Category Archives: WP Long Read

Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Guitar Guru (Blues Stories, 20)

A Review of Ian Zack, Say No to the Devil: The Life and Musical Genius of Rev. Gary Davis.  The University of Chicago Press, 2015. “I done come this far, I don’t find no fault, well I feel just like … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, Alan Lomax, American History, Books, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Piedmont Blues, Research, Retirement, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, WP Long Form, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bubba’s Baedeker: A History Book as Travel Guide to the “Redneck Riviera”

A Review of Harvey H. Jackson III, The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera:  An Insider’s History of the Florida-Alabama Coast  (Athens, Ga., University of Georgia Press, 2012) [NOTE: I first read Hardy Jackson’s book in 2012, and it stirred in me … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Books, Current Events, Historical Reflection, History, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Southern History, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Anti-Slave Trade Movement in Middle Georgia, 1816-1826? (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 21 )

[Note:  Historical research is not always cut and dried.  For example, in investigating Georgia politics after the War of 1812, I came upon a movement mounted in Middle Georgia against certain aspects of the legal domestic slave trade, targeting  traders who … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Education, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Meanings of “Liberty” During the American Revolution (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 19 )

[NOTE:  During the years of the American Revolutionary Bicentennial, when I had just begun to teach at Atlanta’s Finest Prep School (AFPS), I found myself in demand as a speaker, to a modest degree anyhow.  My dissertation had included a … Continue reading

Posted in American History, American Revolution, Colonial Georgia, Education, 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 , , , , , | 2 Comments

American Republicanism, Part IV: The Republic between a Rock and a Hard Place, 1801-1815 (History Lesson Plans, 11)

[This is the final post in the series on the early history of American “republicanism.”  (For earlier posts see here, here, and here.)] * * * * * During the tumultuous presidential election campaign of 1800, fearful Federalists predicted that victory … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Education, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Work, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Scrappy Fourth of July! (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 18)

[NOTE: John Adams predicted that the colonial declaration of independence in the summer of 1776 “would be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. . . . It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parades, with Shews … Continue reading

Posted in 4th of July, American History, Education, George M. Troup, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, James Gunn, John Clark, John Cuthbert, Nullification, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Early Blues Divas (Blues Stories, 19)

[NOTE:  A different take on an earlier post, “20th –Century Blues Women,” this time emphasizing the decade of the 1920s.] * * * * * 2003 was designated by Congress as “The Year of the Blues” to commemorate W.C. Handy’s first encounter with that music, … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thornton, Blues Women, Books, Chicago Blues, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Ma Rainey, Mamie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Memphis Minnie, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Sippie Wallace and Bonnie Raitt, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized, WP Long Form, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

American Republicanism, III: Battle for the Soul of the Republic, 1789-1800 (History Lesson Plan, 10)

[NOTE:  This is the penultimate post in the series on the history of Early American Republicanism.  For earlier posts, go here and here.]   * * * * * Whether the new government created by the Constitution of 1787 was … Continue reading

Posted in American "republicanism", American History, Constitution of 1787, Education, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Research, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Form, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

American Republicanism, Part I—The Blueprint (History Lesson Plans, 8)

[NOTE: For a number of years, we had at my school a year-long elective course for seniors that combined elements of American history, American literature, and social outreach. In its last incarnation, this interdisciplinary offering was called “The School for … Continue reading

Posted in American "republicanism", American History, American Revolution, Education, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Work, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Read One for the Gipper

A Review of James H. Broussard, Ronald Reagan:  Champion of Conservative America. New York and London:  Routledge, 2015. [NOTE: One of the joys—and curses—of being a professional historian is the lure of “revisionism.”  That’s when, every generation or so, the … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Books, Cold War, Current Events, Education, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Popular Culture, Prep School, Research, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment