Amy Waters Yarsinske Book order

Beloved Asheville author and historian Lou Harshaw once observed that Asheville has always been a place apart. "It is not really a southern city, but always of the South. Its differences make for a fascinating whole. In this time, more than two hundred years after the first Europeans came over the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge to take up land and make new homes, the concern for the future has never been greater. Asheville," she opined, "is absorbing new human values, new technology. There are new ways in which to live, and to relate to one another. In later years," she continued, "the decades over the turn of this century will be very important in Asheville history - a time of seeking control of destiny." As she so aptly noted, looking back at Asheville's rich history can enrich what lies ahead--and it should.

In its first century and counting, NASA Langley Research Center [LaRC] has had a remarkable history that has stood out not only for the many outstanding achievements in flight and space exploration but the people who made it happen. "If there were a list of 100 people who contributed the most the progress in the world of flight, I believe Langley would provide the most names. Without question," observed astronaut, aeronautical engineer and the first man to walk on the Moon, Neil Alden Armstrong (1930 - 2012) on LaRC's nineteenth anniversary, "many of the giants of aero research spent their careers here, and many others, who learned their craft here, went on to lead other research efforts at other governments labs in the industry. Langley has been a powerhouse of creative thinking." With a centennial theme of "inventing the future," NASA LaRC is poised to enter its second century of ingenuity and invention with a wealth of pending and proposed research, and near-term prognostication may prove a bit easier.

Berthed today at NAUTICUS, the National Maritime Center, the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) was the last authorized of the four Iowa-class battleships, the largest American dreadnoughts ever built. Wisconsin saw action in World War II and the Korean Conflict for which the Big Wisky earned a collective six battle stars. Brought out of mothballs and recommissioned a second time on October 22, 1988, the Wisconsin saw action again during the Persian Gulf War but was decommissioned a third time on September 30, 1991. But this great piece of American history was not destined for a lengthy slumber. Resurrected by the city of Norfolk and USS Wisconsin Foundation, working in lockstep with the Navy, it has become a museum ship and Navy heritage site that continues the legacy of duty, honor, and country that was the calling card of Wisconsin's crew, and to inspire future generations of Americans.

"The story of the Blue Ridge Parkway--America's Favorite Drive--has been called awe-inspiring. Beginning with the inception of design work done during the early 1930s through its construction and final completion, the parkway--the longest road planned as a single unit in the United States and also an elongated park, protecting significant mountain landscapes far beyond the shoulders of the road itself--was completed with the contributions of many talented individuals. The National Park Service, which oversees it, informs that a Blue Ridge Parkway experience is unlike any other: a slow-paced and relaxing drive revealing stunning long-range vistas and close-up views of the rugged mountains and pastoral landscapes of the Appalachian Highlands. The parkway meanders for 469 miles, protecting a diversity of plants and animals, and providing opportunities for enjoying all that makes this region of the country so special."--Page 4 of cover.

A once-remote auxiliary air station that sprung from the mud flats of old Princess Anne County near the whistle stop of Oceana, from which it gets its name, Naval Air Station Oceana has advanced in the decades since World War II to become the navy's East Coast master jet base and one of the largest and most advanced air stations in the world. Through interviews, exhaustive research and rare and often never-before-seen photographs, author and historian Yarsinske tells the story of vision, courage and commitment that reinforce what Admiral Michael G. Mullen, then chief of naval operations, said of Oceana when he testified before the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission regional hearings on August 4, 2005, his words just as relevant today as they were then. "We know how important it is to our training. We know how important it is to our preparation for warfighting. We know how important it is to be good neighbors, and we will continue to be. Our sailors and their families - and I include my own family on that list - enjoy living in the wonderful communities of the great state of Virginia," he continued. "Mr. Chairman [Anthony Principi], I need now - your navy needs now - Naval Air Station Oceana."

Author and historian Amy Waters Yarsinske takes a look back at Virginia Beach in the twentieth century, to the decades--and events--that shaped a city that although largely suburban in character, is the most populous in Virginia and the forty-first most populous municipality in the United States. Located in Hampton Roads, an area known as "America's First Region," and situated on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach is a resort city with miles of beaches and a vibrant Oceanfront strip, several state parks, three military bases, a number of large corporations, two universities, and many historic sites. Near the point where the ocean and bay meet, Cape Henry was the site of the first landing of the English colonists, who eventually settled at Jamestown, on April 26, 1607. Virginia Beach is also located at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, the longest bridge-tunnel complex in the world. The story of today's Virginia Beach was written in the twentieth century, when a town and a county came together, taking the name of the better known and richly historic Oceanfront resort. Virginia Beach Through the 20th Century takes you back to the remarkable people, places and events that gave birth to the "jewel resort of the Atlantic."

The question posed at the beginning of this narrative asked why a botanical garden for Norfolk and the answer, to be certain, is the story told in the book itself. But it is also answered in the connection each of us make to this special place, whether we live in Hampton Roads or are just visiting. Gardens should surprise and comfort you. Anatole France (1844-1924), the French poet, journalist, and novelist, could have been addressing countryman and father of the Norfolk Botanical Garden Fred Heutte when he sagely observed: "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan but also believe." Fred Heutte was a dreamer with a plan who believed that the garden he shepherded for nearly three decades would ultimately fulfill its destiny and take an honored place among the United States' premier botanical gardens-and it has.

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is America's foremost memorial to the nation's third president. As an original adaptation of neoclassical architecture, modeled after Rome's Pantheon, it is a key landmark in the monumental core of Washington, D.C., according to the National Park Service, which administers and maintains the memorial. The circular, colonnaded structure in the classic style was introduced to this country by Thomas Jefferson. Architect John Russell Pope used Jefferson's own architectural tastes in the design of the memorial. Pope's intention was to blend Jefferson's contribution as a statesman, architect, president of the United States, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, adviser of the Constitution and founder of the University of Virginia. Few major changes have been made to the Memorial since its dedication in 1943. The most important change, of note, was the replacement of the plaster model statue of Thomas Jefferson with a bronze version of the same after World War II restrictions on the use of metals were lifted. Each year the Jefferson Memorial plays host to various ceremonies, including annual memorial exercises, Easter sunrise services and the ever-popular Cherry Blossom Festival.

This history of Newport News is about a new city in a new century--the twentieth century--with attention to the importance to the first years after incorporation to the nascent years of the twenty-first century. There is little argument that the twentieth century was "America's century," a time of incredible growth, innovation and prosperity across the country, despite depression and war, and the dichotomy of black and white, poverty and wealth that marked the highs and lows of Newport News' twentieth century experience. The consistent threads that weave the Newport News story still hinge on the imagination, ambition and achievement of Collis Huntington; what he started at the end of the nineteenth century became a powerhouse in the twentieth.

Richmond is a city with a pedigree, a past that can be traced back to the first English settlers who landed at Jamestown in 1607. Yet the focus of this volume is the twentieth century, which was, by all rights, America's century and Richmond's rebirth as a modern, changed city. "The closer Richmond moved toward the twentieth century, the more it seemed to be a city of archives and icons, the 'holy city' of the Confederacy, and an American industrial city, reflecting the prosperity and problems of mass production," wrote historian Marie Tyler-McGraw, of the city that had held on so tightly to its status as capital of the Confederacy and bastion of the South's cause in the war. "The Lost Cause as a form of civil religion for the South was especially evocative in Richmond," McGraw continued, "Yet the political influence of the Lost Cause zealots was probably not as great as its acolytes imagined. Both politicians and businessmen found the Lost Cause to be a malleable concept, adaptable to new circumstances." Richmond was ready for a makeover - and it got it.