His training has been that of an engineer, and he is a thorough businessman. He is a man of integrity with no axes to grind who assumed his duties toward the town at a personal sacrifice."-Gertrude Robinson Smith, socialite and philanthropist, on Joseph Franz Joseph Franz was a precocious teenager when he arrived in America on October 16, 1897, determined to succeed at any undertaking. As an electrical engineer, Franz defied the most respected electrical names of the time, such as George Westinghouse, to experiment with untested methods of producing and providing electricity. After retiring from the electrical field, he dared to design and build two great cultural buildings in the Berkshires that are still used today. One provides shelter for the renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra. The other is the first theatre built specifically for dance at Jacob's Pillow, an old farm near Becket, Massachusetts that has become the first dance related institution in America to be designated as a National Historic Landmark. Through his European education, Franz learned that to brag about oneself was very unethical. Because of his modesty, few are aware of his tireless contributions and service to his community in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and the surrounding area. Franz's children are finally able to help him bring his accomplishments to light in Joseph Franz-A Renaissance Man in the 20th Century.
Women played prominent roles during Stockton's growth from gold rush tent city to California leader in transportation, agriculture and manufacturing. Heiresses reigned in the city's nineteenth-century mansions. In the twentieth century, women fought for suffrage and helped start local colleges, run steamship lines, build food empires and break the school district's color barrier. Writers like Sylvia Sun Minnick and Maxine Hong Kingston chronicled the town. Dolores Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers. Harriet Chalmers Adams caught the travel bug on walks with her father, and Dawn Mabalon rescued the history of the Filipino population. Join Mary Jo Gohlke, news writer turned librarian, as she eloquently captures the stories of twenty-two triumphant and successful women who led a little river city into state prominence.
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