Category Archives: Research

Chasing the Delta Blues: The Mississippi Blues Trail, Part 1 (Blues Stories, 25)

Posted on May 1, 2017 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE:  Anyone who has perused the “Blues Stories” page of this blog will know that, of all the stopping places available to  fans interested in “Blues Geography,” my favorite location is the Mississippi Delta, generally regarded as the “birthplace of the … Continue reading →

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, B.B. King, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta Blues, History, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Robert Johnson, Son House, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

BETTS: A MOTHER’S MEMOIR, 1923-1964, Part III: A Depression-Era Childhood

Posted on April 15, 2017 by georgelamplugh

[Note:  This installment of Betts’ story is drawn from her memoir, “Slub of Slife.”  Parts I and II .] * * * * * We had no bathroom in the house [in Wilmington, Delaware], so we had an “outhouse” (enclosed “piddle palace”), … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Civil War, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, memoir, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Anatomy of a Lynching (Teaching Civil Rights, 6 )

Posted on April 1, 2017 by georgelamplugh

A Review of: Karen Branan.  The Family Tree:  A Lynching in Georgia, A Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth.  New York and other cities:  Atria Books, 2016. [NOTE:  Here we are again, at yet another review of … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Books, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

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

Posted on March 1, 2017 by georgelamplugh

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

BETTS: A MOTHER’S MEMOIR, 1923-1964, Part I: Late-Blooming Historian

Posted on February 15, 2017 by georgelamplugh

  [NOTE:  This is the first in a series of posts drawing on a family history and a memoir compiled by my mother, Elsie Elizabeth Knighton Lamplugh (1923-2013). Mom, known as “Betts,” lavished upon her kids what we would later describe … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, memoir, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

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

Posted on January 3, 2017 by georgelamplugh

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

Willie “61” Blackwell, A Blues Performer Without a Wikipedia Entry, 1905-c.1972 (Blues Stories, 23)

Posted on November 15, 2016 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE:  I suppose “obscurity” is a relative concept.  Before the modern era, one would actually have had to “research” a person in various “hard copy” sources, before lamenting his or her “obscurity.” In more recent years, however, with the Internet in general, … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Delta Blues, Historical Reflection, History, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, Willie '61' Blackwell | Tagged , | 4 Comments

The Long Arm of Jim Crow Justice (Teaching Civil Rights, 4)

Posted on November 1, 2016 by georgelamplugh

 A Review of Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy:  A Story of Justice and Redemption. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2014.   [NOTE:   As I’ve mentioned before, when I took over a course on the Modern American Civil Rights Movement a number of … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Books, Civil Rights Movement, History, History Curriculum, Research, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Form, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

“Teaching 21st-Century Students”: A Reflection (Be True to Your School, 3)

Posted on September 1, 2016 by georgelamplugh

[Note:  I’ve spent my career studying, teaching, and reflecting on History, and, whenever those above me in the administrative food chain asked my opinion on some academic topic, I was not behindhand in responding. Here’s an example:  as a follow-up to our opening faculty … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Elective History Course for 9th and 10th Graders, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Who Was A Citizen?” Historical Problem, 8: A Solution

Posted on August 15, 2016 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE:  This is the final installment in the long-running “historical problem” aimed at identifying the author of Cursory Remarks on Men and Measures in Georgia, by “A Citizen,” which was published in Savannah in 1784. “A Citizen” first appeared on the … Continue reading →

Posted in American Revolution, Georgia History, Historical Problem, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Form, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment