Category: Guest Bloggers

Nina Silber: ‘Slavery’ in Depression Era America

Today we welcome a guest post from Nina Silber, author of This War Ain’t Over:  Fighting the Civil War in New Deal America, just published by UNC Press. The New Deal era witnessed a surprising surge in popular engagement with the history and memory of the Civil War era. From the omnipresent book and film Gone with the Wind and… Continue Reading Nina Silber: ‘Slavery’ in Depression Era America

Bruce B. Lawrence: Celebrating the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks Book Series at UNC Press

Today we welcome a guest post from Bruce B. Lawrence, who is co editor, with Carl W. Ernst, of the Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks series at UNC Press.  This year marks the Fifteenth Anniversary of the series.  You can find out more about the series and its books here. ### Celebrating the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Islamic Civilization and… Continue Reading Bruce B. Lawrence: Celebrating the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks Book Series at UNC Press

Scott L. Matthews: The Most Documented Region

Today we welcome a guest post from Scott L. Matthews, author of Capturing the South:  Imagining America’s Most Documented Region, just published by UNC Press. In this expansive history of documentary work in the South during the twentieth-century, Matthews examines the motivations and methodologies of several pivotal documentarians, including sociologist Howard Odum, photographers Jack Delano and Danny Lyon, and music… Continue Reading Scott L. Matthews: The Most Documented Region

Max Felker-Kantor: Police Power, Race, and Reform in Urban America: Lessons from L.A.

Today we welcome a guest post from Max Felker-Kantor, author of Policing Los Angeles:  Race, Resistance, and the Rise of the LAPD, just published by UNC Press. Felker-Kantor narrates the dynamic history of policing, anti-police abuse movements, race, and politics in Los Angeles from the 1965 Watts uprising to the 1992 Los Angeles rebellion. Using the explosions of two large-scale… Continue Reading Max Felker-Kantor: Police Power, Race, and Reform in Urban America: Lessons from L.A.

Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow: Black Holes in Ancient Space

Today, we welcome a guest post from Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow, author of The Archaeology of Sanitation in Roman Italy: Toilets, Sewers, and Water Systems just published in paperback by UNC Press. The Romans developed sophisticated systems of urban infrastructure, including aqueducts for moving water from one place to another, sewers for removing dirty water from baths and for runoff from walkways… Continue Reading Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow: Black Holes in Ancient Space

Lynn Dumenil: Remembering American Women in World War I

This Sunday, November 11th, will be the 100th Anniversary of Armistice Day, and we welcome a guest post from Lynn Dumenil, author of The Second Line of Defense:  American Women and World War I, soon to be published in paperback by UNC Press. In tracing the rise of the modern idea of the American “new woman,” Dumenil examines World War… Continue Reading Lynn Dumenil: Remembering American Women in World War I

Mary-Elizabeth B. Murphy: In Politics to Stay

Today is Election Day, and we welcome a guest post from Mary-Elizabeth B. Murphy, author of Jim Crow Capital:  Women and Black Freedom Struggles in Washington, D.C., 1920–1945, just published by UNC Press. In her new book, Murphy tells the story of how African American women in D.C. transformed civil rights politics in their freedom struggles between 1920 and 1945. Even… Continue Reading Mary-Elizabeth B. Murphy: In Politics to Stay

Benjamin T. Smith: Fake News, Chinese Boxes, and the Mexican Art of Manipulating the Press

Today we welcome a guest post from Benjamin T. Smith, author of The Mexican Press and Civil Society, 1940–1976:  Stories from the Newsroom, Stories from the Street, just published by UNC Press. Mexico today is one of the most dangerous places in the world to report the news, and Mexicans have taken to the street to defend freedom of expression.… Continue Reading Benjamin T. Smith: Fake News, Chinese Boxes, and the Mexican Art of Manipulating the Press

Georgann Eubanks: The Imperfect Persimmon

Today we welcome a guest post by Georgann Eubanks, author of The Month of Their Ripening:  North Carolina Heritage Foods through the Year, published this fall by UNC Press. Telling the stories of twelve North Carolina heritage foods, each matched to the month of its peak readiness for eating, The Month of Their Ripening takes readers on a flavorful journey… Continue Reading Georgann Eubanks: The Imperfect Persimmon

Osha Gray Davidson: “The Best of Enemies,” The Film

Today we’re delighted to share a guest post from Osha Gray Davidson, author of The Best of Enemies:  Race and Redemption in the New South. The book is a page-turning account of the unlikely friendship between Ann Atwater, an African American activist in Durham, North Carolina, and C. P. Ellis, a local member of the Ku Klux Klan. Osha’s book… Continue Reading Osha Gray Davidson: “The Best of Enemies,” The Film

