Category Archives: Age of Jim Crow

On the Trail of Blind Willie McTell (Blues Stories, 24)

A Review of:                      Michael Gray, Hand Me My Travelin’ Shoes:  In Search of Blind Willie McTell.  Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2009.   [NOTE:  For a  new project, I’ve decided to revisit a number of works on the Blues and the men and … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Blind Willie McTell, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History of Rock and Roll, Piedmont Blues, Popular Culture, Research, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, Urban Blues, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Doomed Fight for Justice in the Jim Crow South (Teaching Civil Rights, 7)

A Review of Joseph Madison Beck, My Father & Atticus Finch:  A Lawyer’s Fight for Justice in 1930s Alabama.  New York:  W.W. Norton & Company, 2016. As the title suggests, this book begins with the notion that the story of … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Education, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Post for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, 2017

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has long been one of my  heroes, beginning when I was a youngster growing up in an industrial suburb of Baltimore in the 1950s.  In the 1960s, when I decided that I wanted to teach … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Civil Rights Movement, Current Events, Dr. Martin Luther King, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Popular Culture, Prep School, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

“Massive Resistance” at Ground Level: The Case of Prince Edward County, Virginia (Teaching Civil Rights, 5)

A Review of Kristen Green, Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County: A Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle (Harper, 2015) [NOTE:  One of the great joys of my last few years in the classroom was the … Continue reading

Posted in "The Race Beat", Age of Jim Crow, American History, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Education, Elective History Course for 9th and 10th Graders, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Martin Luther King, Popular Culture, Prep School, Prince Edward County Virginia, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blues Masters from the Delta (Blues Stories, 21)

 A Review of Ted Gioia, Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008. [NOTE: Once upon a time,  I hoped to write a book on the origins … Continue reading

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, Alan Lomax, American History, B.B. King, Bessie Smith, Books, Chicago Blues, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta Blues, History, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Popular Culture, Retirement, Robert Johnson, Son House, Southern History, The "Great Migration", The Blues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Growing Up White in the Jim Crow South: Two Perspectives from Georgia (Teaching Civil Rights, 3)

A Review of: Hamilton Jordan, A Boy from Georgia: Coming of Age in the Segregated South (edited by Kathleen Jordan). Athens, Ga., and London:  The University of Georgia Press, 2015.                                             Jim Auchmutey, The Class of ’65: A Student, A … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Current Events, Dr. Martin Luther King, Education, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Popular Culture, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Post for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, 2016

The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., has long been one of my personal heroes, beginning when I was a youngster growing up in an industrial suburb of Baltimore, Maryland.  Later, after I decided that I wanted to teach History, I … Continue reading

Posted in "The Race Beat", Age of Jim Crow, American History, Civil Rights Movement, Current Events, Dr. Martin Luther King, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, Martin Luther King, Popular Culture, Southern History, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The “Great Migration”: Two Views (Teaching Civil Rights, 2)

A Review of: Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America (1991); and Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration (2010) [Note:  I’ve been thinking a lot … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Education, History, History Curriculum, Southern History, Teaching, The "Great Migration", Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Alive and Still Bloggin’: “Retired But Not Shy” at Five

A little over a year ago, I posted an account of the evolution of this blog as it reached its fourth birthday. It’s now time to provide an update, a few months after the fifth anniversary of “Retired But Not Shy,” and the appearance … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American "republicanism", American Revolution, Books, Cherokee Indians, Civil Rights Movement, George R. Gilmer, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, History graduate school, Martin Luther King, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Newark (Del.) High School Class of 1962, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Rick Lamplugh, Ronald Reagan, Son House, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized, Wilson Lumpkin, Wolves | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Guitar Guru (Blues Stories, 20)

A Review of Ian Zack, Say No to the Devil: The Life and Musical Genius of Rev. Gary Davis.  The University of Chicago Press, 2015. “I done come this far, I don’t find no fault, well I feel just like … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, Alan Lomax, American History, Books, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Piedmont Blues, Research, Retirement, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, WP Long Form, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment