Tag Archives: WP Longform

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

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

Howlin’ Wolf,1910-1976: His Life, His Times, His Blues (Blues Stories, 28)

A Review of James Segrest and Mark Hoffman, Moanin’  at Midnight:  The Life and Times of Howlin’ Wolf. New York:  Pantheon Books, 2004. Howlin’ Wolf was born Chester Arthur Burnett, June 10, 1910, near West Point, Mississippi.  (His grandfather nicknamed … Continue reading

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, American History, Chicago Blues, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Popular Culture, Robert Johnson, Skip James, Son House, Southern History, The "Great Migration", The Blues, Uncategorized, Urban Blues, WP Long Form | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Tale of Three Books

[Note: At this point in my career, I have published three books, two of which came out this summer.  I figured that at least a few of my faithful readers might be interested in where the ideas for those volumes came from.] * * … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Books, Education, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History graduate school, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

B.B. King, “King of the Blues” (Blues Stories, 12)

[NOTE:  There is a generic career arc for many twentieth-century Blues performers: a poverty-stricken background in the Jim Crow South, especially the Mississippi Delta; “escape” to the “land of opportunity” somewhere in the North or Midwest; early career success, followed … Continue reading

Posted in American History, B.B. King, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Delta Blues, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, John Lee Hooker, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Urban Blues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Teaching Prep School With a PhD, 2–Survival Skills

[NOTE: In 1973, I earned a PhD in American History. Then, given the grim realities of the job market for a would-be college professor, I made a leap in the dark, signing on at a “prep school” until “something better … Continue reading

Posted in "Education Courses", American History, Current Events, History, History graduate school, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Teaching | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Big Bill Broonzy–The Blues Man as Pragmatist (Blues Stories, 9)

A Review of Robert Riesman, I Feel So Good:  The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy.  Chicago and London:  The University of Chicago Press, 2011. [NOTE:  2011 was a very good year for Blues biographies:  three reputable university presses … Continue reading

Posted in Alan Lomax, Big Bill Broonzy, Books, Chicago Blues, Delta Blues, History, Muddy Waters, Research, Retirement, Southern History, The Blues | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Never Get Out of These Blues Alive”–John Lee Hooker (1917-2001) [Blues Stories, 8]

John Lee Hooker was a true survivor. A native of the Mississippi Delta, he fled that region’s endless toil and painful, humiliating racism during the Great Depression, eventually settling in 1943 in Detroit, which remained his base until the early … Continue reading

Posted in Delta Blues, History, John Lee Hooker, Research, Retirement, Southern History, The Blues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Getting Right With Spielberg’s “Lincoln”

I have never liked the “docudrama,” whether on television or in films–“too much ‘drama,’ not enough ‘docu,’” the historian in me grumped. And yet, without question the modern master of the epic “docudrama”/message movie is Steven Spielberg (“Amistad,” “Saving Private … Continue reading

Posted in "Lincoln"--the movie, Civil War, History, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments