This book describes the conditions of poor black farmers and sharecroppers who were starving du to the worn-out land in Macon County, Alabama, in the 1930s and traces the history of an innovative New Deal program established to reclaim the land and the people's lives. The Tuskegee Land Utilization Study converted much of the land into what is now the Tuskegee National Forest. In this volume, Pasquill assesses the project seven decades later and he interviews some of the original descendents of the Prairie Farms participants.
Disturbing Development in the Jim Crow South documents how Black employees of the cooperative extension service of the USDA practiced rural improvement in ways that sustained southern Black farmers’ lives and livelihoods in the early decades of the twentieth century, resisting the white supremacy that characterized the Jim Crow South. Mona Domosh details the various mechanisms—the transformation of home demonstration projects, the development of a movable school, and the establishment of Black landowning communities—through which these employees were able to alter USDA’s mandates and redirect its funds. These tweakings and translations of USDA directives enabled these employees to support poor Black farmers by promoting food production, health care, and land and home ownership, thus disturbing a system of plantation agriculture that relied on the devaluing of Black lives. Through the documentation of these efforts, Domosh uncovers an important and previously unknown episode in the long history of international development that highlights the roots of liberal development schemes in the anti-Black racism that constituted plantation agriculture and illustrates how racist systems can be quietly and subtly resisted by everyday people working within the confines of white supremacy.
Amazing Alabama: A Potpourri of Fascinating Facts, Tall Tales and Storied Stories chronicles a brief history of the state, famous personages associated with Alabama, a discussion of state firsts, unique occurrences, antiquated laws and other fascinating topics.
Alabama’s history and culture revealed through fourteen iconic foods, dishes, and beverages The Story of Alabama in Fourteen Foods explores well-known Alabama food traditions to reveal salient histories of the state in a new way. In this book that is part history, part travelogue, and part cookbook, Emily Blejwas pays homage to fourteen emblematic foods, dishes, and beverages, one per chapter, as a lens for exploring the diverse cultures and traditions of the state. Throughout Alabama’s history, food traditions have been fundamental to its customs, cultures, regions, social and political movements, and events. Each featured food is deeply rooted in Alabama identity and has a story with both local and national resonance. Blejwas focuses on lesser-known food stories from around the state, illuminating the lives of a diverse populace: Poarch Creeks, Creoles of color, wild turkey hunters, civil rights activists, Alabama club women, frontier squatters, Mardi Gras revelers, sharecroppers, and Vietnamese American shrimpers, among others. A number of Alabama figures noted for their special contributions to the state’s foodways, such as George Washington Carver and Georgia Gilmore, are profiled as well. Alabama’s rich food history also unfolds through accounts of community events and a food-based economy. Highlights include Sumter County barbecue clubs, Mobile’s banana docks, Appalachian Decoration Days, cane syrup making, peanut boils, and eggnog parties. Drawing on historical research and interviews with home cooks, chefs, and community members cooking at local gatherings and for holidays, Blejwas details the myths, legends, and truths underlying Alabama’s beloved foodways. With nearly fifty color illustrations and fifteen recipes, The Story of Alabama in Fourteen Foods will allow all Alabamians to more fully understand their shared cultural heritage.
Beginning in March 1933 with the excavation of the Marksville mound site in Louisiana, and throughout the next decade, ordinary citizens labored in New Deal jobs programs and participated in archaeological excavations across the United States. Under the auspices of work relief programs, people were provided the opportunity to explore and document American Indian villages and mounds, important historic places, and homes associated with events and people critical to the foundation of the country.
Raw. Honest. Transparent. Hopeful. All of these are words readers might use when describing the stories found in Seeds of Perspective: Planting Hope and Healing From the Baggage of Life. However, they are not terms we might expect to hear paired with stories of addiction, pornography, abortion, infertility, and death. As one of the contributing writers states, “Processing is not easy, but it’s important to feel the pain and work through it to heal. Shoving it down gets you nowhere.” In Seeds of Perspective, Beth Grisham has compiled chapters contributed by anonymous women of all ages and walks of life who willingly poured out their most difficult life situations as a personal sacrifice to help others process and find hope and healing in their own worst mistakes. They believe that remembering and sharing their stories awakens in each of us a deeper understanding of God’s promise to redeem our lives for His glory and His purposes, and to bring beauty from the ashes of our past. So come. Journey with us as we sow seeds of perspective that can help you find purpose in the baggage of your own past. If we can do it, we know you can, too.
