Robert A. Taft, prominent political leader and vocal critic of the expanding powers of the federal government and of the enlargement of America’s international commitments, played a significant role in the development of Republican party politics. This second volume of The Papers of Robert A. Taft documents the Ohioan’s first term in the United States Senate and marks his entrance onto the national political and policy-making stage.

Taft was the most prominent critic of mid-twentieth-century American liberalism. As a leading Republican senator and contender for the presidency, he played a significant role in the development of party politics, opposing the expanding administrative capacities of the federal government and the enlargement of America’s international commitments. Recent events, domestic and foreign, have given a contemporary relevance to his critique. The Papers of Robert A. Taft will be a major addition to the published papers of prominent modern leaders.

This history of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation paints a gritty portrait of the successes and failures of the American steel industry. The 131-year life of this “American Business” is presented from its origins as one of the many struggling iron makers in the mid-19th century through its leadership in technological innovation and progressive worker/management relations in the early 20th century to its demise in 1984. J & L Steel, however, was more than just the management styles of the Jones & Laughlin families. From the beginning, its workers were intensely loyal and creative, and Portraits in Steel portrays the sometimes stormy relationship between iron and steel workers and management.

Only two states can claim the title “the Mother of U.S. Presidents”—Ohio and Virginia. Fifteen presidents have hailed from either Ohio or Virginia, though one of those men, William Henry Harrison, is attributed to both states. The other seven men from Ohio who have piloted the United States from the White House are Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding. Drawing on recent scholarship, the essays place each president squarely in the context of his time.

Vourlojianis examines the history of the Grays from its founding in 1837, through military service in three wars, to its modern incarnation as a social and philanthropic group. While the nature of the organization has changed, the Grays still maintain a proud tradition of service to their city. Primarily a social group with strong philanthropic and educational interests, the expanded membership of the modern Grays continues to add to and participate in the rich, colorful history of Cleveland.

Because of their similar linguistic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, English, Scottish, and Welsh immigrants are often regarded as the “invisible immigrants,” assimilating into early American society easily and quickly and often losing their ethnic identities. Yet, of all of Ohio’s immigrants, the British were the most influential in terms of shaping the state’s politics and institutions. Also significant were their contributions to farming, mining, iron production, textiles, pottery, and engineering.

“Johnson (1837-88) lived in northern India with her husband, a Presbyterian missionary, from 1860 to 1883. As the title to this work implies, her letters to family members in Pennsylvania express the tender affection and care of a loving daughter and sister. A homemaker, Johnson comments on India’s weather, the bumps and bruises of her children, and the work of her husband. With the onset of the American Civil War, her letters grow tense, reflecting her deep concern for her brothers in the Union Army…Editor Tull’s introduction, chapter summaries, and occasional notes unobtrusively clarify the work, a body of correspondence possessing a quality of warmth and love.” —Library Journal

Individuals and communities have historically reinforced values and shaped society in ways that best fit their own objectives. This exciting new study reevaluates the crucial interaction between religious, ethnic-, racial, -gender-, and class-based values and ideals and giving. It explores the nature and meaning if giving in urban America by examining the African American and Italian populations of Cleveland.

When David Hunter Strother, also known by his pen name Porte Crayon, arrived as U.S. consul general in Mexico City in 1879, Mexico and its society, only a decade removed from French occupation, were initially struggling with questions of national order and stability, with maintenance of independence, and with all aspects of modernization. Achieving these goals without sacrificing its patrimony to imperialistic powers, which had capital to invest, proved to be difficult for Mexico and pushed the nation’s quest for stability into another dictatorship. Strother was present at the beginning of U.S. involvement with this phase of Mexico’s evolution under President Porfirio Diaz.

This collection draws on primary sources from previously unheard voices, including memoirs, autobiographies, official records, and oral histories, to present the coherent story of the AEF’s experience and the memories they evoked. Unknown Soldiers will be a welcome addition to World War I literature and a solid addition to the fields of military history and the history of memory.