The WPA Guide to Colorado


Book Description

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. The WPA Guide to Colorado, not surprisingly, emphasizes the natural beauty of the Highest State. With a landscape ranging from alpine mountains with lush forests to arid deserts with massive sand dunes and a history that includes a rich Native American presence as well as booming mining and agriculture industries, the WPA guide shows how Colorado has earned the moniker “the Colorful State.”







The WPA Guide to Wyoming


Book Description

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. Published in 1941, on the fiftieth anniversary of the state, the WPA Guide to Wyoming is a thorough reflection of both the history of the state’s pioneer routes as well an attempt to capture the beauty of the surrounding area in photographs. Descriptions of the Equality State’s livestock and oil industries are included as well as pictorial documentation of the area’s vast expanses of open land.




The WPA Guide to 1930s New Mexico


Book Description

"In no other single book is the essence of this region gathered for the general reader so schematically, so accessibly and so interestingly as in this volume ... New Mexico has reason to be proud of this civilized and entertaining book." So wrote Axton Clark in the New York Times when this practical guidebook was first published as part of the Work Projects Administration's American Guide Series. Half a century later, it stands as a historic document containing a wealth of information about New Mexico's places and people. The WPA Guide to 1930s New Mexico leads the modern traveler along eighteen fascinating road trips and offers and unimpeachable reference of comparing what is with what once was. Enhanced by the outstanding photography of Laura Gilpin and Ernest Knee, it captures the spirit of a place and time that still lingers in the "Land of Enchantment."




The WPA Guide to 1930s Arizona


Book Description

Original edition listed in BCL3 under the title: Arizona. Compiled by the Writers' Program of the WPA. New foreword by Stewart Udall.




The WPA Guide to New Mexico


Book Description

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. The WPA Guide to New Mexico certainly shows how this Southwest state earned its nickname the “Colorful State.” The blended influence of Native American, Spanish, and Anglo-American cultures account for the Land of Enchantment’s distinct flavor, thoroughly captured in the guide’s stunning photography as well as in its many essays on art, folklore, and language.




The WPA Guide to 1930s Kansas


Book Description

A reissue of a 1939 guide to Kansas compiled as part of the Federal Writers' Project during the Depression years, providing information not only about the attractions of the state, but serving as a cultural chronicle of an earlier time.




Colorado


Book Description

Since 1976, newcomers and natives alike have learned about the rich history of the magnificent place they call home from Colorado: A History of the Centennial State. In the fifth edition, coauthors Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and Thomas J. Noel incorporate recent events, scholarship, and insights about the state in an accessible volume that general readers and students will enjoy. The new edition tells of conflicts, shifting alliances, and changing ways of life as Hispanic, European, and African American settlers flooded into a region that was already home to Native Americans. Providing a balanced treatment of the entire state’s history—from Grand Junction to Lamar and from Trinidad to Craig—the authors also reveal how Denver and its surrounding communities developed and gained influence. While continuing to elucidate the significant impact of mining, agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism on Colorado, the fifth edition broadens and focuses its coverage by consolidating material on Native Americans into one chapter and adding a new chapter on sports history. The authors also expand their discussion of the twentieth century with updated sections on the environment, economy, politics, and recent cultural conflicts. New illustrations, updated statistics, and an extensive bibliography including Internet resources enhance this edition.




Colorado: A History of the Centennial State, Fourth Edition


Book Description

Since 1976 newcomers and natives alike have learned about the rich history of the magnificent place they call home from Colorado: A History of the Centennial State. In this revised edition, co-authors Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and Thomas J. Noel incorporate more than a decade of new events, findings, and insights about Colorado in an accessible volume that general readers and students will enjoy. The fourth edition tells of conflicts, new alliances, and changing ways of life as Hispanic, European, and African American settlers flooded into a region that was already home to Native Americans. Providing balanced coverage of the entire state's history - from Grand Junction to Lamar and from Trinidad to Craig - the authors also reveal how Denver and its surrounding communities developed and gained influence. While continuing to elucidate the significant impact of mining, agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism on Colorado, this edition broadens its coverage. The authors expand their discussion of the twentieth century with several new chapters on the economy, politics, and cultural conflicts of recent years. In addition, they address changes in attitudes toward the natural environment as well as the contributions of women, Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans to the state. Dozens of new illustrations, updated statistics, and an extensive bibliography of the most recent research on Colorado history enhance this edition.




The WPA Guide to Utah


Book Description

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. Utah, a state which is well known for its distinct religious history, is thoroughly examined in this WPA Guide, with an entire chapter on the relationship between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the state of Utah. The Beehive State, also known for its natural beauty and plentiful resources, also contains several pictures of the Great Salt Lake and mountainous desert landscape as well as an interesting essay on mining.