Benjamin Franklin is generally considered one of America's most versatile and talented statesmen, scientists, and philosophers. His achievements include publisher of Poor Richard's Almanac and many articles on political, economic, religious, philosophical and scientific subjects. He was the inventor of bifocals, the Franklin stove, lightening rod, he was one of the signers of the 'Declaration of Independence', and the founder of, what is now the University of Pennsylvania. This book presents a detailed and riveting review of Franklin's life based on excerpts from the renowned 1899 book on Franklin by Sydney George Fisher. This overview is augmented by a substantial selective bibliography, which features access through title, subject and author indexes.
The 1968 burning of the Lazy B Stables in Charlotte, North Carolina, attracted little notice beyond coverage in local media. By the mid-1970s, however, the fire had become the center of a contentious and dubious arson case against a trio of Black civil rights activists, who became known as the “Charlotte Three.” The charges against the men garnered interest from federal law enforcement agents, investigative journalists— including one who later earned a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the trials—numerous New Left and Black Power activists, and Amnesty International, which declared the defendants “political prisoners.” In Going to Hell to Get the Devil, J. Christopher Schutz offers the first comprehensive examination of this controversial case and its outcome. In the 1960s and 1970s, Charlotte’s leaders sought to portray their home as a placid, business-friendly, and racially moderate community. When New Left and Black Power activists threatened that stability, city leaders employed a variety of means to silence them, including the use of law enforcement against African Americans they deemed too zealous. In the Charlotte Three case, prosecutors paid prisoners for testimony against the Black activists on trial, resulting in their convictions with lengthy prison sentences. The unwanted publicity surrounding the case of the Charlotte Three became a critical pivot point in the Queen City’s post–World War II trajectory. Going to Hell to Get the Devil tells more than the story of an arson case; it also tells the story of the South’s future, as the fate of the Charlotte Three became emblematic of the decline of the African American freedom struggle and the causes it championed.
Before the Civil War, William Johnston served as president of Charlotte's first railroad, the Charlotte & SC Railroad. After the war, he rebuilt that line and extended it to Augusta, GA, creating the fastest route between New York and the deep South. He was instrumental in connecting Charlotte by rail early to two seaports, Charleston and Wilmington, allowing the small village to grow rapidly. After retiring from railroad management, he served four terms as a transformative Mayor of Charlotte, built the popular Buford Hotel for the region's rail and mill leaders, and co-organized the Commercial National Bank which, through mergers, evolved into today's Bank of America. Beyond these economic contributions, William Johnston successfully proposed an amendment to the North Carolina Constitution to broaden the state's religious tolerance, and also oversaw the creation of Charlotte's first grade school for African-American children. (Recipient of a 2020 Award of Excellence from the North Carolina Society of Historians)
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