More on the Future of LSU Press

From InsideHigherEd.com: The American Historical Association and the Modern Language Association are aiding in the fight to save LSU Press from the chopping block. It is a real treasure among academic publishers and offers a wide and deep list in southern history, southern literature, Civil War history, and other fields. Such a loss could never really be replaced.

NCAA Infractions at Memphis????

Apparently, the boys from Indianapolis have leveled serious charges of academic fraud at the University of Memphis men's basketball program. The Tigers were once headed by Coach John Calipari, but the good coach is now the Lord and Savior at the University of Kentucky. Strange, but no one seems shocked by this. I wonder if this will be another case of the sins of the departed coach being visited upon his last institution, while he grazes happily and unscathed in greener pastures (to the tune of $31 million)?

Trout Fishing in WNC

I guess it isn't a well-kept secret, but we have some of the best trout fishing in the nation right here. OK, I may be a bit biased. This recent article in the New York Times offers some good highlights. And it reminds me to do more fishing this summer. My son was talking about it just the other day...

Budget Cuts and the Historical Profession

Times are tight, no doubt about that. The global economic crisis has hit individuals, corporations, and governments very hard and there is no clear end in sight. Two news stories I read today touched on how massive cutbacks are hitting the historical profession. The first, from the Raleigh News & Observer, discusses the ways in which North Carolina museums and historic sites are coping during these poor economic times. The second notes the potential closure of Louisiana State University Press, one of the foremost publishers of works in southern history, the Civil War, and related fields. Tough times, indeed.

Bennett Place

Yesterday, Jim Wise offered a great little article on Bennett Place in the Raleigh News & Observer. The folks at the Bennett Place State Historic Site do a great job interpreting the events that unfolded there as the Civil War drew to a close. It's an important, but too often overlooked, episode in Civil War history. For those interested in more, be sure to read Mark Bradley's excellent This Astounding Close: The Road to Bennett Place (UNC Press, 2006).

"See the USA in your Chevrolet?" Maybe not for long...

GM will drop Pontiac in it's latest attempt to save itself. We know what that might mean for thousands of workers, communities across the nation, and for what's left of the American automobile industry. But what will it mean for American music? NPR offers this GM music retrospective.

Civil War 150

This morning, as I sipped my morning coffee, I read with interest this article from the Miami Herald on growing national interest in the approaching Civil War sesquicentennial.



The North Carolina Office of Archives and History is already organizing a four-year long series of programs, symposia, and other commemorative activities in connection with the sesquicentennial . Virginia is as well. This anniversary is a great opportunities for historic sites, professors, public school teachers, and a variety of others who interpret history for the public to ask big questions about the war and its meaning. I fear that the economy will curtail spending on such efforts, but I hope the anniversary energizes citizens to consider what the war means for our history and for our times.

Charles Reagan Wilson and the Legacy of Space

Check out this essay by Charles Reagan Wilson on the legacy of space. It at Southern Spaces, an interesting e-journal brought to you by the good folks at Emory University. It examines spatial separation and its meaning in South Africa, Northern Ireland, and the South. It's worth a read.

North Carolina Maps

I'm really impressed with North Carolina Maps, a collaboration between the State Archives and the University of North Carolina at Chapel. It is a fabulous digital collection of historical maps which researches, teachers, students, and anyone interested in the Old North State will find fascinating. It even includes an interactive section that places historical maps in the context of current ones. Really neat and really useful.

Southern Music, Southern Religion, and Other Matters

Sorry for the protracted silence. Given the state of the economy and the state of everything else, I have neglected my duties to both my readers (I may be overestimating here). Things have been crazy in my little section of the universe. Budget cuts, low morale, uncertainty - everything that everyone seems to be dealing with - have dominated my life for that last little bit. Things aren't all bad. I did hear that one of my former grad students won a big fellowship and I couldn't be more pleased. My students have kept me going, too. No matter...On to the show.

I was perusing the web the other day and read Randall Stephens over at "Religion in American History," who had a great post about Pentecostalism and musicians like the King himself, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others. It's worth a read.


Did you hear that Douglas A. Blackmon won the Pulitzer in general nonfiction for Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II? I'm about a third of the way through it. Very interesting book.

And this from the Washington Post on what President Obama's election might mean for interpretations of the Civil War.

More later...