Anne Balay: A Trucker’s “Me Too”

Today we welcome a guest post from Anne Balay, author of Semi Queer:  Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers, just published by UNC Press. Long-haul trucking is linked to almost every industry in America, yet somehow the working-class drivers behind big rigs remain largely hidden from public view. Gritty, inspiring, and often devastating oral histories of… Continue Reading Anne Balay: A Trucker’s “Me Too”

William Glenn Robertson: Seeing the Ground

Today we welcome a guest post from William Glenn Robertson, author of River of Death–The Chickamauga Campaign:  Volume 1: The Fall of Chattanooga, just published by UNC Press. The Battle of Chickamauga was the third bloodiest of the American Civil War and the only major Confederate victory in the conflict’s western theater. It pitted Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee against… Continue Reading William Glenn Robertson: Seeing the Ground

Ronny Regev: On Film History and Labor Contracts

Today we welcome a guest post from Ronny Regev, author of Working in Hollywood:  How the Studio System Turned Creativity into Labor, just published by UNC Press. A history of the Hollywood film industry as a modern system of labor, this book reveals an important untold story of an influential twentieth-century workplace. Ronny Regev argues that the Hollywood studio system… Continue Reading Ronny Regev: On Film History and Labor Contracts

Kenneth Joel Zogry: The lost historical context missing in the debate over Silent Sam

Today, October 12, is University Day at UNC-Chapel Hill, and we welcome a guest post from Kenneth Joel Zogry, author of Print News and Raise Hell:  The Daily Tar Heel and the Evolution of a Modern University. For over 125 years, the Daily Tar Heel has chronicled life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at times… Continue Reading Kenneth Joel Zogry: The lost historical context missing in the debate over Silent Sam

Oscar de la Torre: The Backlash Against Reparations for Slavery in Brazil

Today we welcome a guest post from Oscar de la Torre, author of The People of the River:  Nature and Identity in Black Amazonia, 1835–1945, just published by UNC Press. In his history of the black peasants of Amazonia, Oscar de la Torre focuses on the experience of African-descended people navigating the transition from slavery to freedom. He draws on… Continue Reading Oscar de la Torre: The Backlash Against Reparations for Slavery in Brazil

William Glenn Robertson: Notecards and Curiosities

Today we welcome a guest post from William Glenn Robertson, author of River of Death–The Chickamauga Campaign:  Volume 1: The Fall of Chattanooga, just published by UNC Press. The Battle of Chickamauga was the third bloodiest of the American Civil War and the only major Confederate victory in the conflict’s western theater. It pitted Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee against… Continue Reading William Glenn Robertson: Notecards and Curiosities

Malinda Maynor Lowery: A Nation of Nations

Today is Indigenous People’s Day, and we welcome a guest post from Malinda Maynor Lowery, author of The Lumbee Indians:  An American Struggle, just published by UNC Press. Jamestown, the Lost Colony of Roanoke, and Plymouth Rock are central to America’s mythic origin stories. Then, we are told, the main characters–the “friendly” Native Americans who met the settlers–disappeared. But the… Continue Reading Malinda Maynor Lowery: A Nation of Nations

Hannah Gill: Silent Sam in Carolina del Norte

Today we welcome a guest post from Hannah Gill, author of the new revised and expanded edition of The Latino Migration Experience in North Carolina:  New Roots in the Old North State, just published by UNC Press. Now thoroughly updated and revised—with a new chapter on the Dreamer movement and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA)—Hannah Gill’s book… Continue Reading Hannah Gill: Silent Sam in Carolina del Norte

Benjamin T. Smith: Por Qué, Por Qué?

Today we welcome a guest post from Benjamin T. Smith, author of The Mexican Press and Civil Society, 1940–1976:  Stories from the Newsroom, Stories from the Street, just published by UNC Press. Mexico today is one of the most dangerous places in the world to report the news, and Mexicans have taken to the street to defend freedom of expression.… Continue Reading Benjamin T. Smith: Por Qué, Por Qué?

Mary-Elizabeth B. Murphy: Supreme Court Matters

Today we welcome a guest post from Mary-Elizabeth B. Murphy, author of Jim Crow Capital:  Women and Black Freedom Struggles in Washington, D.C., 1920–1945, which UNC Press will publish in November. In her new book, Murphy tells the story of how African American women in D.C. transformed civil rights politics in their freedom struggles between 1920 and 1945. Even though no… Continue Reading Mary-Elizabeth B. Murphy: Supreme Court Matters