Postcards from the Edge of Cannibalism - SCRANTON, Pennsylvania — Several years ago the Smithsonian magazine ran an elegant story about the use of postcards in American culture as a way both to communicate to loved ones far away and to illustrate what the traveler wants you to see about where they have been. The key phrase is “wants you to see.” […]
News From Around the South 4/15 to 4/22 - NORTH CAROLINA: Two ‘Human’Caused’ Fires Found at 16th Century Historic Site Two fires were discovered simultaneously at a North Carolina historic site dedicated to England’s first settlements on the continent — and investigators say they were “human caused.” It happened Sunday, April 14, at a section of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site dedicated to a “Freedmen’s Colony,” […]
The Right to Assembly - Last week, the Supreme Court effectively abolished the right to assembly in three Southern states. By refusing to hear an appeal of a speaker accused of being liable for what a protester did in an audience the speaker addressed, the court exposed all protest organizers and speakers to potentially ruinous financial penalties for what unknown […]
Southern Oral History Program Turns 50 - In December 1979, Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, the founding director of the Southern Oral History Program, sat down to interview Nell Sigmon about her life in western North Carolina. As Hall explained the value of the retired hosiery worker’s story for understanding the early 20th century industrialization of the South, Sigmon interrupted her to say, “Well, of course, […]
Communists Betray Workers, Teachers Unions Betray Students, Civil Rights Organizations Betray Blacks, Feminist Organizations Betray Women - The Communist Party of the Soviet Union — like most communist parties — came to power as the great defender of workers. In reality, the Soviet Communist Party didn’t give a hoot about Russian workers. The party was nothing more than a totalitarian organization that used workers to gain power — and then suppressed the […]
