Ken Burns's America
by Gary R. Edgerton '74

Gary R. Edgerton '74 is the author of Ken Burns's America (St. Martin's Press), the first book-length study of the famed documentary filmmaker. Edgerton examines Burns' accomplishments— including The Civil War, Baseball and Jazz—to reveal how Burns has redefined the television documentary. Examining the workings of Burns's production company and his relationship with the Public Broadcasting System, Edgerton argues that Ken Burns is a unique cultural voice. Edgerton is also a co-editor, with Peter C. Rollins, of Television Histories: Shaping Collective Memory in the Media Age (The University Press of Kentucky), which explores the tensions between popular history and professional history.

Chair of the communication and theatre arts department at Old Dominion University, Edgerton is co-editor of Journal of Popular Film and Television. His previous books include In the Eye of the Beholder: Critical Perspectives in Popular Film and Television

Gender Identities in American Catholicism
by Paula Kane '80

Paula Kane '80 is an editor of Gender Identities in American Catholicism (Orbis Books) a collection of primary documents illustrating evolving Catholic attitudes toward gender and sexuality. Containing over 100 original documents that range from the earliest days of American Catholicism to the present, the book demonstrates how gender is a prime determiner of social position in the Church and in American society as a whole. Scholar Jennifer L. Rilke calls the book, "Thoroughly engaging, deeply informative, and invaluable resource ... a treasure trove for students and scholars alike."

Kane is Marous Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and a member of the Holy Cross Board of Trustees.

Wearing Smooth the Path
by Annette Rafferty

Ambassador Books has recently published Annette Rafferty's Wearing Smooth the Path, a history of Abby's House, the Worcester shelter for women and children. Over the past 25 years, hundreds of Holy Cross students volunteered at Abby's House. The book features numerous photographs of volunteers and a complete list of all their names.

Wearing Smooth the Path is available at the Holy Cross Bookstore.