Mississippi Books

This was required reading for a graduate course in American history.

While the United States Congress was debating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, many organizations were pressuring the congressmen to support the Act. In the end, Hubert Humphrey believed that the church organizations had been "the most important force at work" 1James F. Findlay surveys the efforts of religious organizations in his article "Religion and Politics in the Sixties: The Churches and the Civil Rights Act of 1964" and tries to show whether Humphrey was correct.

The most important organization during the fight to pass the bill was the National Council of Churches. Under its organizational umbrella were many religious based organizations including the Federal Council of Churches which was "the principal Protestant ecumenical body of the early twentieth century and a major advocate of the Social Gospel. The members of the NCC saw the struggle for economic and political justice as their moral duty before God. They saw Jesus Christ as the example of someone who always advocated for the disposed. In the early 1960s they embraced the fight for civil rights. The plight of African Americans in the south fit in with their larger purpose of justice for all. The Protestant Social Gospel movement was alive within segments of the Catholic Church also, particularly in Latin America. Catholics and Jewish groups joined the NCC in their fight for the Civil Rights act. On moral grounds they could not refuse to help. The civil rights movement was largely led by ministers and they invoked the biblical righteousness of their cause. Segregation and violence were obviously against the gospel and many religious people began to see it. Findlay writes about the different methods that they used to persuade congress. The debate lasted ten months but everyday there were large church groups in the gallery and often there were small to large demonstrations in front of congress or in the Washington Mall. There were church services everyday dedicated to the passage of the Act in Washington D. C. and many other places in the United States. Thousands of people wrote letters to their congressmen. Some of the letters are quoted in the article and Findlay remarks that they are the letters of people not used to writing to government representatives. According to Findlay, The organizers knew where all the congressmen stood so they concentrated their efforts in the Midwest and Border States where they could turn some votes. Ministers preached sermons on the immorality of segregation and the equality of men before God. They urged parishioners to write in support of the Civil Rights Bill. There were also roving four-person teams that included a minister, an African American civil rights worker, a legislative expert and a contact person from the NCC. These teams would educate parishioners on the importance of passing the Bill.

Findlay writes that there was a profound belief in the hearts of many religious activists that segregation was immoral and that it had to change for the country to grow. He believes that the religious activism for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a precursor for the modem conservative religious activism that continually advocates for their ideas of morality to become the law. He believes that many people who were silent during the early sixties felt there was no one speaking for them and they became the group that later was tapped by Jerry Fallwel and Pat Robertson to constitute the Moral Majority. Findlay concludes that the Church organizations helped a great deal but that it was a combination o fthe labor, civil rights and religious organizations that successfully helped in the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in American history, civil rights history.

One seldom recalls that black students caught up in the civil rights movement were also struggling during this era simply to get an education. The author takes us through a turbulent era from inside the hurricane as both teacher and participant in the civil rights movement. Dramatic, gripping and filled with dry humor, this is a must read for anyone interested not only in the civil rights movement but in the history of black education in this country.

Michael Ballard is an archivist at Mississippi State University and draws upon his considerable expertise and research to provide the reader with an invaluable handbook to Mississippi's civil war battles, battlefields, and commemorative sites. Enhanced with easy-to-follow maps and a wealth of historical information, readers and visitors can trace the progress of the Civil War in its campaigns, and exploits in the Mississippi theater, which included sieges, trench warfare, naval bombardments, and calvary engagements. Civil War Mississippi is a handy field guide and an invaluable aid for the casual tourist and dedicated Civil War buff alike.

"The Clearing: A True Story of Childhood Survival and Self Acceptance" grabs you from the first page. You are instantly captured by the strength of a Mississippi family trying to achieve the American dream in spite of the turmoil of the sixties.

It's a wonderful story of a very lovely young lady and her quest to be the best person she can be inspite of tremendous adversity during the beginning stages of her life. She was adopted four times from birth to age eight. The joy of the story is the young girl's relationship with her grandfather, who gives her the moral foundation to accept all people and to follow her childhood dream to become a writer.

I personally met Ms. Yancey at a book signing. Not only is she a good writer, she is personable and friendly. I highly recommend this book.

This is an incredible book. The author sketched each bridge on the Mississippi River from New Orleans all the way up to Luling, Iowa (pretty much most of the navigable waterway). The book has proved to be a valuable resource to my own research on the river's bridges.

Well, it has been nearly two years since I finished writing this book on my hometown, and I couldn't be more pleased! I've received lots of emails, letters, and comments expressing thanks (though occasionally, I get a little flak for what I missed. I know, 128 pages is very limiting. Sorry.)

A couple reviews were written, one by the Clinton News and another by former mayor Dr. Walter Howell for this Journal of Mississippi History. If I can get copies (and permission) I will try to paste them here on Amazon.

Blessings,
Chad

The only thing better than reading the essays and seeing the full-color plates was to have been to the exhibit in person. The art is fascinating. The exploration of these artist's intentions and influences is inspiring. This is a first-rate publication that accompanied a first-rate exhibition.

To begin I disclose that I am the author of the new (45 pp for a new total of 171 pp) introduction to this classic book. I came across it in researching the blockade runner Denbigh lost at Galveston in 1865. In order to understand what the blockade runners were up to and what they were bringing in, one must know the customer. The main customer was the CS Army and the Quatermaster's Department handled the trade: cotton going out and maufactured goods coming in. I was particularly interested in details on the imports but the archival records are pretty fragmentary. This book makes a very substantial contribution to understanding the blockade running trade in the Trans-Mississippi, and I selected it as Publication No. 2 in the Institute of Nautical Archaeology's Denbigh Shipwreck Project report series. The new introduction presents information on the archival records of the Cotton Bureau, part of the Quartermaster Corps. It also puts the book into the context of the blockade runner Denbigh and her sisters.

One of the best books I have read in a long time. If you are interested in the history of the Western American Frontier this is a great book to read. I am not going to go in vast detail about this book but it is about a river boat captain named Grant Marsh, one of the greatest riverboat pilots of all time.

Entire text may be downloaded from the web at:

http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/circ1133