Category Archives: Current Events

A Post for the Fourth of July in Georgia, 2019

Posted on July 2, 2019 by

Those of you who follow this blog know that I have a fondness for “annual” posts.  One of my favorite holidays is Independence Day, because it gives me a chance to assess how the nation’s seminal holiday has been celebrated … Continue reading →

Posted in 4th of July, American History, Current Events, History, Popular Culture, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Polishing the “Marble Man”: Reflections on Douglas Southall Freeman’s “R.E. Lee” (4 vols., 1934-1935)

Posted on April 1, 2019 by

[NOTE:  I never intended to read Douglas Southall Freeman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning four-volume biography of Robert E. Lee.  After all, in grad school one of my professors dismissed Freeman’s effort out of hand, remarking that Freeman’s Lee would have been a … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, Books, Civil War, Current Events, Historical Reflection, History, History Teaching, Research, Retirement, Shelby Foote, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

“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 , , , , , , , | 6 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