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.”
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
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
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
I once went on an epic camping trip to a state park with my extended family. On this trip, my cousin “accidentally” bumped into me while I was kneeling beside our campfire. “Luckily,” I caught myself on the hot coals around the perimeter. Then, this same cousin–we’ll call him Teddy (cough…Michael)–“accidentally” ran into my brother with the twig he’d been… Continue Reading Celebrate North Carolina State Parks…and Watch Out for My Cousin Teddy
What happened to the NAACP? It’s odd to think that the venerable and historic National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has been reduced to a talking point in the national media cycle this week. They received national attention in June when the Los Angeles chapter lodged a protest against a Hallmark card with a recorded message that they… Continue Reading To Forge a Better NAACP
Whether you have a sweet tooth or a mouth full of sweet teeth, Foy Edelman has a recipe to satisfy that guilty pleasure. With more than 220 recipes in Sweet Carolina, the native North Carolinian offers a wide variety of goodies from kitchens all across the state. You can meet the contributing cooks and listen to them talk about their… Continue Reading Interview: Meet Foy Edelman…and other cooks from across North Carolina
Though North Carolina has welcomed the recent arrival of a certain Scandinavian furniture mecca, the state has a rich history as the “Furniture Capital of the World.” Patricia Phillips Marshall, coauthor of Thomas Day: Master Craftsman and Free Man of Color, provides an entry in the Encyclopedia of North Carolina that gives a brief account of the furniture boom and… Continue Reading WATCH: Furniture Making slideshow
Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South: Race, Identity, and the Making of a Nation is one of the inaugural books in the multi-press collaborative series First Peoples, New Directions in Indigenous Studies. In a guest post for the First Peoples blog, author Malinda Maynor Lowery (Lumbee) writes about how she continues to navigate the effects of colonialism in her… Continue Reading Malinda Maynor Lowery: Troubles Decolonizing a Colonial History
Here’s the deal. I’m a dog. And I like to read and travel through time. A few weeks ago, the fine people at UNC Press gave me this nifty time machine. (They think the blue goggles will distract me from the fact that it’s made out of old UNC Press books held together with duct tape. I play along.) Since… Continue Reading See Gus Read…and Time Travel
Leonard Rogoff, author of Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina, will be reading from and signing his book tonight at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh starting at 7:30 pm. Rogoff, a historian for the Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina and president of the Southern Jewish Historical Society, writes about the life of Jewish people in North Carolina in… Continue Reading Discover the History of Jewish Life in North Carolina – in print, on screen, in person
The Blue Ridge Book Fest began today and will run through Saturday, June 5, at the Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock, NC. The free event opens its doors at 8:15 Saturday morning and the programs run strong until the end of the fest at 4 p.m. More than thirty authors will be in attendance, representing genres from adventure… Continue Reading Books, Trails, and More: Visit Hendersonville This Weekend!
The name Mildred Council may not ring a bell, but the restaurateur is the reigning queen of soul food in North Carolina. Council, who is best recognized by her alias, “Mama Dip,” is a UNC Press cookbook author and owner of Mama Dip’s Kitchen in Chapel Hill. As we mentioned last year, June is National Soul Food Month. What is… Continue Reading Finger Lickin’ Good
Each month on the UNC Press homepage, we feature a handful of interviews with authors. I’d like to bring them over and share them with you blog readers because they’re so often just fun and interesting. I want to start by introducing Victoria E. Bynum, author of three books with us, including, most recently, The Long Shadow of the Civil… Continue Reading Interview: Victoria E. Bynum
Alan Jabbour, who authored Decoration Day in the Mountains: Traditions of Cemetery Decoration in the Southern Appalachians with his wife Karen Singer Jabbour, provides some insight to a grassroots ritual that led to the creation of a federal holiday. –alyssa Many rural community cemeteries in western North Carolina hold “decorations.” A decoration is a religious service in the cemetery when… Continue Reading What is Decoration Day?
We welcome a guest post today from Patrick Cullom, an archivist at Wilson Library on the UNC campus, who has a special connection to the new book by Robert Korstad and James Leloudis, To Right These Wrongs: The North Carolina Fund and the Battle to End Poverty and Inequality in 1960s America.–ellen Last month I had the pleasure of attending… Continue Reading Behind the Scenes: Archiving the Photographs of Billy Barnes
The month for honoring mothers, recognizing college graduates and remembering fallen service men and women is drawing to a close. While these occasions – along with blooming flowers and blue skies – take the spotlight in May, we shouldn’t forget the month long celebration for National Barbecue Month! Last year we told you the guidelines for North Carolina barbecue, as… Continue Reading We Like Excuses To Eat: May is National Barbecue Month
During the mid-1800s, Thomas Day was the most successful cabinet maker working in North Carolina. A significant figure in the history of woodworking, equally as important for his role in American history as an astoundingly successful free man of color in the Antebellum South, Day developed a truly original aesthetic and showed unmatched skill as a maker of cabinets, furniture,… Continue Reading The Legacy of Thomas Day
Congratulations to everyone who participated in our Gazetteer/NC trivia contest. Maybe we’ll have to come up with harder questions next time? Of the 29 people who responded to the contest, 15 got all the answers correct. It all hinged on question #7: How many North Carolina counties take their name from American Indian words or names? The correct answer, according… Continue Reading Gazetteer Contest Winner Announced!
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