Category Archives: Current Events

“My people, yes!”

Posted on November 15, 2018 by

A Review of: Nancy Isenberg, White Trash:  The 400-Year Old History of Class in America. New York:  Penguin Books, 2016. [NOTE:  Like J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy (2016), Nancy Isenberg’s White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, had … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Civil Rights Movement, Current Events, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Popular Culture, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Gathering”: Leadership Retreat Devotional, 1999 (Be True to Your School, 6)

Posted on September 15, 2018 by

[NOTE:  During the 1999-2000 school year, I served as Interim Chair of the History Department at Atlanta’s Finest Prep School (AFPS).  This assignment meant, among other things, that I was once again “in the administrative loop,” whether I wished to … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Current Events, Education, Historical Reflection, History Teaching, Interdisciplinary Work, memoir, Popular Culture, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Retirement, Sun Belt, Teaching, Theology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Midterm Elections, 1866, 2018: Deja Vu (Sort of)

Posted on August 15, 2018 by

[NOTE: Followers of this blog know that I usually eschew contemporary politics here, but there have been a few exceptions (for example, here and here).  And, here’s another one. First, some background.  When I was in History graduate school (1968-1973), the … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, Books, Current Events, Education, Historical Reflection, History, History graduate school, History Teaching, memoir, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

My Brother, the Writer: Act 2

Posted on May 15, 2018 by

A Review of Rick Lamplugh, Deep into Yellowstone: A Year’s Immersion in Grandeur & Controversy (2017). Available at amazon.com in both paperback and e-book formats.  Several years ago, I reviewed my younger brother Rick’s book, In the Temple of Wolves … Continue reading →

Posted in "In The Temple of Wolves", Books, Current Events, family history, Historical Reflection, memoir, Research, Retirement, Rick Lamplugh, Uncategorized, Wolves, Yellowstone National Park | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

History, Family, and Memory in the Jim Crow South:  Comparisons and Contrasts (Teaching Civil Rights, 8)

Posted on March 1, 2018 by

[NOTE:  Both during my teaching career and since I retired from the classroom, I have been fascinated by the history of the Civil Rights Movement. I decided early on that, if my students were to understand the accomplishments of the … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Current Events, family history, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Teaching, memoir, Prince Edward County Virginia, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reckoning with “The Dispossessed Majority,” 1989 (Adventures in Interdisciplinary Land, 9)

Posted on February 1, 2018 by

[NOTE:  As I’ve explained elsewhere (for example, here and here), some of my “adventures in interdisciplinary land” came in response to requests from colleagues in other disciplines asking for help in dealing with an “historical” issue.  Here is another example, … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Books, building a classroom persona, Current Events, Denying the Holocaust, Education, family history, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, History Teaching, Interdisciplinary Work, memoir, Popular Culture, Prep School, Southern History, Teaching, Theology, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Hillbillies

Posted on August 1, 2017 by

A Review of J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. New York: HarperCollins, 2016. [NOTE:  An inveterate reader of op-eds, I was well aware of this book months before I bought it. According to … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Books, Current Events, Education, family history, Historical Reflection, History, memoir, Popular Culture, The "Great Migration", Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Unflattering Views of the Georgia Legislature, 2017 and 1817

Posted on January 9, 2017 by

[Note:  Four years ago, just in time for the adjournment of the Georgia legislature, I came across a lovely description of the state’s solons from 1817.  Re-reading that post today, as the 2017 session of the legislature convenes, I realized that … Continue reading →

Posted in "Business-Speak", American History, Current Events, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, Popular Culture, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted on January 3, 2017 by

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

A “Founding Mother” on Political Partisanship—Abigail Adams to Thomas Jefferson, August 18, 1804

Posted on October 1, 2016 by

[NOTE:  As a rule, I do not post at this blog about current American politics (for an exception, go here).  I usually limit that sort of thing to my Facebook timeline, when I “say something” about an article that I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in American "republicanism", American History, American Revolution, Books, Current Events, Education, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Retirement, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments