Books with author Charles C. Alexander

Breaking the Slump is the engrossing story of baseball during the 1930s, when the National Pastime came of age as a business, an entertainment, and a passion, and when the teams of the American and National Leagues fielded perhaps the greatest rosters in the history of the game. Whether as rookies, stars in their prime, or legends on the wane, Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig, Hank Greenberg, Dizzy Dean, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio all left their mark on the game and on the American imagination in the decade before America's entry into the World War II. In one remarkable year, 1934, the entire starting lineup of the American League All-Stars consisted of future Hall of Famers. This surfeit of talent provided much needed entertainment to a nation struggling through economic hardship on an enormous scale. In the face of the Great Depression, noted baseball historian Charles C. Alexander shows, Organized Baseball underwent an array of changes that defined the structure and operation of the game well into the postwar decades. The 1930s witnessed the advent of night baseball, the flowering of an extensive and, in some cases, controversial minor-league system of "farm clubs," and the exploitation of the relatively new broadcast medium of radio. Power brokers such as Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and owners Branch Rickey and "Colonel" Jacob Ruppert oversaw these and other developments even as they retained other traditional aspects of the game. As it had since the 1880s, the reserve clause continued to limit the salaries and mobility of ballplayers, subjecting them to the will of ownership to a degree unfathomable today. And Organized Baseball remained racially segregated throughout the 1930s, as the Negro leagues operated largely beyond the notice of white baseball fans. While tracing these and other organizational developments, Alexander keeps his focus on the daily experience of the ballplayers. What was it like for young men trying to make their way as professional ballplayers in an economy that offered few prospects for them otherwise? What kind of conditions did they have to deal with in terms of playing facilities, transportation, lodging, and relations with their employers? And what about the play itself? Alexander offers an expert appraisal of how the ballplayers and the quality of the game they played differed from today's.Americans have periodically been reminded of baseball's extraordinary capacity to enrich and enliven the national spirit during hard times. Breaking the Slump is a vivid portrait of the great game and its cultural significance during America's hardest times.

The first comprehensive history of baseball during the Great Depression, by the esteemed Charles Alexander. Read about the players, personalities, and political forces that shaped and guided America’s most beloved game, and allowed it to continue to thrive even during some of the country’s darkest days. It is a tribute to our National Pastime that baseball took on even greater importance to millions of Americans while so many suffered through challenges to survive. Great teams like the Philadelphia A’s and St. Louis’s Gas House Gang are covered, as well as superstars like Lou Gehrig and Lefty Grove, the departure of Babe Ruth and arrival of Joe DiMaggio. The era also included some of the greatest offensive seasons ever as well as the most exciting World Series. As with all his histories, Alexander captures both the flavor of the game and the times about which he writes; the result is both informative and highly entertaining. Winner of SABR’s prestigious Seymour Medal in 2003, recognizing the year’s best book of baseball history or biography.

"Has a many-sided appeal …. This stimulating book is one of the few that really deserve the over-worked term, a human document." — Publishers Weekly.Charles Alexander Eastman was “one of the most prolific authors and speakers on Sioux ethnohistory and American Indian affairs.” — Studies in American Indian LiteratureThis autobiography follows from his work Indian Boyhood and covers the period of his life when he was wrenched away from his Native American roots to begin his education among white people until he eventually became a doctor at Boston University.Told with utter honesty, this book provides fascinating insight into the developments of a young Sioux man as he encounters and begins to understand the new United States of America that was growing around him at the turn of twentieth century.Particularly fascinating chapters are those that detail Eastman’s return to the Pine Ridge Indian agency to become a doctor for the reservation. He records what he sees with exquisite detail, providing one of the few Native American accounts of their own people. “Breaking down prejudices and destroying old enmities … a good story delightfully told.” — The Independent “The most prominent literary spokesman of the Indian … his achievement will remain unique.” — New York Medical Journal“Many a thrilling episode … a gripping lesson in each chapter … interesting.” — American Indian MagazineThis book is essential reading for anyone interested in late nineteenth century Native American studies and for people who wish to find out more about the changing relationships between Native Americans and the United States of America during that period.Charles Alexander Eastman was a Santee Dakotaphysician educated at Boston University, writer, national lecturer, and reformer. After working as a physician on reservations in South Dakota, he became increasingly active in politics and issues on Native Americanrights, he worked to improve the lives of youths, and founded thirty-two Native American chapters of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). He also helped found the Boy Scouts of America. He is considered the first Native American author to write American history from the Native American point of view. His book, From the Deep Woods to Civilization was first published in 1916. He passed away in 1939.

