Home  >  History  >  American History

Category: American History

December 2, 2008

Major college football: more competitive and cut-throat than the NFL?

Michael Oriard, author of three books on football published by UNC Press (Reading Football: How the Popular Press Created an American Spectacle [1998], King Football: Sport and Spectacle in the Golden Age of Radio and Newsreels, Movies and Magazines, the Weekly and the Daily Press [2001], and Brand NFL: Making and Selling America’s Favorite Sport [2006]), has a fourth book… Continue Reading Major college football: more competitive and cut-throat than the NFL?

Categories American History/American Studies/Current Events/Economics/Sports
November 25, 2008

Politico suggests ‘Days of Hope’ for Obama’s winter reading list

Matthew Dallek over at Politico has drawn up a suggested reading list for Barack Obama, our incoming President of Hope ™, who has not been seen carrying any books around, but apparently actually reads books about American history and absorbs them and references them in conversation(!). Says Dallek: Obama will be that rare modern president who thinks deeply about the… Continue Reading Politico suggests ‘Days of Hope’ for Obama’s winter reading list

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/History/Politics
November 17, 2008

McElvaine on election ’08

Robert S. McElvaine, editor of Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man, blogs regularly for The Huffington Post. In his latest post, he discusses the demise of Nixon’s “southern strategy” and the new challenges for the GOP. from McElvaine: “New America” = Gone OLD Party Prior to the start of the war in Iraq in… Continue Reading McElvaine on election ’08

Categories American History/Politics
November 13, 2008

Reflections on the 2008 Election

The following post is from Christopher A. Cooper and H. Gibbs Knotts, co-editors of The New Politics of North Carolina. Cooper is MPA director and assistant professor of political science and public affairs at Western Carolina University. Knotts is department head and associate professor of political science and public affairs at Western Carolina University. Every four years journalists, political commentators,… Continue Reading Reflections on the 2008 Election

Categories American History/Current Events/Guest Bloggers/North Carolina/Politics/Southern Studies
November 11, 2008

In honor of their service

In addition to the many outstanding books UNC Press has published on Civil War battles, World War II military tactics, Cold War strategy, war heroes, and other military history, we have also brought to print stories of veterans sometimes left out of traditional American military narratives. In honor of all those who serve our country, here are three books that… Continue Reading In honor of their service

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Gay / Lesbian Studies/History/Military History/Military Studies/North Carolina
November 10, 2008

Today in history: the Wilmington Race Riot

This past Saturday Wilmington, North Carolina, dedicated a new memorial to the victims of the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898. The memorial site includes an installation of six 16-foot-high bronze paddles created by sculptor Ayokunle Odeleye. Today, November 10, is the 110th anniversary of the event. Ten years ago, UNC Press published Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898… Continue Reading Today in history: the Wilmington Race Riot

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Current Events/History/North Carolina/Politics/The Book Biz/Travel
October 28, 2008

Christensen, Shelby, Hogan earn awards

Three UNCP authors deserve special cheers for winning awards recently: Rob Christensen, author of The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics, has been awarded the 2008 Ragan Old North State Award for Nonfiction by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. The successor to the organization’s Mayflower Cup, the Ragan Old North State Award honors Sam Ragan: poet, critic, publisher, and… Continue Reading Christensen, Shelby, Hogan earn awards

Categories African American Studies/American History/Appalachian Studies/Awards/Civil Rights/Fiction/History/Juvenile/North Carolina/Politics/UNC Press News
October 27, 2008

Durham County Library lecture series: “Divining America: Religion in American History”

The Durham County Library is in the midst of a fantastic lecture series called “Divining America: Religion in American History,” which kicked off in mid September and runs through November. The series explores many of the major religious movements and watershed moments in American history from the seventeenth through twentieth centuries. Lectures/discussion sessions so far have covered Deism, Puritanism, Native… Continue Reading Durham County Library lecture series: “Divining America: Religion in American History”

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Civil War/Events/History/Religion
October 24, 2008

BookTV airs “2008 Best of the Best from University Presses”

If you’re not on your way to the Lexington Barbecue Festival Saturday morning around 10 a.m., tune in to C-SPAN2 for BookTV’s presentation of the 2008 Best of the Best from University Presses. The program consists of a panel of 5 librarians discussing their favorite university press books of the year, one of which is Jeff Wiltse’s book Contested Waters:… Continue Reading BookTV airs “2008 Best of the Best from University Presses”

Categories African American Studies/American History/American Studies/Civil Rights/Gender Studies/History
October 15, 2008

Guest Blogger Laura Browder: Sarah Palin: A “Pioneer Mother” in Hockey Mom’s Clothes?

