Category Archives: Popular Culture

“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

The Story Behind “A Scrappy Fourth of July” (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 29)

Posted on July 1, 2018 by

[Note:  Last time, I regaled you with “Confessions of a Historical Pack Rat,” a light-hearted look at where I’ve gotten some of the material for posts at “Retired But Not Shy” (hereafter RBNS) over its first eight years.  As it … Continue reading →

Posted in 4th of July, American "republicanism", American History, American Revolution, Education, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, History Teaching, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Confessions of a Historical Pack Rat: “Retired But Not Shy” at Eight

Posted on June 15, 2018 by

[ Note:  One question any new blogger should—but probably doesn’t—ask is, “Will I be able to find sufficient material to keep this blog alive?”  I know that I didn’t think about this question in May 2010, when I contemplated establishing … Continue reading →

Posted in "Education Courses", "In The Temple of Wolves", 4th of July, Age of Jim Crow, American "republicanism", American History, American Revolution, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Books, Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Removal, Creek Indians, Denying the Holocaust, Dr. Martin Luther King, Education, Elias Boudinot, family history, George R. Gilmer, Georgia History, Historical Problem, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, History graduate school, History Teaching, Interdisciplinary Work, Martin Luther King, memoir, Muddy Waters, Popular Culture, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Rick Lamplugh, Scopes Trial, Skip James, Son House, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Theology, Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia", Uncategorized, Urban Blues, Vietnam War, Wilson Lumpkin, Wolves, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Georgia Visions: A Continuing Drama in at Least Six Acts, Part 1 (Adventures in Interdisciplinary Land, 10)

Posted on April 16, 2018 by

[NOTE:  On two occasions, separated by more than two decades, I was asked at my school to address visiting foreign students about the history of the state of Georgia.  In 1985, the audience was a group of students from France; … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, American Revolution, Colonial Georgia, Education, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Teaching, Interdisciplinary Work, Popular Culture, Prep School, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Howlin’ Wolf,1910-1976: His Life, His Times, His Blues (Blues Stories, 27)

Posted on April 1, 2018 by

A Review of James Segrest and Mark Hoffman, Moanin’ at Midnight:  The Life and Times of Howlin’ Wolf. New York:  Pantheon Books, 2004. Howlin’ Wolf was born Chester Arthur Burnett, June 10, 1910, near West Point, Mississippi.  (His grandfather nicknamed … Continue reading →

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, American History, Chicago Blues, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Popular Culture, Robert Johnson, Skip James, Son House, Southern History, The "Great Migration", The Blues, Uncategorized, Urban Blues, WP Long Form | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Skip James, “Emotional Hermit” of the Blues (Blues Stories, 26)

Posted on September 1, 2017 by

A Review of Stephen Calt, I’d Rather Be the Devil: Skip James + the Blues. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2008. His music was the defiant product of an emotional hermit: “I wanted it different all the way—I always have had … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Books, Delta Blues, History, History of Rock and Roll, Popular Culture, Skip James, Son House, Southern History, Stephen Calt, The Blues, Theology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 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

BETTS: A MOTHER’S MEMOIR, 1923-1964, Part VI: An Independent Woman, 1964-2013

Posted on July 15, 2017 by

[For earlier posts in this series, see Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V.] Betts’ work as family historian and memoirist ended in 1995, with the completion of her memoir, which carried the story of her life … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, memoir, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , | 5 Comments