In Crooked Paths to Allotment, C. Joseph Genetin-Pilawa complicates standard narratives of nineteenth century Native American history by uncovering the stories of individuals who contested federal Indian policy and proposed viable alternatives during a critical moment in its development. Continue Reading Interview: C. Joseph Genetin-Pilawa on Crooked Paths to Allotment
When Americans made Jesus white, they gave a racial spin to creation, to redemption in the form of Jesus, and to the future Apocalypse. This is crucial because it allows white people to see whiteness and racial categories as everlasting. Continue Reading Interview: Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey
Cameras remained contraband at the camps located within the military district called the Western Defense Command. But Wyoming was outside that zone, and by the spring of 1943, cameras were permitted. The WRA recognized that allowing internees to take pictures was a way of helping them reclaim some sense of a normal life and some of their dignity. Continue Reading Interview: Eric L. Muller on new images of Japanese American internment in World War II
During the post-WWII period in the United States, a new generation of pollutants proved especially mobile and persistent. Overriding a widespread segregation of neighborhoods by class as well as race, these pollutants proved capable of pervading entire suburban metropolises. Americans, especially around our largest cities, were forced to confront just how shared the burden of pollution had become. Continue Reading Interview: Christopher C. Sellers on the origins of American environmentalism
I think the quilt on the cover really captures some of the pain of separation as well as the hope that some enslaved people held on to. There is a little girl’s dress, but no little girl, and the handwriting is traced from a letter sent by an enslaved woman to the family of her former owner asking what had ever become of her little girl. Vilet Lester, the child’s mother, was literate enough to write this letter seeking information about her daughter. She was hopeful that her current owner would be able to purchase the child and restore Lester’s family. One of the sad things about doing this work is that I do not know if Vilet Lester ever received an answer to her letter or whether she ever saw her daughter again. Continue Reading Interview: Heather Andrea Williams on the search for family lost in slavery
The performance of domesticity is a major theme of my book and the main means by which Martha helped construct her father’s public image as a virtuous republican family man while he was alive. Martha visited Washington twice during Jefferson’s presidency. Her presence, and that of her children, helped Jefferson to present himself to the public as a family man at the very time when his political enemies were spreading the scandal about him and Sally Hemings. Continue Reading Interview: Cynthia Kierner on the Life of Martha Jefferson Randolph
Today is the publication day for Benjamin Elijah Mays, Schoolmaster of the Movement: A Biography, by Randal Maurice Jelks. The book is available in hardcover and e-book. In this interview, Jelks discusses the ideologies and ambitions of Mays, a leader in the civil rights movement and mentor to Martin Luther King Jr. Q: Benjamin Elijah Mays (1894-1984) is perhaps most… Continue Reading Interview: Randal Maurice Jelks on the Legacy of Benjamin Elijah Mays
Researching this book transformed my own sense of Mesoamerican history. As I got deeper into the project, it became impossible to ignore the fundamental imprint of Mesoamerican history, culture, and relationships on the conquest period and beyond. So I had to work much harder than I anticipated to weave that preconquest history into my narrative, not just as background but as something integral to my analysis. Continue Reading Interview: Laura E. Matthew on Indigenous conquistadors and complex identities in Guatemala
In the book I own up to a special fondness for the little blue heron, but many of the birds I write about are just spectacular. Right up there with the spoonbills and avocets are the black-necked stilts, the wood storks, the snowy and great egrets, the anhingas—and the list goes on. Of course, I’m perfectly willing to confess that my favorite birds tend to be those I can actually pick out from the rest. Continue Reading Interview: John Yow, author of “The Armchair Birder Goes Coastal”
One of his predictions, however, seems on point. Madison wrote in the 1790s that if the federal government grew too much, Congress would be overwhelmed by its responsibilities, power would flow to the president, and presidential elections would become unseemly spectacles. Continue Reading Interview: Jeff Broadwater on the legacy of James Madison
Any kind of research dealing with living human subjects is sensitive, even more so when it involves recent political violence. One thing I was reminded constantly was that my very presence in the field stirred up a host of issues and anxieties that villagers had either suppressed or were still dealing with. Continue Reading Interview: Miguel La Serna on research in the aftermath of Peru’s Shining Path insurgency
Most Americans have been inoculated against the notion that our country can behave like an empire. Therefore, some readers may well find the focus on empire unsettling. After all, we are regularly reminded by our politicians, clergy, teachers, and the media that the U.S. is an exceptional country. We don’t do empire. That’s for the bad guys. We like to believe that whatever America does internationally is for the common good of humanity. As authors, all we ask is that readers consider our general definition of empire on its historical merits and give our treatment of the U.S. case a fair hearing. Continue Reading Interview: Michael H. Hunt and Steven I. Levine on America’s quest for empire
People’s hospitality was amazing, as was their openness. Many people were very proud of their accomplishments. A few were very humble, but fortunately they had cheerleaders, usually in the form of a relative, who helped them share their stories. They were also very excited about giving us recipes. Their food is their life, and you can’t share one without sharing the other. Continue Reading Interview: Paul & Angela Knipple on immigrant cuisine around the South
The ACC benefited from the economic growth and unprecedented prosperity in the South after World War II. Southerners generally had more disposable income than ever and many used it to attend basketball games at ACC schools, or at least to buy television sets that broadcast ACC games. Further, the stronger economic status of Southern states encouraged much-needed improvements in education, including the allocation of greater resources to public universities. One result was that members of the ACC took steps to upgrade their academic programs and prestige. Another result was the ability of several ACC schools to build modern basketball arenas. Continue Reading Interview: J. Samuel Walker on the History of ACC Basketball
An interview with Donald Goodman, manager of the Eugene Walter estate and co-editor of ‘The Happy Table of Eugene Walter: Southern Spirits in Food and Drink.’ Continue Reading Interview: Donald Goodman on the Legacy of Eugene Walter
Sandra Gutierrez, author of The New Southern-Latino Table, talks about blending Latin-American cuisine with that of the American South. Continue Reading Interview: Sandra Gutierrez on influences & favorites of New Southern-Latino cuisine
The black Marines who integrated the last all-white branch of the U.S. military receive Congressional honor. The book The Marines of Montford Point tells their stories. Continue Reading Montford Point Marines Receive Highest Congressional Honor
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