San Antonio College Library

"Explores the visual history of American labor through portraiture by major American artists"--Provided by publisher. "Work always has been a central construct in the United States, influencing how Americans measure their lives and assess their contribution to the wider society. Work also has been valued as the key element in the philosophy of self-improvement and social mobility that undergird the American value system. Yet work can also be something...

Uses archival photographs to introduce African American men who fought in the Civil War, whose roles ranged from servants and laborers to junior officers, and includes details on each man's life through military records and personal files.

Spirit Faces collects 75 masks by 23 of the best living Native American artists in the Northwest. These beautiful and powerful masks draw on the natural and supernatural worlds to depict such archetypal characters as Eagle, Moon, and Thunderbird. The mask is an important part of ceremonial life on the Northwest Coast. It makes the supernatural world visible in dance dramas performed at feasts and in winter ceremonies held by secret societies. Some...

Discusses how interest groups have influenced American politics and explains how they can help control the outcome of political elections, including the presidential race.

In Facing Facts, David Shi provides the most comprehensive history to date of the rise of realism in American culture. He vividly captures the character and sweep of this all-encompassing movement - ranging from Winslow Homer to the rise of the Ash Can school, from Whitman to Henry James to Theodore Dreiser. He begins with a look at the antebellum years, when idealistic themes were considered the only fit subject for art (Hawthorne wrote that "the...

"Pulpit politics discusses the manner in which nationalistic expression forged a new religious relevance to the American experience, and the extent to which these diverse styles of religious nationalism created and reflected tension in twentieth-century America."--BOOK JACKET. "Vinz identifies the form of American nationalism as the nationalism of messianism, but demonstrates that Protestant leadership throughout the twentieth century gave no consistent...

A filmmaker explores the life of her great-aunt, Jane Chung, an actress who made a career for herself at a time when Asian-Americans faced widespread racism in Hollywood. Working mostly in small parts and as an extra, Jane's fifty-year career reflects many of the struggles and triumphs of the Asian-Americans working in the entertainment industry. Jane had parts in over fifty films and TV shows including Chinatown, When Harry Met Sally, M*A*S*H and...

Refusing to remain in his native land under Nazi occupation, the Hungarian composer and folk-musicologist Beĺa Bartoḱ came with his wife to America in 1940. This book explores the composer's background and gives insights into the whole nature of the creative process.