At the time of his death in February 2003 Judah Rubinstein was working on this second edition of Merging Traditions: Jewish Life in Cleveland, which he initially co-wrote with the late Sidney Z. Vincent in 1978. This revised and updated pictorial review of the nearly two-century history of the Jewish community tells the story of Jewish settlement and achievement in Northeast Ohio and continues in the spirit of the original, illuminating the struggles and the successes of one particular immigrant group and providing a valuable perspective on Cleveland’s Jewish community, past and present.

With the first Christmas tree in American history, the creation of the candy cane as a Christmas icon, and the production of one of the most popular Christmas gifts of all time, the Etch A Sketch, Ohio can boast of a remarkable seasonal heritage. Christmas Stories from Ohio documents this heritage in fiction and memoir and celebrates the many moods of yuletide in the Buckeye State. With selections from some of Ohio’s most highly regarded classic and contemporary authors, including Kay Boyle, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, and James Thurber, these tales span the generations, offering readers unique geographical, historical, and cultural perspectives on winter holiday traditions. The selections explore time-honored themes of Christmas: family, compassion, wonder, and the human desire for connections and reconnections. Their charm and wit recall the fun of Christmases past, while still looking to the yuletide magic yet to happen.

Founded in 1871 by a group of entrepreneurs from Cleveland, Akron, and Canton, the Valley Railway paralleled the Cuyahoga River Valley, stretching from southeast Cleveland to Akron and then on to Canton and Valley Junction in Tuscarawas County. The Railway filled a need in the region by providing an important passenger rail link among the three cities and provided direct access to the coal fields in Stark and Tuscarawas Counties, supplying coal for Cleveland’s iron mills and other growing industries. The Railway began operation in 1880, continued service until 1962, and was revived in the early 1970s.

The Cleveland Jewish Orphan Asylum was for fifty years (1868-1918) the home for some 3,500 boys and girls, most of them immigrants from Eastern Europe. Gary Polster’s study examines the efforts of the more acculturated German Jews of Cleveland to “Americanize” and make good workers of the newcomers, and to teach a Judaism quite removed from the Yiddish culture and religious orthodoxy of Eastern Europe. The dominant figure at the asylum during the formative years was Samuel Wofenstein (1841-1921), a native of Moravia who by the age of 22 had earned both a rabbinical degree and a Ph.D in philosophy.

This latest collaboration of Carolyn V. Platt and Gary Meszaros is a beautifully photographed book that explores Lake Erie and its effects on the birds that make this region their home. Birds of the Lake Erie Region observes a year of weather changes and avian migrations—from the wintertime convergence of ducks and other waterbirds on the lake’s last ice-free areas to the excitement of the raptor and shorebird migrations in the fall.

Rix Mills Remembered presents 100 of the more than 500 paintings by this highly regarded folk artist. With nostalgic affection, Patton describes the scenes he painted, recalling on canvas the sorghum mill, the blacksmith shop, the school, the general store, the church, and the life he shared with his family in the 1920s and 1930s. The paintings and narratives in this collection will be a welcome celebration of the State of Ohio.

Music in Ohio offers a comprehensive and ambitious look at music as it has been practiced throughout the state during the last two centuries—from folk to jazz to rock to polka. Author William N. Osborne also examines the music of the Moravians, Mormons, and Welsh, as well as other religious music and choral music. He discusses the state’s two major symphony orchestras, the Cincinnati Opera, and the May Festival. He also includes an overview of public school music-education programs and those of the principal collegiate institutions.

Essentially the story of WMMS, Radio Daze captures the radio scene during the ’70s and ’80s, chronicling how this small FM rock station became the top-rated station in Northeast Ohio and made Cleveland one of the most important radio markets in the world. Mike Olszewski obtained exclusive interviews with many radio legends, revealing how insidious and destructive the battle for radio dominance became. Among other things, he exposes the story behind the reports of ballot box stuffing by WMMS to win the prestigious Rolling Stone magazine Readers’ Poll for best radio station in the country and some of the dirty tricks played by radio stations to get the edge on their competitors.

Cradles of Conscience is a collection of essays that relate the circumstances of the founding of 40 of these independent colleges and universities, recounts the history of each since its inception, and discusses how each has coped with modernization and how the pressures of the past 25 years have forced them to publicly evaluate and reassess their identities and missions.

Combining original essays based on the past, present, and future of the Ohio & Erie Canal, Canal Fever showcases the research and writing of the best and most knowledgeable canal historians, archaeologists, and enthusiasts. Each contributor brings his or her expertise to tell the canal’s story in three parts: the canal era—the creation of the canal and its importance to Ohio’s early growth; the canal’s decline—the decades when the canal was merely a ditch and path in backyards all over northeast Ohio; and finally the rediscovery of this old transportation system and its transformation into a popular recreational resource, the Ohio & Erie Canalway.