Joy M. Kiser, Susan Millar Williams, and Stephen G. Hoffius

Tonight’s guest is writer and editor JOY M. KISER. When she was an Assistant Librarian at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Ms Kiser saw on display a truly beautiful book from the late nineteenth Century illustrating birds nests. Created  by one Genevieve Estelle Jones it was titled Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio. Kiser discovered that this was virtually a lost book. Although the lithographs rivaled those of Audubon, few people knew of the books existence. As Kiser researched the history of the book and of the Jones family, she uncovered an incredible story of determination, passion,  tragedy and family love.  Tune in tonight for a remarkable story of unique woman of the late 1800s and her formerly lost  book that has now been published so we can all enjoy Jones’s work. Kiser’s book which includes full color reproductions of all of the plates of Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Ohio is titled AMERICA’S  OTHER AUDUBON.

On August 31, 1886 a powerful earthquake devastated Charleston, South Carolina leaving most of the city in ruins and most of the residents living on the streets. Tonight’s guests, writer SUSAN MILLAR WILLIAMS and writer/editor STEPHEN G. HOFFIUS have written a compelling history of this natural disaster that links the story to issues of race, class, urban development and even labor. This is a fascinating and complex and important chapter in the history of America that almost no one knows about. Join us tonight as Williams and Hoffius discuss their book UPHEAVAL IN CHARLESTON: EARTHQUAKE AND MURDER ON THE EVE OF JIM CROW.