Category Archives: Southern (Georgia) History

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

Georgia’s Yazoo Land Fraud and the American Constitution (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 30)

Posted on March 1, 2019 by

A Review of Charles F. Hobson, The Great Yazoo Land Sale: The Case of Fletcher v. Peck.  Lawrence, Kansas:  University Press of Kansas, 2016. [NOTE:  I’ve been studying the history of Georgia for more than half a century, trying to … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Books, Chief Justice John Marshall, Dr. Charles F. Hobson, George M. Troup, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History graduate school, History Teaching, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read, Yazoo Land Fraud | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Road to Jim Crow, 1875-1900, Part 2 (Teaching Civil Rights, 10)

Posted on September 28, 2018 by

[Note:  In the previous post in this series, we looked at the short-term consequences of the acceptance, by white southerners, and many northerners, of the so-called “New South Creed,” which offered a prettified picture of the “Old South” and a … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Historical Reflection, History, Research, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Draining the Creeks (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 28)

Posted on June 1, 2018 by

A Review of William W. Winn, The Triumph of the Ecunnau-Nuxulgee:  Land Speculators, George M. Troup, State Rights, and the Removal of the Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama, 1825-38.  Macon, Ga.:  Mercer University Press, 2015. [Note:  As an historian … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Books, Creek Indians, Education, George M. Troup, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Teaching, Research, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Georgia Visions: A Continuing Drama in at Least Six Acts, Part 2 (Adventures in Interdisciplinary Land, 10)

Posted on May 1, 2018 by

[NOTE:  This is the concluding part of a post derived from a talk I presented, on two occasions, to foreign students visiting my school, on the history of the state of Georgia. For Part I, go here.] * * * … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Georgia History, Henry Grady, Historical Reflection, History, History Teaching, Interdisciplinary Work, Martin Luther King, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Sun Belt, Teaching, Tom Watson, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 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

Georgia’s Notorious Yazoo Land Fraud and Its Consequences, Part 2 (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 27)

Posted on January 1, 2018 by

[Note: The first post in this series discussed the Yazoo land fraud and its consequences between 1795 and 1815 or so.  This part carries the story through the late 1830s, when Georgia, strongly supported by President Andrew Jackson, finally realized … Continue reading →

Posted in "Cherokee Phoenix" (newspaper), American History, Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Removal, Chief John Ross (Cherokees), Creek Indians, George M. Troup, George R. Gilmer, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, John Clark, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Uncategorized, William Harris Crawford, Wilson Lumpkin, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Georgia’s Notorious Yazoo Land Fraud and Its Consequences, Part 1 (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 27 )

Posted on December 1, 2017 by

[NOTE: The Yazoo land fraud was the key issue in my doctoral dissertation (and the book that grew out of it), which treated the evolution of political parties in Georgia between the American Revolution and 1806.  And yet, the Yazoo … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, George M. Troup, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, James Gunn, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Uncategorized, William Harris Crawford, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

They don’t call me “Dr. Excitement” for nothin’, you know! (Be True to Your School, 5)

Posted on November 15, 2017 by

[Note:  In a previous post in this series, I discussed how certain personal eccentricities helped me construct a “classroom persona,” one “Dr.,” beard, polyester suit, and awful pun at a time.  In this entry, I’d like to offer a few … Continue reading →

Posted in "The Race Beat", Age of Jim Crow, American History, Civil Rights Movement, Civil War, Cold War, Dr. Martin Luther King, Elias Boudinot, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Work, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments