Creating the Modern South

Creating the Modern South PDF Author: Douglas Flamming
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807861464
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
In Creating the Modern South, Douglas Flamming examines one hundred years in the life of the mill and the town of Dalton, Georgia, providing a uniquely perceptive view of Dixie's social and economic transformation. "Beautifully written, it combines the rich specificity of a case study with broadly applicable synthetic conclusions.--Technology and Culture "A detailed and nuanced study of community development. . . . Creating the Modern South is an important book and will be of interest to anyone in the field of labor history.--Journal of Economic History "A rich and provocative study. . . . Its major contribution to our knowledge of the South is its careful account of the evolution and collapse of mill culture.--Journal of Southern History "Ambitious, and at times provocative, Creating the Modern South is a well-researched, highly readable, and engaging book.--Journal of American History

Creating the Modern South

Creating the Modern South PDF Author: Douglas Flamming
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807861464
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468

Get Book Here

Book Description
In Creating the Modern South, Douglas Flamming examines one hundred years in the life of the mill and the town of Dalton, Georgia, providing a uniquely perceptive view of Dixie's social and economic transformation. "Beautifully written, it combines the rich specificity of a case study with broadly applicable synthetic conclusions.--Technology and Culture "A detailed and nuanced study of community development. . . . Creating the Modern South is an important book and will be of interest to anyone in the field of labor history.--Journal of Economic History "A rich and provocative study. . . . Its major contribution to our knowledge of the South is its careful account of the evolution and collapse of mill culture.--Journal of Southern History "Ambitious, and at times provocative, Creating the Modern South is a well-researched, highly readable, and engaging book.--Journal of American History

Gendered Politics in the Modern South

Gendered Politics in the Modern South PDF Author: Keira V. Williams
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807147680
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
In the fall of 1994 Susan Smith, a young mother from Union, South Carolina, reported that an African American male carjacker had kidnapped her two children. The news sparked a multi-state investigation and evoked nationwide sympathy. Nine days later, she confessed to drowning the boys in a nearby lake, and that sympathy quickly turned to outrage. Smith became the topic of thousands of articles, news segments, and media broadcasts -- overshadowing the coverage of midterm elections and the O. J. Simpson trial. The notoriety of her case was more than tabloid fare, however; her story tapped into a cultural debate about gender and politics at a crucial moment in American history. In Gendered Politics in the Modern South Keira V. Williams uses the Susan Smith case to analyze the "new sexism" found in the agenda of the budding neoconservatism movement of the 1990s. She notes that in the weeks after Smith's confession, soon-to-be Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made statements linking Smith's behavior to the 1960s counterculture movement and to Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" social welfare programs. At the same time, various magazines declared the "death of feminism" and a "crisis in masculinity" as the assault on liberal social causes gained momentum. In response to this perceived crisis, Williams argues, a distinct code of gender discrimination developed that sought to reassert a traditional form of white male power. In addition to consulting a wide variety of sources, including letters from Smith written since her incarceration, Williams contextualizes the infamous case within the history of gender politics over the last quarter of the twentieth century. She reveals how the rhetoric, imagery, and legal treatment of infanticidal mothers changed and asserts that the latest shift reflects the evolution of a neoconservative politics.

Delta Empire

Delta Empire PDF Author: Jeannie Whayne
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 080713855X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
In Delta Empire: Lee Wilson and the Transformation of Agriculture in the New South Jeannie Whayne employs the fascinating history of a powerful plantation owner in the Arkansas delta to recount the evolution of southern agriculture from the late nineteenth century through World War II. After his father’s death in 1870, Robert E. “Lee” Wilson inherited 400 acres of land in Mississippi County, Arkansas. Over his lifetime, he transformed that inheritance into a 50,000-acre lumber operation and cotton plantation. Early on, Wilson saw an opportunity in the swampy local terrain, which sold for as little as fifty cents an acre, to satisfy an expanding national market for Arkansas forest reserves. He also led the fundamental transformation of the landscape, involving the drainage of tens of thousands of acres of land, in order to create the vast agricultural empire he envisioned. A consummate manager, Wilson employed the tenancy and sharecropping system to his advantage while earning a reputation for fair treatment of laborers, a reputation—Whayne suggests—not entirely deserved. He cultivated a cadre of relatives and employees from whom he expected absolute devotion. Leveraging every asset during his life and often deeply in debt, Wilson saved his company from bankruptcy several times, leaving it to the next generation to successfully steer the business through the challenges of the 1930s and World War II. Delta Empire traces the transition from the labor-intensive sharecropping and tenancy system to the capital-intensive neo-plantations of the post–World War II era to the portfolio plantation model. Through Wilson’s story Whayne provides a compelling case study of strategic innovation and the changing economy of the South in the late nineteenth century.

