The largest and most comprehensive collection of sports biographies published in a single reference work. Virtually every athlete and every sport readers might reasonably expect to find can be found here. Although there is an emphasis on sports that are popular in North America, there is considerable coverage on sports and athletes from other parts of the world. Most North Americans have at least some familiarity with such sports as baseball, basketball, football, golf, ice hockey, and tennis. They are likely to have had less exposure to badminton, cycling, and soccer and even less exposure to sports such as cricket, fencing, and Tae Kwon Do. No matter what the sport, however, readers of Great Athletes will learn that outstanding athletes from all parts of the world and all cultures have in common histories of hard work, rigid discipline, goalsetting, and sacrifice-points that Olympic decathlon champion Rafer Johnson discusses in his Introduction to this set.

Designed for and written to be understood by high school students and college undergraduates, Encyclopedia of American Immigration offers a clear and innovative approach to immigration history that can also be used by advanced students and scholars.

Designed and written for high school students and college undergraduates, Historical Encyclopedia of American Business offers an inviting alternative to works on economic history aimed at graduate students and scholars. The coverage of this set is carefully constructed to include almost every facet of American business history on which students are likely to seek information.

Richland Library has a diverse collection of historic photographs organized into sets on Flickr. This collection includes late 19^th- and early 20^th-century photographs of Columbia, the Columbia Army Air Base, historic places of Eastover, and images of obituaries from World War I servicemen published in The State newspaper. Please contact the Walker Local and Family History Center at (803) 929-3402 for permission to use these photographs.

A collection of over 100 programs dating from 1921 to 1999 from productions at the historic Town Theatre in downtown Columbia; which occupies the oldest community theatre building in continuous use in the United States. Full programs can be viewed online, hosted by South Carolina Digital Library.

Richland Library has recorded more than 70 conversations with Columbia personalities. We have made a selection available online for download through OverDrive. Contact the Walker Local and Family History Center at (803) 929-3402 for more information about our oral history collection.

This scarce book, Modern Cotton Mill Engineering, was written by W. B. Whaley and published in 1903 by The State Company of Columbia. Mr. Whaley and Gadsden E. Shand together founded the W. B. Smith Whaley company in 1894 and by the time this work was published they had designed and built the Olympia and Granby cotton mills. In it are descriptions of the mill industries of Columbia in the beginning of the 20th century with photographs of area mills and homes. Digital book hosted by the South Carolina Digital Library.

The Confederate Rolls of South Carolina is a rare, searchable ledger listing Confederate servicemen by name and divided by company and regiment. It includes age, rank, county, and remarks on their service. Compiled in 1898 for the Historian of the Confederate Records. Digital edition hosted by South Carolina Digital Library.

This collaborative collection gives a broad picture of the history of Columbia, South Carolina from the 1800s to the end of the twentieth century through maps, photographs, directories and a selection of Columbia city minutes. Made available by the Richland Library, the City of Columbia, USC Libraries, South Carolina State Museum, South Carolina State Library, and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

This searchable collection of Columbia City Directories from 1859 is an invaluable source for historians and genealogists. City directories offer an alphabetized listing of residents and businesses as well as a street-by-street listing of occupants. This collection is made possible through by Richland Library and University of South Carolina Libraries. Check back often this collection is always growing.