Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Year of “Betts”: “Retired But Not Shy” at Seven

Posted on July 1, 2017 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE:  I launched “Retired But Not Shy” in June 2010, a couple of weeks after hanging up my whiteboard following a long career teaching History at an Atlanta prep school.  At that time, I had what I thought was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

BETTS: A MOTHER’S MEMOIR, 1923-1964, Part V: Trying to Make It in Postwar America

Posted on June 15, 2017 by georgelamplugh

[Note:  This segment of Betts’ memoir carries her family’s story from the late 1940s through the mid-1960s.  For earlier installments, go here, here, here, and here.] * * * * * Shortly after our second son, Rick, was born, on November … Continue reading →

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

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

Posted on June 1, 2017 by georgelamplugh

[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

BETTS: A MOTHER’S MEMOIR, 1923-1964, Part IV: World War II

Posted on May 15, 2017 by georgelamplugh

[Note:  This installment of Betts’ memoir takes her from the 1930s through the Second World War. (For previous posts, go here, here, and here.)] * * * * * I spent a lot of summer vacations with my grandfather and grandmother [Dobson] … Continue reading →

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

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

BETTS: A MOTHER’S MEMOIR, 1923-1964, Part II: Grandparents, Parents, and Siblings

Posted on March 15, 2017 by georgelamplugh

[Note:  This is the second in a series of posts based on a family history and a memoir  written by my mother, Betts Lamplugh. (For Part I, go here.) This installment is taken mostly from her “Dobson-Knighton Family History,” supplemented with some … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, memoir, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , | 2 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