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December 17, 2010

Give My Poor Heart Ease now available as enhanced E-book!

Here’s something that would give anyone’s poor heart ease: William Ferris’ Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues is available through Amazon in an enhanced Kindle Edition at a great price. This enhanced edition is an ideal way to enjoy a work that draws heavily from archival video and audio recordings. Listen, watch, and read from the… Continue Reading Give My Poor Heart Ease now available as enhanced E-book!

Categories African American Studies/folklore/Music/UNC Press Authors
November 29, 2010

Philip Rubio hits the airwaves to talk snail mail and the effects of postal cuts on African American postal workers

The U.S. Postal Service faces an $8.5 million budget shortfall this year. NPR is broadcasting a series of stories about cuts in postal services and facilities and the lives and communities already being affected. One person with great insight into the social history of the USPS is Philip Rubio, author of There’s Always Work at the Post Office: African American… Continue Reading Philip Rubio hits the airwaves to talk snail mail and the effects of postal cuts on African American postal workers

Categories African American History/African American Studies/Civil Rights/History/Labor Studies/Podcasts/Public Policy/UNC Press Authors
November 19, 2010

Celebrate Pauli Murray this Sunday in Durham

Hello all and happy weekend! Before we head off into the literal and very beautiful fall sunset today, we want to remind you about Pauli Murray’s 100th birthday celebration on Sunday.  We do hope you’ll attend, or click around the interwebs in her honor if you can’t be there in person. This Sunday, from 3 to 5, there will be… Continue Reading Celebrate Pauli Murray this Sunday in Durham

Categories African American History/African American Studies/Events/UNC Press News
November 2, 2010

Let the Month of Murray Begin

A couple years ago some colorful and inspiring murals started popping up in Durham, NC, where I live. On Foster Street, down by the YMCA and the Farmers’ Market. On Chapel Hill Street, on the side of the Durham Food Co-op building. Three more within a stone’s throw of each other on Chapel Hill Road, along the exterior walls of… Continue Reading Let the Month of Murray Begin

Categories African American Studies/Civil Rights/Gay / Lesbian Studies/UNC Press News
October 27, 2010

Interview: Graham Russell Gao Hodges

David Ruggles (1810-1849) was one of the most heroic–and has been one of the most often overlooked–figures of the early abolitionist movement in America. Graham Russell Gao Hodges provides the first biography of this African American activist, writer, and publisher who secured liberty for more than six hundred former bond people, including Frederick Douglass. Hodges’s portrait of Ruggles establishes the… Continue Reading Interview: Graham Russell Gao Hodges

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Biography / Autobiography/Civil War/History/Interviews/UNC Press Authors
October 5, 2010

Susan Reverby Uncovers History of U.S. Medical Testing on Guatemalans

You’ve probably already heard: last Friday President Obama called President Alvaro Colom of Guatemala to apologize for a public health outrage committed 64 years ago.  In 1946, American doctors, with the support of the Public Health Service, conducted experiments on prisoners, the insane, soldiers, and prostitutes, who were initially used to infect the prisoners. Though the institutions and governments involved… Continue Reading Susan Reverby Uncovers History of U.S. Medical Testing on Guatemalans

Categories African American Studies/American History/Ethics/Health / Medicine/History/Latin American/Caribbean Hist./Science/UNC Press Authors
September 28, 2010

A Womanist Reading of “Service: Panel 8—Dr. King and Ralph Abernathy” or “Anna Julia Cooper and Willa Player”

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicts a gathering of African-American leaders at the counter of a diner, painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We are featuring each of the eight panels in a series, highlighting… Continue Reading A Womanist Reading of “Service: Panel 8—Dr. King and Ralph Abernathy” or “Anna Julia Cooper and Willa Player”

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Art / Architecture/Biography / Autobiography/Civil Rights/folklore/Guest Bloggers/History/North Carolina/Southern Studies/Women's Studies
September 23, 2010

Chad Williams takes the page 99 test

Hot off the press this month is a new book by Chad L. Williams, Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era. In the book, Williams reveals the central role of African American soldiers in World War I and how they, along with race activists and ordinary citizens alike, committed to fighting for democracy at home… Continue Reading Chad Williams takes the page 99 test

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/History/Military Studies
September 21, 2010

