For many, the Superbowl is a time of admirable athleticism, commercials rivaling cinema megaproductions, and elaborate snack food arrangements. In some special cases, it’s even a time of adorable puppies. Just look at those mugs!
But the Superbowl is also an opportunity to recognize the NFL’s important contributions to the civil rights movement, as the integration of African American players into the League only cemented the foundation for the widespread social change that was to follow. Charles K. Ross explores these developments and the histories of the NFL’s early African American players in Outside the Lines, published by (yours truly!) NYU Press. With both the Superbowl and Black History Month on the horizon, there couldn’t be a better time to check out this fascinating book!
(Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to curl up in an armchair, turn on the Puppy Bowl, and do some reading.)
We love Halloween here at NYU Press and to celebrate, we’re hosting a giveaway for our “horror” story of the fall season: The Notorious Elizabeth Tuttle! This blood-soaked tale of marriage, murder, and madness is sure to make your Halloween a little spookier.
To enter to win the book, just hop over to Facebook and Like our page. (We’ll select one winner via a random drawing of our fans.) Contest ends on Friday, October 26th, at 3:00pm (EST).
Good luck!
A look at Jeffrey Gurock’s fantastic mini-history lesson on Jews in New York (and, above, on the city itself) from Segula Magazine.
(P.S.: His book, City of Promises: A History of the Jews of New York, will be released in September!)
If reading the assisted suicide piece in yesterday’s New York Times left you wanting to know more, check out this book for an engaging history on the right-to-die debate.
Source: nyupress.org
Long live the garment district!
Jean Appleton (daughter of the Master of Seventh Avenue) on needles, threads and New York history
Source: The New York Times
I found the cover image for Racial Indigestion while browsing at an online auction site, Ben Crane’s Trade Card Place. I love the playfulness and latent eroticism of the image, and I was particularly intrigued by what remains unsaid: why is the girl’s face covered when the boy’s face is not? Is this image taken from a popular play or song or children’s story? Then too, in a period that frowned upon interracial relations so much, what do we say about the fact that these two figures are facing each other, straddling a peppermint stick?
Images like this one were stock images, that advertisers bought from publishers. They then either bought an image for the back of the card or they stamped the name of their store on the front image. There are about 42 images in Racial Indigestion, most of them reprinted in these rich chromoliothographic colors. I’ll be posting more of them in the days to come.
Deborah Dash Moore, general editor of City of Promises: The History of the Jews in New York, discusses the forthcoming books.
& Kirkus Reviews says: “This ambitious three-volume history…provides a lively, much-needed overview of the role that Jews have played in the history and success of the Big Apple, helping to transform it into ‘a city of promises, some fulfilled, some pending, some beckoning new generations.’”