Since her first appearance at the Republican National Convention, where she was greeted with rapturous applause by her fans and with astonishment by journalists — she’s a mother of five, and she hunts! — Sarah Palin has seemed to many like a brand-new phenomenon. Actually, she’s not. Sarah Palin is following in a long tradition of women who used their… Continue Reading Guest Blogger Laura Browder: Sarah Palin: A “Pioneer Mother” in Hockey Mom’s Clothes?

Categories American History/American Studies/Current Events/Guest Bloggers/Politics/Women's Studies
October 9, 2008

Ella Baker Tour – SNCC alums to visit Durham

The Ella Baker Tour and Retreat, sponsored by the Southern Anti-Racism Network (SARN), is inspiring a wave of intergenerational dialogue and cooperation between veterans of the Civil Rights Movement and a new generation of social justice activists. The SARN website explains the tour’s origins this way: Social change movements led by people of African descent in the U.S. are experiencing… Continue Reading Ella Baker Tour – SNCC alums to visit Durham

Categories African American Studies/American History/Civil Rights/Events/North Carolina
September 22, 2008

American Business Women’s Day

Maggie Lena Walker (third from the left in the cover photo) was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1867 (or 1864, or 1865, depending on your source). She spent her lifetime working to empower the black community there, even as early as high school, when she led a protest against the segregation policy that prevented her class from holding its graduation… Continue Reading American Business Women’s Day

Categories African American Studies/American History/Biography / Autobiography/Women's Studies
September 15, 2008

Froth and Scum – Then and Now

I have a great deal of respect for Bill Moyers. Moyers, a former White House Press Secretary for Lyndon Johnson, newspaper journalist, commentator for PBS, CBS, and NBC and now host of his own program, Bill Moyers Journal, is that rare breed of journalist who understands that issues are generally far more complex than a five-second sound bite. All of… Continue Reading Froth and Scum – Then and Now

Categories American History/Media Studies
September 10, 2008

Today in History: Gunsmoke Premiers on Television

It’s a Saturday night in mid-September, 1955. Dinner dishes have been cleared away, people in their comfortable homes are settling in for the evening. For entertainment, some turn to their trusty radio, still not sure about that expensive picture-box, the television. Those with television sets aren’t too sure this new-fangled thing is all that great, either. Skeptically, many of them… Continue Reading Today in History: Gunsmoke Premiers on Television

Categories American History/American Studies/Women's Studies
September 9, 2008

Guest Blogger Catherine Rymph on Sarah Palin and Her Role in History

Because I teach a course on U.S. Women’s Political History and wrote a book about women in the Republican Party, a lot of people these days have been popping into my office or popping up on email to ask what I think of Sarah Palin‘s nomination for vice-president. As a citizen, I have my opinions (as, it seems, does everyone).… Continue Reading Guest Blogger Catherine Rymph on Sarah Palin and Her Role in History

Categories American History/American Studies/Current Events/Gender Studies/Guest Bloggers/Politics/Women's Studies
September 8, 2008

Gustav Update from New Orleans

The following is an email sent on 4 Sep 2008 by UNC Press author Lance Hill to his mailing list of friends. Lance, as some of you may remember from my entry on the anniversary of Katrina, is not only an acclaimed author, but also a professor at Tulane University and a long-time New Orleans resident. We present this message… Continue Reading Gustav Update from New Orleans

Categories American History/Guest Bloggers/Hurricanes/Public Policy
August 30, 2008

Hurricane Katrina: August 29, 2005

When Hurricane Katrina moved northwest through the Gulf of Mexico, hitting the Gulf Coast of the US in late August of 2005 I had only the briefest of connections to the city: my parents had attended a convention there in the late 60s, a friend I had grown up with lived there with his wife right after graduating from the… Continue Reading Hurricane Katrina: August 29, 2005

Categories American History/History/Travel/UNC Press News
August 28, 2008

Political Conventions: Part I

Perhaps you’ve noticed there’s been some politicking going on lately? It may have been too subtle for you to have noticed, especially if you live somewhere without radio, television or internet access (although, come to think of it, that would make reading this blog a bit difficult), but, indeed, it’s been going on for months (and months and months). But… Continue Reading Political Conventions: Part I

Categories African American History/American History/American Studies/History/Politics
August 13, 2008

Early Buzz for Lou Perez

Have you seen the gorgeous jacket (designed by Rich Hendel) for Louis Perez’s new book? The New Yorker Books Department has, and they’re digging it! (There should be some joke here about judging a book, etc., but I’m going to say let’s just make those jokes quietly to ourselves and move on.) Lou Perez is one of the top historians… Continue Reading Early Buzz for Lou Perez

Categories American History/Cuba/History