In the 1930s, despite the ravages of the Great Depression, professional baseball remained the king of American sports in terms of both spectators and participants. In Breaking the Slump, the first history of baseball during the Great Depression, Alexander captures the flavor of baseball and American life during a time when America remained at peace but was mired in the worst economic circumstances in its history. Rich in narrative appeal, this story conveys baseball's persistence as the truly "National Pastime" and what it meant to millions of Americans who could no longer afford to attend games on a regular basis.

"Has a many-sided appeal …. This stimulating book is one of the few that really deserve the over-worked term, a human document." — Publishers Weekly.In the first of his memoirs, the popular Indian Boyhood, Charles Alexander Eastman recounted his traditional upbringing among the Santee Sioux. From the Deep Woods to Civilization resumes his story, recounting his abrupt departure from tribal life at age 15 to pursue his education among whites — a path that led him to certification as a medical doctor, the publication of many successful books, and a lifetime of tireless efforts to benefit his native culture. Through his social work and his writings, Eastman became one of the best-known Indians of the early twentieth century and an important force in interpreting and relating the spiritual depth and greatness of the Native American traditions. Eastman became a physician in hopes of serving the Native American community; he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Dartmouth in 1887 and a medical degree from Boston University in 1890. He began college just a few months after the Battle of Little Bighorn, and his first job as a physician at Pine Ridge Reservation coincided with the Ghost Dance uprisings that culminated in the U. S. Army's attack at Wounded Knee. The only doctor available to assist the massacre's victims, Eastman writes movingly of the event's appalling inhumanity and injustice. Afterward, he lobbied Capitol Hill on behalf of the Sioux and devoted the rest of his life, both in and out of government service, to helping Indians adapt to the white world while retaining the best of their own culture. His autobiography resonates with the impassioned thoughts and experiences of a profound contributor to the richness of American culture.

A WONDERFUL READ ALOUD ABOUT WINTER AND THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE. Winters in Bern are long and cold and deep. On winter nights, when the snow is falling, Pippa goes to sleep knowing she’ll wake up to tracks in front of her farmhouse. The tracks are small, and they come from the woods—those same woods that her mother says are full of witches and elves and trolls, and her father says are full of wolves and bears and demons. But these tracks are the Tompte’s, and he is a friendly creature. Or at least that’s what Pippa hopes. . . The Tompte borrows and mends things, he takes and he sometimes leaves things, and such is life on a farm at the edge of the realm. Her mother calls it tradition. Her father calls it a curse. And when things start going missing and trouble comes their way, Pippa’s not sure what to believe. Soon enough, she'll have no choice but to go into the woods to find out. . . Winter comes and north wind blows,And with it comes the winter snow. Through the pines, he leaves his track,Over hill and here and back.The Tompte he looks after land,With quiet feet and silent hand. He comes from woods, alone and weary,On winter nights, dark and dreary.Through the farm, he peeks about,Checking in, and on and out.Taking gifts and leaving tokens,Mending bits that have been broken. His beard is long, his feet are small,He’s like a child, about as tall,But Tompte is old and wise as well,And deep in forest is his dell.So, on winter nights when you’re asleep,Along comes Tompte in silence deep, On quiet feet, with food to shareWith quiet hands, and traded fare. Winters come and Autumns go,And with it comes the Tompte through snow.Always watching, never seenLeaving tracks of where he’s been.

