Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Voice of the Urban Blues–Bobby “Blue” Bland,1930-2013 (Blues Stories, 13)

A Review of Charles Farley, Soul of the Man: Bobby “Blue” Bland. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2011. Throughout his long career, Bobby Bland was introduced as “the world’s greatest blues singer,” and, according to biographer Charles Farley, this was … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, B.B. King, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Civil Rights Movement, Delta Blues, History, Research, Retirement, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, Urban Blues | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

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

[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

2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,500 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

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

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

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

[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

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

[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

Electric Mud–The Life and Music of Muddy Waters,1915-1983 (Blues Stories, 7)

Muddy Waters (April 14, 1915-April 30, 1983) was born McKinley A. Morganfield in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. His family moved farther north, to the Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, when he was about three, and it was there that he eventually taught … Continue reading

Posted in Alan Lomax, Chicago Blues, Delta Blues, Muddy Waters, The Blues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Georgia and the Federal Constitution, Part II (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 11)

[NOTE: In part one, we saw that Georgia played a small, but still significant, part in the creation of the Federal Constitution of 1787, especially in the role of the state’s delegation in helping to establish the famous “Connecticut Compromise,” … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Constitution of 1787, Georgia History, History, Philadelphia Convention (1787), Research, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Georgia and the Federal Constitution, Part I (In Pursuit of Dead Georgian, 10)

[Note: Part I of a talk delivered during the celebration of the Bicentennial of the Federal Constitution, at the quarterly meeting of Historic Jonesboro/Clayton County (Ga.). I did not think that, as a high school teacher, I would ever be … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Constitution of 1787, Georgia History, History, Philadelphia Convention (1787), Research, Southern History, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Race–and History–Matter

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past” (William Faulkner) [NOTE:  Perhaps it’s because I live in the South; or maybe it’s because February was Black History Month; or I suppose it could be because the Republican Party is … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Constitution of 1787, Current Events, Georgia History, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Nullification, Philadelphia Convention (1787), Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments