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The telephone looms large in our lives, as ever present in modern societies as cars and television. Claude Fischer presents the first social history of this vital but little-studied technology—how we encountered, tested, and ultimately embraced it with enthusiasm. Using telephone ads, oral histories, telephone industry correspondence, and statistical data, Fischer's work is a colorful exploration of how, when, and why Americans started communicating in this radically new manner. Studying three California communities, Fischer uncovers how the telephone became integrated into the private worlds and community activities of average Americans in the first decades of this century. Women were especially avid in their use, a phenomenon which the industry first vigorously discouraged and then later wholeheartedly promoted. Again and again Fischer finds that the telephone supported a wide-ranging network of social relations and played a crucial role in community life, especially for women, from organizing children's relationships and church activities to alleviating the loneliness and boredom of rural life. Deftly written and meticulously researched, America Calling adds an important new chapter to the social history of our nation and illuminates a fundamental aspect of cultural modernism that is integral to contemporary life.
Growing up in middle-class India, Rajika Bhandari has seen generations of her family look westward, where an American education means status and success. But she resists the lure of America because those who left never return—they all become flies trapped in honey in a land of opportunity. As a young woman, however, she finds herself heading to a US university to study, following her heart and a relationship. When that relationship ends and she fails in her attempt to move back to India as a foreign-educated woman, she returns to the US and finds herself in a job where the personal is political and professional: she is immersed in the lives of international students who come to America from over 200 countries, the universities that attract them, and the tangled web of immigration that a student must navigate. An unflinching and insightful narrative that explores the global appeal of a Made in America education that is a bridge to America’s successful past and to its future, America Calling is both a deeply personal story of Bhandari’s search for her place and voice, and an incisive analysis of America’s relationship with the rest of the world through the most powerful tool of diplomacy: education. At a time of growing nationalism, a turning inward, and fear of the “other,” America Calling is ultimately a call to action to keep America’s borders—and minds—open.
America's Call is based on the journal that John Bernhard used to chronicle his trip to North America during the late 1970s. It is the story of two young friends on a New World walkabout, questing to discover their destinies and their souls during a quintessential time in U.S. history. The beauty of America's Call lies in Bernhard's visual depictions of 1970s America, the various destinations that make up his journey, and the people he meets along the way. Bernhard offers a sense of adventure and curiosity reminiscent of the vanished era he describes, and introduces those of us who missed it to a bygone America that we can only hope will not be forgotten. "I had dreamt of traveling to the New World for as long as I could remember. I had filled my imagination with the romance of exploration until it overflowed with wild curiosity. When I left Europe on my journey, I did so without a definite destination. I knew only that I wanted to discover as much of North America as I could, from Canada to the U.S., from Alberta's Rockies to California's beaches. I wanted to see it all. When I think of America as it was 30 years ago, I conjure fond memories of a nation and a culture that no longer exists. My story is the recollection of a journey of personal discovery that took place at the end of a very special era. So much has changed in my adopted country since then. Although the American dreams that filled my youth are long gone, the affectionate memories remain. Like a photograph, this book is a snapshot of that time." John Bernhard was born in Switzerland and after his backpack adventure, the draw to the U.S. tugged at his mind until he returned and settled in Houston, Texas to pursue the American dream. For the past three decades he has chosen the medium of photography to explore the everyday world from new perspectives, breaking away into different pathways of artistic expression. He has designed and built his dream house and his studio adjacent to it where he works as an artist. He is the author of seven monographs, including: Nudes Metamorphs, Nicaragua, John Bernhard, Drift, Diptych, China, and Body Work.
American Historical Review is the oldest scholarly journal of history in the United States and the largest in the world. Published by the American Historical Association, it covers all areas of historical research.