“The most prominent literary spokesman of the Indian … his achievement will remain unique.” –New York Medical Journal “Many a thrilling episode … a gripping lesson in each chapter … interesting.” –American Indian Magazine“Breaking down prejudices and destroying old enmities … a good story delightfully told.” –The Independent“Indian Boyhood,” published first in 1902 and in many subsequent editions, pictured the first of three distinct periods in the life of the writer of this book, Charles Alexander Eastman. His childhood and youth were a part of the free wilderness life of the first American — a life that is gone forever!Eastman’s 1916 book “From the Deep Woods to Civilization Begins” where the writer's earlier book “Indian Boyhood” left off, when he left his wild life to enter mission school, and continues thru his years at Beloit and Dartmouth, his medical studies at Boston university and his subsequent work for his people as government physician and Y. M. C. A. Indian secretary. This simple sincere account not only covers the facts in the life of this nearly full-blooded Sioux Indian, but gives glimpses of his feelings, his impressions gathered in college and later life, and his aspirations for himself and his people. In this unique story of his school days Dr. Eastman tells of his upward climb to civilization. It was not until he had entered college that the full meaning of civilization flashed upon the mental vision of this Indian youth. "I saw it as the development of every natural resource;" he tells us, "the broad brotherhood of mankind; the blending of all languages and the gathering of all races' under one religious faith." When this realization came he says a little later, "I took off my soft moccasins and put on the heavy and clumsy but durable shoes." There is a wealth of meaning for the Indian in that last sentence. Eastman writes of his Indian tribal life:"During the summer and winter of 1871, the band of Sioux to which I belonged — a clan of the Wah'petons, or "Dwellers among the Leaves" — roamed in the upper Missouri region and along the Yellowstone River. In that year I tasted to the full the joy and plenty of wild existence. I saw buffalo, elk, and antelope in herds numbering thousands. The forests teemed with deer, and in the "Bad Lands" dwelt the Big Horns or Rocky Mountain sheep. At this period, grizzly bears were numerous and were brought into camp quite commonly, like any other game. "IN the summer of 1910, I accepted a commission to search out and purchase rare curios and ethnological specimens for one of the most important collections in the country. Very few genuine antiques are now to be found among Indians living on reservations, and the wilder and more scattered bands who still treasure them cannot easily be induced to give them up.""My chief object has been, not to entertain, but to present the American Indian in his true character before Americans. The barbarous and atrocious character commonly attributed to him has dated from the transition period, when the strong drink, powerful temptations, and commercialism of the white man led to deep demoralization. Really it was a campaign of education on the Indian and his true place in American history."Charles Alexander Eastman (1858 – 1939) was a Santee Dakota physician educated at Boston University, writer, national lecturer, and reformer. In the early 20th century, he was "one of the most prolific authors and speakers on Sioux ethnohistory and American Indian affairs. He is considered the first Native American author to write American history from the Native American point of view.

"Has a many-sided appeal …. This stimulating book is one of the few that really deserve the over-worked term, a human document." — Publishers Weekly. In the first of his memoirs, the popular Indian Boyhood, Charles Alexander Eastman recounted his traditional upbringing among the Santee Sioux. From the Deep Woods to Civilization resumes his story, recounting his abrupt departure from tribal life at age 15 to pursue his education among whites — a path that led him to certification as a medical doctor, the publication of many successful books, and a lifetime of tireless efforts to benefit his native culture. Through his social work and his writings, Eastman became one of the best-known Indians of the early twentieth century and an important force in interpreting and relating the spiritual depth and greatness of the Native American traditions.Eastman became a physician in hopes of serving the Native American community; he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Dartmouth in 1887 and a medical degree from Boston University in 1890. He began college just a few months after the Battle of Little Bighorn, and his first job as a physician at Pine Ridge Reservation coincided with the Ghost Dance uprisings that culminated in the U. S. Army's attack at Wounded Knee. The only doctor available to assist the massacre's victims, Eastman writes movingly of the event's appalling inhumanity and injustice. Afterward, he lobbied Capitol Hill on behalf of the Sioux and devoted the rest of his life, both in and out of government service, to helping Indians adapt to the white world while retaining the best of their own culture. His autobiography resonates with the impassioned thoughts and experiences of a profound contributor to the richness of American culture.

There are Native American folklore stories in Wigwam Evenings of different types, each of which has its prototype or parallel in the nursery tales of other nations. The animal fables of the philosophic red man are almost as terse and satisfying as those of Aesop, of whom they put us strongly in mind. A little further on we meet with brave and fortunate heroes, and beautiful princesses, and wicked old witches, and magical transformations, and all the other dear, familiar material of fairy lore, combined with a touch that is unfamiliar and fascinating.