Books

Essays That Confront the Personal and Public Aspects of Surviving Tragedy and Demonstrate How Pittsburgh Is Still Stronger Than Hate

Crisis in Bethlehem provides an insider’s look at Bethlehem Steel’s bonanza years, its collapse, how it coped (and did not cope) with crisis, and the human costs involved.

This book is a fascinating re-creation of the lives of women in the time of great social change that followed the end of the French and Indian War in western Pennsylvania. Keeping House: Women’s Lives in Western Pennsylvania, 1790-1850, tells how the daughters, wives, and mothers who crossed the Allegheny Mountains responded and adapted to unaccustomed physical and psychological hardships as they established lives for themselves and their families in their new homes.

This revised edition of a seminal work in the field of urban environmental history traces the development of waste management and related technologies from the Progressive Era to the present.

An examination of the relationship between African Americans and the environment in U.S. history, “To Love the Wind and the Rain” contains essays covering topics such as slavery, religion, the turpentine industry, gardening, outdoor recreation, women and politics.

A historical guidebook for topics ranging from the networked city to the global internet that illuminates the political, economic, and technological forces shaping the infrastructure of modern life.

Melosi examines water resources in the United States and addresses whether access to water is an inalienable right of citizens, and if government is responsible for its distribution as a public good. He provides historical background on the construction, administration, and adaptability of water supply and wastewater systems in urban America. Looking to the future, he compares the costs and benefits of public versus private water supply, examining the global movement toward privatization.

A comprehensive history of “happenstance plants” in American urban environments. Beginning in the late nineteenth century and continuing to the present, Falck examines the proliferation, perception, and treatment of weeds in metropolitan centers from Boston to Los Angeles.

The essays in this collection commemorate the 175th anniversary of the establishment of the United States Constitution, offering perspectives on its history and its meaning to modern society.

A fascinating look at life during pioneer times in western Pennsylvania. Describes the hardship, danger and drudgery of day-to-day life on the frontier. Topics include cabin raising, crop harvests, tanning, weaving, disease, religion, and superstition. Also follows the progression from pioneer life to industrial society.