This is the memoir of the late Isabel Washington Powell -- Cotton Club dancer and movie star in the 1920's, political activist and "Queen of Harlem" in the 1930's and 40's, and the first wife of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. It is an exceptional story of the Harlem Renaissance and the early life of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. as the Pastor of the largest African-American church in the U.S. at the time -- Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, his early civil rights battles, his time as a member of the New York City Council and later running for Congress. Told by the woman who knew Adam best, much of this story has never been published before. Written as a first person narrative, "Adam's Belle" captures the reader's attention.

This fascinating biography of a Gilded Age marriage closely examines the dynamic flow of power, control, and love between Washington blue blood Violet Blair and New Orleans attorney Albert Janin. Based on their voluminous correspondence as well as Violet's extensive diaries, it offers a thoroughly intimate portrait of a fifty-four-year union which, in many ways, conformed to societal norms yet always redefined itself in order to fit the needs and willfulness of both husband and wife. With abundant documentary evidence to draw on, Laas ties this compelling story to broader themes of courtship behavior, domesticity, gender roles, extended family bonds, elitism, and societal stereotyping. Deeply researched and beautifully written, Love and Power in the Nineteenth Century has the dual virtue of making an important historical contribution while also appealing to a broad popular audience.

The Belle O'Becket's Lane. An American novel

The tumultuous and passionate life of a remarkable woman born ahead of her time

First they came for the land, later they came for the stars and the moon; all found themselves against the glorious backdrop of the Tennessee Valley. Legendary Locals of Huntsville chronicles the story of Rocket City, a sleepy, Southern cotton town that weathered the Great Depression with its mill villages, gained national attention with Redstone Arsenal, blossomed into the center of aerospace development, and became the home of the largest arts center in the Southeast. Notables include pioneer John Hunt and founding father LeRoy Pope; aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun; world-renowned portrait artist and poet Howard Weeden and cobweb artist Anne Clopton; internationally known soprano Susanna Phillips; Professional Football Hall of Fame member John Stallworth; performing arts pioneers Helen Herriott and Loyd Tygett; and entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark C. Smith. The stories herein celebrate just a handful of the many people who have made a memorable impact on this community and who continue to propel Huntsville forward through leadership by example.

This biography of the first woman to be elected to Congress from the state of Georgia is more than the story of one woman's challenge of the political establishment. It also covers professional women in the modern South, southern liberalism in the New Deal era and beyond, and the gathering forces of racial change in the era immediately preceding the civil rights movement. A courageous and high-spirited woman, Helen Douglas Mankin drove an ambulance in France in 1918, made a daring cross-country motor-car tour with her sister in 1922, and was one of the first women to practice law before the state bar. Her political career began in 1936, when she was elected to the state legislature from Atlanta. During her four terms in office she worked for progressive legislation in the areas of child welfare, education, electoral reform, and women's rights. In 1946 when a special election was called to fill the unexpired term of Fifth District Congressman Robert Ramspeck, Helen Mankin left the legislature to seek the office. Of the seventeen candidates in the race, only Mankin actively sought the support of the black community, and she won the seat by a margin smaller than her vote in the heavily black Ashby Street precinct of Atlanta. Talmadge dubbed her "the Belle of Ashby Street" and belittled "the spectacle of Atlanta Negroes sending a Congresswoman to Washington." She was renominated in the no longer all-white Democratic primary of July 1946, winning more popular votes than her nearest opponent, but the entrenched political forces in the state unified to orchestrate her defeat and her opponent claimed victory. Although her tenure in Congress was brief and she never again held office, her legacy is one of courage and conviction in an era that saw many changes in the South and the nation.