The idea for this blog came about rather inauspiciously. We were in Dallas for a conference about the American South when, walking around the dimly-lit book hall between sessions, and fuelled by the mixture of exhaustion and euphoria that a good conference engenders, we made plans. Unlike most of the grand plans concocted then—and since—this idea stuck. As we planned that day in Dallas, we … Continue reading Welcome to ANZASA Online
By Dr. Zachary J. Violette Sometimes important historical evidence — evidence that can allow us to question dominant narratives — can be hidden in plain sight. It can even be part of our daily lives, so common that it easily escapes our grasp. But it is the fundamental premise of vernacular architecture studies that the built environment encodes meaning for their builders and occupants … Continue reading The Decorated Tenement: Reflections on Looking and Seeing
By Michael A. McDonnell In his best-selling book, 1776, David McCullough introduced readers to John Greenwood, a patriot fifer who served in Washington’s campaign of 1776. McCullough reported that when the sixteen-year old heard news of the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord, he “set off on foot with little more than the clothes on his back” and walked 150 miles to join the patriot forces. … Continue reading Founding Stories
By Dr Hannah Murray In April, Ancestry.ca broadcast an advert encouraging Canadians to research their family history. The advert, ‘Inseparable’, set in the antebellum South, features a young Black woman and white man in a clandestine meeting; hoping to escape to the free North, the man implores “there’s a place where we can be together across the border. Will you leave with me?” This brief … Continue reading Sympathy over Structure in ‘The Garies and Their Friends’
By Dr Prudence Flowers In the first quarter of 2019, 28 state legislatures introduced an abortion ban. To date, 9 states have passed laws dramatically limiting when abortion can occur.[1] States such as Alabama banned abortion from the moment of conception, while Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, and Louisiana banned abortion from 6-8 weeks gestation (when a fetal heartbeat can first be detected).[2] These bills … Continue reading The Republican Party, the Supreme Court, and Competing Anti-Abortion Strategies
By Dr Liz Covart [This piece was originally published in September 2016.] Podcasting is a lot of work. Each episode of Ben Franklin’s World represents somewhere between 40 and 60 hours of work. That work includes researching a guest, scheduling an interview, preparing for the interview, conducting the interview, editing the episode, drafting and recording intros and outros, drafting and posting show notes, creating custom graphics, and … Continue reading How to Start a Podcast
Sam Watts interviewed historian and long-time friend of ANZASA, W. Fitzhugh Brundage about his latest book, Civilizing Torture: An American Tradition (Harvard University Press, 2018) in May 2019. W. Fitzhugh Brundage is the William B. Umstead Professor of History at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has also published widely on Civil War and Reconstruction memory, lynching and nineteenth century socialist utopianism in the … Continue reading Q&A: W. Fitzhugh Brundage
By Dr Prudence Flowers On 15 May 2019, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed into law a measure that bans all abortions from the moment of conception, except in cases where there is a “serious health” risk to the pregnant person. Doctors who perform abortions could be charged with a felony and face a potential 99-year prison sentence. Alabama now has the dubious distinction of having … Continue reading A Movement Divided? Incrementalists, Absolutists, and Anti-Abortion Strategy
By Assistant Professor Traci Parker Several years ago, I walked into Bloomingdale’s, an upscale department store on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, to browse the women’s designer shoes (which needless to say, I could not afford). I was pleased to see a number of African American sales workers in the shoe department, assisting women shoppers from different races and backgrounds. At that time, I was consumed with … Continue reading Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement: Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights from the 1930s to the 1980s
Beth English is the host and producer of Working History, the podcast of the Southern Labor Studies Association. She is the director of the Liechtenstein Institute’s Project on Gender in the Global Community. She is a lecturer in the Princeton Writing Program, and is also an instructor with Princeton University’s Prison Teaching Initiative. She received her Ph.D. from the College of William and Mary, where she was a Glucksman … Continue reading Q&A: Working History
By Dr Felicity Turner In May, 1858 the Justice of the Peace in Haywood County, North Carolina indicted a local white women, Caroline Morrow, for infanticide. The local Coroner, who instructed the Justice to indict, heard from a range of witnesses—all white, in this instance—before reaching a decision in Caroline Morrow’s case. These witnesses included local farmers; Caroline’s sister, Sarah; a number of local women; … Continue reading On the Scent of Blood: The Senses as Historical Evidence