Race, Labor, and Civil Rights

Race, Labor, and Civil Rights PDF Author: Robert Samuel Smith
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807134813
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
In 1966, thirteen black employees of the Duke Power Company's Dan River Plant in Draper, North Carolina, filed a lawsuit against the company challenging its requirement of a high school diploma or a passing grade on an intelligence test for internal transfer or promotion. In the groundbreaking decision Griggs v. Duke Power (1971), the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding such employment practices violated Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when they disparately affected minorities. In doing so, the court delivered a significant anti-employment discrimination verdict. Legal scholars rank Griggs v. Duke Power on par with Brown v. Board of Education (1954) in terms of its impact on eradicating race discrimination from American institutions. In Race, Labor, and Civil Rights, Robert Samuel Smith offers the first full-length historical examination of this important case and its connection to civil rights activism during the second half of the 1960s. Smith explores all aspects of Griggs, highlighting the sustained energy of the grassroots civil rights community and the critical importance of courtroom activism. Smith shows that after years of nonviolent, direct action protests, African Americans remained vigilant in the 1960s, heading back to the courts to reinvigorate the civil rights acts in an effort to remove the lingering institutional bias left from decades of overt racism. He asserts that alongside the more boisterous expressions of black radicalism of the late sixties, foot soldiers and local leaders of the civil rights community -- many of whom were working-class black southerners -- mustered ongoing legal efforts to mold Title 7 into meaningful law. Smith also highlights the persistent judicial activism of the NAACP-Legal Defense and Education Fund and the ascension of the second generation of civil rights attorneys. By exploring the virtually untold story of Griggs v. Duke Power, Smith's enlightening study connects the case and the campaign for equal employment opportunity to the broader civil rights movement and reveals the civil rights community's continued spirit of legal activism well into the 1970s.

The Making of Modern South Africa

The Making of Modern South Africa PDF Author: Nigel Worden
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470656336
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
The new edition of The Making of Modern South Africa provides a comprehensive, current introduction to the key themes and debates concerning the history of this controversial country. Engagingly written, the author provides a sharp, analytical overview of the new South Africa. Examines the major issues in South Africa's history, from pre-colonial to present, including colonial conquest; the establishment of racism, segregation, and apartheid; resistance movements; and the eventual founding of democracy Contains an additional final chapter that takes the story to the present and considers the challenges and compromises of the first two decades of democracy Updated with material on post-apartheid era and current issues in South Africa The only book that gives direct guidance to bibliographical material and readings on key debates Provides a sharp, analytical overview of the new South Africa Extensive references are given to the key writings on each topic and the debates between scholars

The Palmetto State

The Palmetto State PDF Author: Jack Bass
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN: 1611171326
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
A concise approach to the major themes and events that define contemporary South Carolina The captivating, colorful, and controversial history of South Carolina continues to warrant fresh explorations. In this sweeping story of defining episodes in the state's history, accomplished historians Jack Bass and W. Scott Poole trace the importance of race relations, historical memory, and cultural life in the progress of the Palmetto State from its colonial inception to the present day. In the discussion of contemporary South Carolina that makes up the majority of this volume, the authors map the ways through which hard-won economic and civil rights advancements, a succession of progressive state leaders, and federal court mandates operated in tandem to bring a largely peaceful end to the Jim Crow era in South Carolina, in stark contrast to the violence wrought elsewhere in the South. This volume speaks directly to the connections between the state's past, present, and future, and it serves as a valuable point of entrance for new inquiries into South Carolina's diverse and complex heritage.

Creating the Land of the Sky

Creating the Land of the Sky PDF Author: Richard D. Starnes
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817356045
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
A sophisticated inquiry into tourism's social and economic power across the South. In the early 19th century, planter families from South Carolina, Georgia, and eastern North Carolina left their low-country estates during the summer to relocate their households to vacation homes in the mountains of western North Carolina. Those unable to afford the expense of a second home relaxed at the hotels that emerged to meet their needs. This early tourist activity set the stage for tourism to become the region's New South industry. After 1865, the development of railroads and the bugeoning consumer culture led to the expansion of tourism across the whole region. Richard Starnes argues that western North Carolina benefited from the romanticized image of Appalachia in the post-Civil War American consciousness. This image transformed the southern highlands into an exotic travel destination, a place where both climate and culture offered visitors a myriad of diversions. This depiction was futher bolstered by partnerships between state and federal agencies, local boosters, and outside developers to create the atrtactions necessary to lure tourists to the region. As tourism grew, so did the tension between leaders in the industry and local residents. The commodification of regional culture, low-wage tourism jobs, inflated land prices, and negative personal experiences bred no small degree of animosity among mountain residents toward visitors. Starnes's study provides a better understanding of the significant role that tourism played in shaping communities across the South.

Cosmopolitan Dreams

Cosmopolitan Dreams PDF Author: Jennifer Dubrow
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824872703
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
In late nineteenth-century South Asia, the arrival of print fostered a dynamic and interactive literary culture. There, within the pages of Urdu-language periodicals and newspapers, readers found a public sphere that not only catered to their interests but encouraged their reactions to featured content. Cosmopolitan Dreams brings this culture to light, showing how literature became a site in which modern daily life could be portrayed and satirized, the protocols of modernity challenged, and new futures imagined. Drawing on never-before-translated Urdu fiction and prose and focusing on the novel and satire, Jennifer Dubrow shows that modern Urdu literature was defined by its practice of self-critique and parody. Urdu writers resisted the cultural models offered by colonialism, creating instead a global community of imagination in which literary models could freely circulate and be readapted, mixed, and drawn upon to develop alternative lines of thinking. Highlighting the participation of readers and writers from diverse social and religious backgrounds, the book reveals an Urdu cosmopolis where lively debates thrived in newspapers, literary journals, and letters to the editor, shedding fresh light on the role of readers in shaping vernacular literary culture. Arguing against current understandings of Urdu as an exclusively Muslim language, Dubrow demonstrates that in the late nineteenth century, Urdu was a cosmopolitan language spoken by a transregional, transnational community that eschewed identities of religion, caste, and class. The Urdu cosmopolis pictured here was soon fractured by the forces of nationalism and communalism. Even so, Dubrow is able to establish the persistence of Urdu cosmopolitanism into the present and shows that Urdu’s strong tradition as a language of secular, critical modernity did not end in the late nineteenth century but continues to flourish in film, television, and on line. In lucid prose, Dubrow makes the dynamic world of colonial Urdu print culture come to life in a way that will interest scholars of modern Asian literatures, South Asian literature and history, cosmopolitanism, and the history of print culture.

The Experiential Caribbean

The Experiential Caribbean PDF Author: Pablo F. Gómez
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469630885
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Opening a window on a dynamic realm far beyond imperial courts, anatomical theaters, and learned societies, Pablo F. Gomez examines the strategies that Caribbean people used to create authoritative, experientially based knowledge about the human body and the natural world during the long seventeenth century. Gomez treats the early modern intellectual culture of these mostly black and free Caribbean communities on its own merits and not only as it relates to well-known frameworks for the study of science and medicine. Drawing on an array of governmental and ecclesiastical sources—notably Inquisition records—Gomez highlights more than one hundred black ritual practitioners regarded as masters of healing practices and as social and spiritual leaders. He shows how they developed evidence-based healing principles based on sensorial experience rather than on dogma. He elucidates how they nourished ideas about the universality of human bodies, which contributed to the rise of empirical testing of disease origins and cures. Both colonial authorities and Caribbean people of all conditions viewed this experiential knowledge as powerful and competitive. In some ways, it served to respond to the ills of slavery. Even more crucial, however, it demonstrates how the black Atlantic helped creatively to fashion the early modern world.

Labor in the Modern South

Labor in the Modern South PDF Author: Glenn T. Eskew
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 9780820322605
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Embracing but moving beyond the traditional concerns of labor history, these nine original essays give a voice to workers underrepresented in the scholarship on labor in the twentieth-century South. Covering locales as diverse as Atlanta, Richmond, Tampa, and Houston, the essays encompass issues related to the specialized jobs of building ships and airplanes in the defense industries of World War II and to the unskilled work of oyster shuckers and cigar tobacco "stemmers." Heeding issues of race gender, and class in labor history, Labor in the Modern South includes an analysis of how young female workers spent their wages and an account of how purported underground unions of domestic workers fed white anxieties about the loosening hold of Jim Crow. Additional materials include an interview with, and an afterword by, Gary Fink, one of the foremost senior scholars in American labor history. Filled with new insights into southerners' concerns about workplace safety, access to training, job mobility, and worker solidarity, these essays offer a sophisticated and inclusive interpretation of twentieth-century labor.