Category Archives: History

Reflecting in History’s Mirror (History Lesson Plans, 3)

Posted on January 7, 2014 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE: In a previous post, I introduced the “Lecture-Discussion” conundrum, the pedagogical approach favored by the prep school history department that had hired me. What did “Lecture-Discussion” mean, as a way to impart information to adolescents? I firmly believed, as … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Civil Rights Movement, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Work, prep school teaching with a PhD, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

B.B. King, “King of the Blues” (Blues Stories, 12)

Posted on January 1, 2014 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE:  There is a generic career arc for many twentieth-century Blues performers: a poverty-stricken background in the Jim Crow South, especially the Mississippi Delta; “escape” to the “land of opportunity” somewhere in the North or Midwest; early career success, followed … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, B.B. King, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Delta Blues, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, John Lee Hooker, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Urban Blues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Lecture-Discussion Conundrum (History Lesson Plans, 2)

Posted on December 16, 2013 by georgelamplugh

By the time I signed on to teach History at a prep school, I had spent five years learning to be a college professor; in my new job, I was expected to be a teacher. I was informed by my … Continue reading →

Posted in "Education Courses", American History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, History graduate school, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Teaching Prep School With a PhD, 2–Survival Skills

Posted on December 1, 2013 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE: In 1973, I earned a PhD in American History. Then, given the grim realities of the job market for a would-be college professor, I made a leap in the dark, signing on at a “prep school” until “something better … Continue reading →

Posted in "Education Courses", American History, Current Events, History, History graduate school, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Teaching | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

“The Thrill of the Hunt”: Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1917-2007), On History

Posted on November 15, 2013 by georgelamplugh

[Note: One of the things I tried to do while editor of the History Department Newsletter (1999-2000; 2006-2010) was to keep my colleagues informed of the passing of various noted historians. Usually, I could find an obituary in a historical … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Cold War, History, History graduate school, Research, Retirement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Mississippi John Hurt, The Yoda of the Blues (Blues Stories, 11)

Posted on November 1, 2013 by georgelamplugh

A Review of Philip R. Ratcliffe, Mississippi John Hurt: His Life, His Times, His Blues. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2011. This entry in the University Press of Mississippi’s “American Made Music” series is very interesting, for several reasons. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, Big Bill Broonzy, Civil Rights Movement, Delta Blues, History, John Lee Hooker, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Son House, Southern History, The Blues | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Teaching History “Backwards” (History Lesson Plans, 1)

Posted on October 15, 2013 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE: Sometimes teaching ideas come from odd sources. In 2007, for example, I asked the principals of our elementary, junior high, and high schools to reflect in the columns of Atlanta’s Finest Prep School’s (AFPS’s) History Department newsletter on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Books, Civil Rights Movement, History, Research, Southern History, Taylor Branch, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

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