The Story of Service, Part 7: Somerset Place Plantation

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicts a gathering of African-American leaders at the counter of a diner, painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We are featuring each of the eight panels in a series, highlighting… Continue Reading The Story of Service, Part 7: Somerset Place Plantation

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/North Carolina/UNC Press News
September 14, 2010

The Story of Service, Part 6: The US Colored Regiment

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicts a gathering of African-American leaders at the counter of a diner, painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We are featuring each of the eight panels in a series, highlighting… Continue Reading The Story of Service, Part 6: The US Colored Regiment

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Civil Rights/Civil War/Military History/North Carolina/Religion/Southern Studies/Women's Studies
September 8, 2010

Award winners: Blair Kelley, Amy Wood, Charles Eagles

We’re delighted to share lots of good news today. The 2010 Lillian Smith Book Award has been awarded to two UNC Press books this year: Amy Louise Wood’s Lynching and Spectacle: Witnessing Racial Violence in America and Charles W. Eagles’s The Price of Defiance: James Meredith and the Integration of Old Miss. The prize, presented by the Southern Regional Council,… Continue Reading Award winners: Blair Kelley, Amy Wood, Charles Eagles

Categories African American Studies/American History/Blair L. M. Kelley/Southern Studies/UNC Press Authors/Women's Studies
September 7, 2010

The Story of Service, Part 5: NC School Desegregation

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicting a gathering of African American leaders at the counter of a diner was painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We will be featuring each of the eight panels in… Continue Reading The Story of Service, Part 5: NC School Desegregation

Categories African American Studies/American History/Civil Rights/North Carolina
August 31, 2010

The Story of Service, Part 4: Black Wall Street

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicts a gathering of African-American leaders at the counter of a diner, painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We will be featuring each of the eight panels in a series,… Continue Reading The Story of Service, Part 4: Black Wall Street

Categories African American History/African American Studies/Author blog entry/Civil Rights/Guest Bloggers/North Carolina/Southern Studies
August 30, 2010

“Mama Dip is a blessing.”

That’s what employee–and prison inmate–Paul Scott says. Scott is one of the many inmates who have worked their way through Mama Dip’s Kitchen through a work-release program as they prepare to re-enter society upon completing prison sentences in Orange and Durham counties. We’ve written before about Mildred “Mama Dip” Council, who is a Chapel Hill institution in her own right,… Continue Reading “Mama Dip is a blessing.”

Categories African American Studies/Cooking / Food/North Carolina/UNC Press Authors
August 17, 2010

UNC Press takes a field trip to see SERVICE

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural, depicting a gathering of African-American leaders at the counter of a diner, was painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina, sit-in. We will be featuring each of the eight panels in a… Continue Reading UNC Press takes a field trip to see SERVICE

Categories African American History/African American Studies/Art / Architecture/Cultural Studies/North Carolina/Southern Studies/UNC Press News
August 10, 2010

The Story of SERVICE, Part 2

On July 26, a mural entitled SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicting a gathering of African-American figures from throughout North Carolina’s history seated at the counter of a diner was painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historic 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We’ll be posting about a… Continue Reading The Story of SERVICE, Part 2

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Biography / Autobiography/Civil Rights/North Carolina/Women's Studies
August 3, 2010

The Story of SERVICE, Part 1

A mural painted by Colin Quashie is on display at the Knapp-Sanders Building on UNC’s campus and was officially dedicated in a ceremony on July 26. The mural, called SERVICE, shows a gathering of influential African Americans from throughout North Carolina’s history at the counter of a diner. From the School of Government’s website: A creative interpretation of the Greensboro,… Continue Reading The Story of SERVICE, Part 1

Categories African American History/African American Studies/North Carolina/UNC Press News
August 2, 2010

“We Are Standing on Beautiful History”

Today we welcome a guest post from Tiya Miles, author of The House on Diamond Hill: A Cherokee Plantation Story. Last weekend she attended a gathering to celebrate the historic plantation home and held a signing event for her new book. Over the course of her day, past and present were juxtaposed in an experience that truly gave life to… Continue Reading “We Are Standing on Beautiful History”

Categories African American Studies/American History/Genealogy/Guest Bloggers/Native Amer./Indigenous Studies/Religion/Southern Studies/UNC Press Authors