AT THE LIBRARY

January 2, 2009

New Reference Books

The Library’s Information and Reference Center has chosen to highlight the following new reference books to help patrons find answers to a variety of questions.

BULLS, BEARS, BOOMS AND BUST: A Historical Encyclopedia of American Business Concepts, by John Dobson

This historical encyclopedia is broken down into five sections. The first, Colonial America, focuses on business concepts from 1607-1760. The second section looks at the years 1760-1860 in The New Nation. Industrializing America is the focus of the third section, while Boom and Bust (1900-1940) is the topic of the fourth section. The fifth and final section looks at Recent America, which includes 1940 to the present. Each section includes biographies and key concepts, including pictures and graphs.

WOMEN IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, edited by Lisa Tendrich Frank

This two volume encyclopedia of women in the civil war includes a chronology of events, contextual essays and an alphabetical list of important people and places. Selected essays available in the book include "Female Spies", "Nurses", and "Female Combatants". Entries include Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, wife of "Stonewall" Jackson and one of five sisters who married Confederate officers or officials, Virginia "Ginnie" Moon, the younger of a pair of sisters who served as spies, couriers, and smugglers for the Confederacy, and Emily Elizabeth Parsons, Union nurse who supported the efforts of the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the war. Other entries include Methodist Women and Native American Women. Complete with black and white pictures, this book is a must-see for Civil War enthusiasts.

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations, by Mary Ellen Snodgrass

This two volume encyclopedia offers an alphabetical listing of entries with information about the Underground Railroad. From George Abbot and Ruth S. Baker Abbot to John Dimond and Julia Ann Zimmerman, this encyclopedia covers the important people and places involved in the Underground Railroad. The volumes also include maps and a chronology of events. There are appendices including genealogies, passengers of the Underground Railroad and Underground Railroad Operatives by State and Province.