Category Archives: Southern History

History, Family, and Memory in the Jim Crow South:  Comparisons and Contrasts (Teaching Civil Rights, 8)

[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)

[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 , | 10 Comments

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

[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 )

[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 , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

[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

A Local Obituary for “King Cotton” in Georgia (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 27)

A Review of William Rawlings, A Killing on Ring Jaw Bluff: The Great Recession and the Death of Small-town Georgia.  Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2013. * * * * * [At his website, William Rawlings bills himself as an … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Books, Georgia History, History, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Skip James, “Emotional Hermit” of the Blues (Blues Stories, 27)

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 , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Chasing the Delta Blues: The Mississippi Blues Trail, Part 2 (Blues Stories, 25)

[This is the second and concluding post about the trip the Willowy Bride (AKA, the WB) and I took along the Delta portion of the Mississippi Blues Trail in May 2013.  For Part 1, go here.] * * * * … Continue reading

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, Alan Lomax, B.B. King, Big Bill Broonzy, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta Blues, History, History of Rock and Roll, Howlin' Wolf, Interdisciplinary Work, 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 , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

[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

Anatomy of a Lynching (Teaching Civil Rights, 6 )

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