Centenarians: The Story of the 20th Century by the Americans Who Lived It - Hardcover

Edelman, Bernard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374176787 ISBN 13: 9780374176785

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999

Synopsis

An oral history of the twentieth century in America.

By 1990, over 37,000 Americans had lived to the age of one hundred. Their lives spanned world wars, the Depression, the rise and demise of the great Red Menace, and the emergence of the United States as a world power.

Through interviews with centenarians across the country, Bernard Edelman draws a dazzling portrait of Americans in the twentieth century, evoking the work ethic of rural farms, the nation's awe at inventions such as the automobile, and the collective despair at the onset of world war. These recollections are a treasure of the century's social history. The young immigrant survivor who can still smell the smoke of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The rookie pitcher who struck out the first batter he ever faced in the big leagues: Ty Cobb. The dashing artillery officer who won a Silver Star in the Great War. The officer in the Quartermaster Corps who witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The motorcycle racer who barnstormed the nation, setting records that will never be broken. The feisty woman who led a walkout at the premiere of Gone With the Wind. The man who invented Pampers.

Their memories serve as a timeless reminder of life in twentieth-century America.

About this title

About the Author:

Bernard Edelman edited the acclaimed Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. A photojournalist, he has worked for the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission, and served in the administration of New York City mayor Ed Koch.

From Publishers Weekly:

Joining Harold Evans's The American Century and Peter Jennings's The Century on the centennial stock-taking shelf, this history takes the form of 71 interviews with people 100 years old or older. The portrait of America it paints is basically flattering, evoking the enterprise, gumption, tolerance and diversity that have made the U.S. a crucible of progress. In chapters on topics such as "Hearth and Home" and "The Red Menace," respondents offer plainspoken reminiscences on homesteading, Prohibition, the Great Depression, two world wars, the advent of telephones (and automobiles and television), women's suffrage (and the entry of women into the workplace), McCarthyism and civil rights. Photojournalist Edelman, who edited Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam, profiles an eclectic bunch of old-timers, from Victor Mills, the inventor of Pampers, to Auschwitz survivor Sari Muller. Many bear valuable witness to historic events. Rose Freedman, who was an 18-year-old Manhattan seamstress in 1911, recalls her narrow escape from the notorious Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire, which killed 146 women. Others offer priceless nuggets of Americana, like Chester Hoff, who, as a 20-year-old rookie pitcher, coolly struck out his first major league hitter, a fellow by the name of Ty Cobb. This tapestry of American identity closes on an upbeat note, with sections distilling the respondents' "Secrets of Longevity" and "Wisdom for the Ages" ("Behave yourself, but flirt whenever you get the chance"). Photos.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0374176787
• ISBN 13: 9780374176785
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432