Author Archives: georgelamplugh

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About georgelamplugh

I retired in 2010 after nearly four decades of teaching History at the "prep school" level with a PhD. My new "job" was to finish the book manuscript I'd been working on, in summers only, since 1996. As things turned out, not only did I complete that book, but I also put together a collection of my essays--published and unpublished--on Georgia history. Both volumes were published in the summer of 2015. I continue to work on other writing projects, including a collection of essays on the Blues and, of course, my blog.

Son House–Preacher, Killer, “Father of the Delta Blues” (Blues Stories, 10)

Posted on October 1, 2013 by georgelamplugh

A review of Daniel Beaumont, Preachin’ the Blues: The Life & Times of Son House. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. [Note:  The cover picture on the double compact disc, “Son House: Father of the Delta Blues: The … Continue reading →

Posted in "Charley Patton", Alan Lomax, American History, Books, Delta Blues, History, Research, Retirement, Robert Johnson, Son House, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Big Bill Broonzy–The Blues Man as Pragmatist (Blues Stories, 9)

Posted on September 3, 2013 by georgelamplugh

A Review of Robert Riesman, I Feel So Good:  The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy.  Chicago and London:  The University of Chicago Press, 2011. [NOTE:  2011 was a very good year for Blues biographies:  three reputable university presses … Continue reading →

Posted in Alan Lomax, Big Bill Broonzy, Books, Chicago Blues, Delta Blues, History, Muddy Waters, Research, Retirement, Southern History, The Blues | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Never Get Out of These Blues Alive”–John Lee Hooker (1917-2001) [Blues Stories, 8]

Posted on August 1, 2013 by georgelamplugh

John Lee Hooker was a true survivor. A native of the Mississippi Delta, he fled that region’s endless toil and painful, humiliating racism during the Great Depression, eventually settling in 1943 in Detroit, which remained his base until the early … Continue reading →

Posted in Delta Blues, History, John Lee Hooker, Research, Retirement, Southern History, The Blues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Electric Mud–The Life and Music of Muddy Waters,1915-1983 (Blues Stories, 7)

Posted on July 1, 2013 by georgelamplugh

Muddy Waters (April 14, 1915-April 30, 1983) was born McKinley A. Morganfield in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. His family moved farther north, to the Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, when he was about three, and it was there that he eventually taught … Continue reading →

Posted in Alan Lomax, Chicago Blues, Delta Blues, Muddy Waters, The Blues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Georgia and the Federal Constitution, Part II (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 11)

Posted on June 4, 2013 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE: In part one, we saw that Georgia played a small, but still significant, part in the creation of the Federal Constitution of 1787, especially in the role of the state’s delegation in helping to establish the famous “Connecticut Compromise,” … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Constitution of 1787, Georgia History, History, Philadelphia Convention (1787), Research, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Georgia and the Federal Constitution, Part I (In Pursuit of Dead Georgian, 10)

Posted on May 1, 2013 by georgelamplugh

[Note: Part I of a talk delivered during the celebration of the Bicentennial of the Federal Constitution, at the quarterly meeting of Historic Jonesboro/Clayton County (Ga.). I did not think that, as a high school teacher, I would ever be … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Constitution of 1787, Georgia History, History, Philadelphia Convention (1787), Research, Southern History, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Race–and History–Matter

Posted on April 1, 2013 by georgelamplugh

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past” (William Faulkner) [NOTE:  Perhaps it’s because I live in the South; or maybe it’s because February was Black History Month; or I suppose it could be because the Republican Party is … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Constitution of 1787, Current Events, Georgia History, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Nullification, Philadelphia Convention (1787), Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Peace of Bread, Bread of Peace, Lent, 2013 (Adventures in Interdisciplinary Land, 5)

Posted on March 14, 2013 by georgelamplugh

[Now for something completely different–reflections on John 6:41-51, my contribution to a Lenten devotional booklet created by parishioners and published under the auspices of St. James’ Episcopal Church, Marietta, Georgia. Once again, we see that “adventures in interdisciplinary land” can … Continue reading →

Posted in "Lent", Episcopal Church, Retirement, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Book that Changed my Life (Adventures in Interdisciplinary Land, 4)

Posted on February 26, 2013 by georgelamplugh

[Note:  A couple of years before I retired, our energetic new high-school librarian proposed that interested faculty and staff contribute to the library’s website brief essays on books that had had a significant impact on their lives.  What follows is … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Denying the Holocaust (Adventures in Interdisciplinary Land, 3)

Posted on February 1, 2013 by georgelamplugh

[Note: In the late 1990s, a number of seniors at my school received, through the mail, “information” from a group denying the reality of the Holocaust. (For an earlier instance, go here)  One of their English teachers asked me to talk to … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Georgia History, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments