Rednecks, Redeemers, and Race
Rednecks, Redeemers, and Race

Author: Stephen Cresswell

Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published: 2021-01-15

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 149683691X

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Mississippi saw great change in the four decades after Reconstruction. Between 1877 and 1917 the state transformed. Its cities increased rapidly in size and saw the advent of electric lights, streetcars, and moving pictures. Farmers diversified their operations, sharply increasing their production of corn, sweet potatoes, and dairy products. Mississippians built large textile mills in a number of cities and increased the number of manufacturing workers tenfold. But many things did not change. In 1917 as in 1877, Mississippi was a top cotton producer and relied more heavily on cotton than on any other product. In 1917 as in 1877 the state had troubled race relations and was all too often the site of lynchings and race riots. Compared with other states in 1917, Mississippi was near the bottom of the list for length of the school year, for percentage of farms that boasted tractors, and for the number of miles of paved or gravel roads. Mississippi was the least urban and most agricultural state in the nation. Rednecks, Redeemers, and Race: Mississippi after Reconstruction, 1877–1917 examines the paradox of significant change alongside many unbroken continuities. It explores the reasons Mississippi was not more successful in urbanizing, in industrializing, and in reducing its reliance on cotton. The volume closes by looking at events that would move Mississippi closer to the national mainstream.

Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal

Author: Fred Kaplan

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2013-04-23

Total Pages: 775

ISBN-13: 1480409774

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This “fascinating” biography of an iconic American author and public intellectual “is so full of incident and celebrity . . . a pageant of entertaining stories” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Few writers of recent memory have distinguished themselves in so many fields, and so consummately, as Gore Vidal. A prolific novelist, Vidal also wrote for film and theater, and became a classic essayist of his own time, delivering prescient analyses of American society, politics, and culture. Known for his rapier wit and intelligence, Vidal moved with ease among the cultural elite—his grandfather was a senator, he was intimate with the Kennedys, and one of his best friends was Tennessee Williams. For this definitive biography, Fred Kaplan was given access to Vidal’s papers and letters. The result is an insightful and entertaining portrait of an exceptional and mercurial writer.

A New History of Mississippi
A New History of Mississippi

Author: Dennis J. Mitchell

Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published: 2014-05-27

Total Pages: 600

ISBN-13: 162674162X

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Creating the first comprehensive narrative of Mississippi since the bicentennial history was published in 1976, Dennis J. Mitchell recounts the vibrant and turbulent history of a Deep South state. The author has condensed the massive scholarship produced since that time into an appealing narrative, which incorporates people missing from many previous histories including American Indians, women, African Americans, and a diversity of other minority groups. This is the story of a place and its people, history makers and ordinary citizens alike. Mississippi's rich flora and fauna are also central to the story, which follows both natural and man-made destruction and the major efforts to restore and defend rare untouched areas. Hernando De Soto, Sieur d’Iberville, Ferdinand Claiborne, Thomas Hinds, Aaron Burr, Greenwood LeFlore, Joseph Davis, Nathan Bedford Forrest, James D. Lynch, James K. Vardaman, Mary Grace Quackenbos, Ida B. Wells, William Alexander Percy, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Elvis Presley, John Grisham, Jack Reed, William F. Winter, Jim Barksdale, Richard Howorth, Christopher Epps, and too many more to list—this book covers a vast and rich legacy. From the rise and fall of American Indian culture to the advent of Mississippi’s world-renowned literary, artistic, and scientific contributions, Mitchell vividly brings to life the individuals and institutions that have created a fascinating and diverse state.