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Robert Allerton referred to his Piatt County, Illinois, home as the Farms--a simple name that was hardly descriptive of his huge mansion and many acres of beautifully landscaped gardens and trails dotted with sculpture. By the time he donated his mansion, gardens, and part of his farm acreage to the University of Illinois in 1946, the Farms had attracted Allerton's friends and acquaintances from all over the world, including artists, writers, and celebrities such as William Jennings Bryan and Marilyn Monroe. In 1938, Allerton built a modest home on the Hawaiian island of Kauai utilizing his landscaping and artistic visions. His philanthropies are little known outside of Central Illinois and Kauai, but the Art Institute of Chicago and the Honolulu Academy of Arts benefited from his magnanimous assistance with funding and artwork. Allerton was a quiet man who left his mark in both Illinois and Hawaii. Robert Allerton: His Parks and Legacies includes photographs taken over the last 100 years that document his life and properties.

John F. Kennedy was profoundly moved by the tragedy of generational poverty after touring southernmost West Virginia during his presidential campaign. Six months after his election in 1961, President Kennedy established the President's Appalachian Regional Commission with the governors of all eight Appalachian Mountain states. On October 12, 1961, the Mercer County Commission joined forces with the president and the US Forest Service to donate a portion of the former Mercer County Poor Farm to develop the nation's first Forestry Sciences Laboratory. President Kennedy selected well-known forester Frank Longwood as director, and Longwood assembled a group of forest scientists who were dedicated to the task of restoring and marketing the Appalachian hardwood forest. With the same dedication that rocket scientists applied to fulfill Kennedy's dream of sending an American to the moon and back, timber scientists restored and marketed the great Appalachian hardwood forest. The US Forest Service left the site in 2016 but worked with the Mercer County Commission, the US General Services Administration, and the National Park Service's Historic Surplus Properties program to establish a site dedicated to history and public service.

Established by Sandia Corporation in 1957, Tonopah Test Range (TTR) in Nevada provided an isolated place for the Atomic Energy Commission and successor agencies to test ballistic characteristics and non-nuclear components of atomic bombs. Also known as Area 52, the vast outdoor laboratory served this purpose throughout the Cold War arms race and continues to play a vital role in the stewardship and maintenance of the United States' nuclear arsenal. The range has been used for training exercises, testing rockets, development of electronic warfare systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, and nuclear safety experiments. During the late 1970s, the Air Force constructed an airfield for a clandestine squadron of captured Russian fighter planes that were used for tactical evaluations and to provide realistic air combat training for thousands of US airmen. The TTR airfield also served as the first operational base for the F-117A stealth fighter, an airplane designed to be virtually invisible to detection by radar. Now operated primarily by Sandia National Laboratories for the Department of Energy and, in part, by the Air Force Materiel Command, TTR remains a valuable national asset with unparalleled capabilities.

Colchester, Connecticut, incorporated in 1698, was a successful farming community. When wealthy farmer Pierpoint Bacon died in 1800, he left his estate to the town to build a school. Bacon Academy opened in 1803 and not only provided primary education but also included secondary and college preparation branches, making it, in effect, the first high school in the state. In industry, Colchester was the home of the Hayward Rubber Company factory, built in 1847 by Nathaniel Hayward. This factory operated successfully for decades, promoting prosperity and growth in Colchester until it closed without warning at the end of 1893. This resulted in the biggest population and economic crash in the history of Colchester. The inexpensive property still available in town in the early 1900s led to an influx of new people and new businesses, resulting in Colchester's revitalization. To most people in Connecticut today, Colchester is best known for Harry's Place, a popular drive-in restaurant that has been in operation since 1920.

The themes of South Providence--urbanization, immigration, and industrialization--best characterize the nation's modern development. This volume reveals how a well-known Providence community worshipped, studied, worked, played, ate, and drank. The denizens of South Providence were an extraordinary mix. The geographic and demographic developments of the 19th century crafted the economically diverse, dense, and multicultural community of the 20th century. Today, almost every major avenue still contains a varied mixture of residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional uses with institutional development on the rise. The theme of this volume transcends South Providence and serves as the prototype of a 20th-century, inner-city ethnic neighborhood with variegated and successive waves of immigrant arrivals. Its focus is on their upward socioeconomic mobility, their social and cultural activities, and their religious traditions. Thirty-nine neighborhood residents have been inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. That group exceeds the number of inductees from any Rhode Island city or town, except, of course, Providence, of which this vibrant neighborhood is a part.

As Atlanta evolved from a sleepy, backwater, 19th-century frontier railroad town into a 21st-century international metropolis, Jewish men and women significantly contributed to the rich tapestry of the Gate City of the South. The commercial infrastructure of the expanding city was greatly enhanced through numerous small businesses established by Jewish merchants, some of which became major players in various industries. Many of Atlanta's most recognizable icons--The Coca-Cola Company, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Atlanta Braves--originated, in part, thanks to support from visionary leaders in the Jewish community. While there are many success stories throughout Atlanta's Jewish history, there are also dark episodes of blatant antisemitism that traumatized the community and had national implications. The lynching of Leo M. Frank; the bombing of the city's historic synagogue, the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation; and the deliberate expulsion of Jewish students from Emory University Dental School marred Atlanta's self-proclaimed reputation as The City Too Busy to Hate.

Long before the creation of its famous lake in 1939, Guntersville had a reputation for ferries, farms, and factories. Its streets bustled with customers patronizing shops, caf s, and movie theaters. Ranging from the Nedofik Surgical Sofa Company and the Basket Factory to the Saratoga Victory Mills, Guntersville's diverse industries helped the community thrive. Today, businesses like Wayne Farms Feedmill and Kappler, Inc., continue to reflect the city's industrial nature. This rich manufacturing history coupled with lake tourism meant Guntersville drew visits from an array of actors, singers, authors, scientists, and politicians. Many came frequently, and a few chose to stay. A mesh of new and old, industry and lake, Guntersville continues to charm.

Beginning in the mid-1920s, radio stations that catered to rural audiences sponsored programs featuring country music, generically termed barn dances. Ranking second in terms of longevity and perhaps in significance to the Grand Ole Opry from WSM Nashville came the Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia. It became the springboard for such country stars as Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, Hawkshaw Hawkins, the Osborne Brothers, Doc and Chickie Williams, Lee Moore, Big Slim the Lone Cowboy, and most recently, Brad Paisley. Under slightly varying names, the Jamboree flourished from 1933 through 2005 over the airwaves of 50,000-watt WWVA 1170 AM and now airs on WWOV 101.1 FM.

Griffin Memorial Hospital is located at the end of East Main Street in Norman, Oklahoma. The hospital was originally started as High Gate College, a girls'' school established by the United Methodist Church, South in 1890, one year after the settlement of Norman. With competition from the University of Oklahoma, High Gate College closed its doors in early 1895 and was soon bought by the Oklahoma Sanitarium Company. In 1915, the State of Oklahoma bought the Oklahoma Sanitarium Company and renamed the institution Central State Hospital. In 1953, the hospital was renamed Griffin Memorial Hospital. Under the supervision of Dr. David Griffin, the hospital grew to over 30 buildings and three farms in its first 40 years. With a change in institutional care in the 1960s, the state built a Community Health Care Center on the hospital grounds. Today, Griffin Memorial Hospital has few institutionalized patients and little resembles the thriving establishment of the early 20th century.