terrain, and sparse settlement invite straying--and tale spinning. In Stray Tales of the Big Bend master folklorist Elton Miles continues to intrigue and enchant with stories of the region and its culture. Readers will find in this volume new tales of Terlingua Desert mystery bells, spirit-guarded treasure, and the mock-sacrificial San Vicente rain dance with its pre-Christian vestiges. Travelers will enjoy learning the lore of the rugged land they visit. Historians will discover the most complete account of the Glenn Springs-Boquillas raid of 1916, as well as stories of the spirit-world-inspired "Old Orient" railroad, which ran from Kansas through the Big Bend to the Gulf of Baja California. Here too is a story, with new information, about the controversial Big Bend tablet, discovered at Hot Springs and said to prove that Europeans were present there about A.D. 300. Miles recounts the recollections of cowboy preachers, camp meetings, and the reticent yet sometimes uninhibited religious attitudes of the cowboy, both open-range and modern.

A hundred years ago a simple business arrangement changed the course of Fort Worth's economy for years to come and its character perhaps forever. On July 26, 1887, the Union Stock Yards Company received a charter to do business in an area just north of town. The legacy of that charter: Cowtown. J'Nell L. Pate has spent ten years researching the Fort Worth market, with full access to company records and local archives. The result is a thorough, thoughtful, and colorful examination of the industry and its effects on this city. The early years of the stockyards were years of struggle for local businessmen, but in 1902, national giants Swift and Armour assumed a two-thirds interest in the operations, and from there the market grew to be the largest in the Southwest---and one of the three or four largest in the nation. Decentralization after World War II saw local country auctions and later large feedlot operations set the market on a decline. Pate describes typical days during various periods of the market's existence; regales with anecdotes about traders, packers, and shippers; examines the successes and failures of the owners and managers; and impartially evaluates the policies and practices of national moguls Armour and Swift. Her study demonstrates the interrelatedness of the Fort Worth market and the larger Texas agribusiness scene and gives many new insights into the livestock industry generally.

Around midnight on August 13, 1906, shots rang out on the road between Brownsville, Texas, and Fort Brown, the old army garrison. Ten minutes later a young civilian lay dead, and angry residents swarmed the streets, convinced their homes had been terrorized by newly arrived soldiers. Inside Fort Brown, the alarm was sounded. Soldiers leaped from their bunks and grabbed their rifles, thinking they were under attack by hostile townspeople. The soldiers were black; the civilians were white. Still proclaiming their innocence, 167 black infantrymen of the segregated Twenty-fifth Infantry Regiment were summarily dismissed without honor (or a trial) by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Brownsville Raid, first published in 1970, is John D. Weaver's searching study of the flimsy evidence presented in a 1909-1910 court of inquiry. That court had upheld the president's action and closed the case against the soldiers, not one of whom had ever been found guilty of wrongdoing. The case remained closed until 1971 when, after reading The Brownsville Raid, Congressman Augustus F. Hawkins of Los Angeles introduced a bill to have the Defense Department rectify the injustice. Amid a flurry of national publicity, honorable discharges were finally granted in 1972. All were posthumous except for that of Private Dorsie Willis, who received his in a moving ceremony on his eighty-seventh birthday.