Ohio Books

This here book is pretty good.

I first read this book while preparing for my Ph.D. general exams in history in 1981; and although it had then been more than twenty years since its first publication in 1959 it was required reading. "The Urban Frontier" has remained required reading to the present, and I recently reread it to refresh my memory of its key points. After doing so I have a much greater appreciation for Richard Wade's work than before, and I recommend "The Urban Frontier" as a seminal analysis of the rise of the west.

Using a wealth of material ranging from the census to city records Wade constructs a portrait of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville, and St. Louis between 1790 and 1830. As might be expected his focus is on the development of civic institutions, on the establishment of commerce, and on the political, economic, and social structure of these towns. Not surprisingly, Wade finds that these western cities evolved quickly to mirror their eastern counterparts. As he wrote: "The urban origin of Western towndwellers was significant, for it meant that the new cities would be built in the image of older ones. There was little need to experiment, because tried ways and methods were well known and seemed appropriate. Indeed, the newcomers, their lives disrupted by movement, were anxious to recreate as much as possible of the familiat landscape they had left. Hence, it is not surprising that Western towns bore a physical likeness to Eastern ones. Even social institutions were shaped by the same impulse. Whatever provided continuity was cherished" (p. 321).

This is a powerful conclusion, one that directly challenged the famous "Frontier Thesis" of historian Frederick Jackson Turner first enunciated in 1893. Turner's ideas about the American experience being fundamentally shaped by its frontier origins has exerted a powerful force on the historiography of the United States, in no small measure because of its commanding statement of American exceptionalism. Turner took as his cue an observation in the 1890 U.S. census that the American frontier had for the first time closed. He noted, "Up to our own day American history has been in a large degree the history of the colonization of the Great West. The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development." He insisted that the frontier made Americans American, gave the nation its democratic character, and ensured the virtues of self-reliance, community, and the promise of justice. He noted that cheap or even free land provided a "safety valve" that protected the nation against uprisings of the poverty-stricken and malcontented. The frontier also produced a people with "coarseness and strength...acuteness and inquisitiveness, that practical and inventive turn of mind...[full of] restless and nervous energy...that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom." It gave the people of the United States, in essence, virtually every positive quality they have ever possessed. (See Frederick Jackson Turner, "The Frontier in American History" (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1920), which includes the seminal 1893 essay, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History").

"The Urban Frontier" of Richard Wade demonstrates that this reading of American development is flawed. If Americans recreated in the early western urban experience the look and feel of eastern cities then the "Frontier Thesis" was suspect and another model for explaining why Americans were different from others had to be found. This book remains a compelling refutation of Turner and his ideas, based on sound research and lucid writing.

Mrs. Leimbach's third and final book in a series of essays on farm life. This book is warm, and witty, as are all Mrs. Leimbach's books. She deals with the death of one of her sons in an open and sensitive manner. If you like Erma Bombeck in a country mode, this book will touch your heart.

Any book by Professor Williams is worth reading. He is a wonderful stylist and meticulous researcher. He is analytical and has a simple, plain spoken narrative style that educates the reader along with making it simple to follow his thesis, though by no means is his thinking simple. This book deserves to be read by all Civil War enthusiasts and also provides some insight to later historians who studied under this man, including Stephen Ambrose. This is a great book, and a much needed one.

We all like to be caught up in a tale that has it's fair share of drama, romance, humor, and conflict. Add a river the size of the Monongahela, the beauty of the Ohio River Valley, and the boats that plied their trade in the late 1800's and the scene is complete. With John Malone at the helm of our story we are swept along as the seasons change, years pass, a family grows distant while another family grows.

Like most John yearned to get his family's story on paper. What he has accomplished is far beyond that. A quick start jumps us into the home of a devout Irish immigrant family outside Pittsburgh in 1862. Traditions are held and obeyed until an 18th birthday becomes a watershed, literally. When Tom Malone, John's great-grandfather makes his break, it's to the river. Little does he know that a stranded towboat on the Upper Ohio near the little town of Antiquity will change his life forever.

You'll be hard pressed to put this book down, so block off some time, mute the cell phone, and get comfy. With a bit of the Irish brogue thrown in here and there and a good depiction of the times we too can ride the river, work the farm, and feel the warmth as a life and a family that flows with the seasons finds its place in the history of our country.

What a book! This tells it all the good, bad and ugly. I wish every teacher and board of education member, parent, business owner(big business) would realize that you can not play politics or favorites with children and their education. With out the proper training and support no one i.e. teachers, business persons , police, firemen, the president of the United States will be doomed for failure.
Make this manditory for every future teacher, principal, board member, to read and learn.

Heart of a Mule: The Dick Schafrath Stories is the autobiography covering seventy years of a truly remarkable man's life. Dick Schafrath tells of his childhood on an Ohio farm with no plumbing, plowing behind a pair of mules; winning national football championships; serving four terms in the Ohio senate; being the first person to ever canoe across Lake Erie; returning to Ohio State to finish his undergraduate degree after fifty years had passed; and much more. Told in a friendly, conversational tone, these varied stories are sure to delight and inspire, as they convey a rich life marked by rising to challenges. Highly recommended.

In this essay, the relationship of Heidegger's thought on Being to the theological issue of the existence of God is explored. In _Being and Time_, Heidegger lays the foundations for metaphysical thinking (which also concerns the existence of God). But, first he must show that metaphysics is indeed possible, following Kant. When asking "Why is there something rather than nothing?" (as he does in his _Introduction to Metaphysics_), Heidegger does not intend this to be answered with "God", as is done in medieval philosophy, i.e. he does not intend to search for the divine ground of Being. Rather, "His 'why' asks for the deepest and most fundamental ground of Being; for this reason the questioning does not begin with a given aggregate of beings and asks about a higher kind of being which accounts for their totality. (18, this book)" After concerning itself with the foundations for metaphysics, the book turns to Heidegger's "overcoming of metaphysics" in his thinking. The book deals with this overcoming, and with Heidegger's overcoming of theology. Finally, the book looks at Heidegger's thought after his "Kehre" (turning)and deals with the relationship between the poet (viz. Holderlin) and the thinker (viz. Heidegger). In conclusion, the author notes that Heidegger has made no decision on God. He writes, "Heidegger does not feel himself qualified; he experiences Beings as holy . . . but he has not been claimed by the god, i.e. he has not experienced god. (119, this book)"

Whether you're reading HEISEY ON PARADE for pleasure or using it as a reference book, it is an excellent and enjoyable book. The book contains company history, Heisey's glassware patents and trademarks, plus copy and description of most of Heisey's advertisements. The chapters are arranged topically and then chronologically, showing patents and ads throughout Heisey's 70+ years of production. This book is a must for the Heisey glassware collector.

great book in first person telling a story of a time and place that is little known in american history. she writes with great skill, and houmor abounds as she takes you on a trip down the river with her familey and actor friends. here comes the showboat is a great read for the whole familey.