South Carolina Books

In a speech before the Organization of American Historians, scholar Jacquelyn Dowd Hall offered a window onto "the long civil rights movement" -- a struggle for human rights, economic and social citizenship, and human dignity that began long before Brown v. Board of Education and continued long after the assassination of Martin Luther King.

In her pathbreaking book, Defying Dixie, professor Glenda Gilmore gives texture and character to the long civil rights movement, using indigenous southern activists, black and white, to give her story shape. These activists, from the fearless and foolhardy Lovett Fort-Whiteman to the brilliant and indomitable Pauli Murray, all faced the demon of American white supremacy and did their best to slay it. They did not always prevail with strategies they dreamed up and pursued, but their vision and dedication bequeathed us a social movement, more expansive than the classic civil rights movement, that still informs drives for justice and equity.

Gilmore's book moves beyond the tired debates of Cold War historiography and the simple hagiography of civil rights heroes to give us a dynamic movement filled with complex characters. In giving these people their due, and rooting them in American soil, Defying Dixie helps us to understand the promise and possibilities of American politics, and to contend with the present in which we live.

Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore's DEFYING DIXIE: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919 - 1950 is the history of the civil rights movement from that time until the early 1950s. It gives inside history, interviews and information on how the Civil Rights movement that we are aware of today, came about. In the beginning, the Communist party was deeply involved. Their plan was to get the workers of America - black and white - to fight for better salaries from the companies they worked for. The only way to accomplish that was to get the two groups to work together. Naturally, the South, with its legacy of slavery, wasn't too happy with the mixing of the races. The companies, to keep their profits high, wanted to continue to pay blacks less than they paid whites and the only way to do that was to keep them separate. Many residents of the South didn't want blacks involved in the job market because they felt it would reduce their ability to have those jobs. There were, however, many people, of both races, who were determined that segregation/Jim Crow, would end. They were brave enough to defy the system and as a result, they frequently ended up in jail or worse.

During the Second World War, as Stalin took power, the involvement of the Communist party began to lose its appeal. The House Un-American Activities became concerned and the FBI spied on Communist and suspects. Any contact with a Communist could cause problems. It didn't stop those who were determined to force America to honor what it claimed it went to war for, from pushing their agenda for social and economic equality for all, even though many of them suffered for it.

Gilmore has written a heart rending account that covers history that is either missing or glossed over in our history books. So often we don't know the brutal history that brought us where we are today and Gilmore lets us know in no uncertain terms. Some of the unfair situations that blacks face will break your heart. It is a book every American should read in order to understand where we have come from and where we are going. It should be required reading for both high school and college students.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

The 1898 "race riot," of Wilmington, NC, which more correctly should be understood for what it really was, "an ongoing white pogrom against blacks," or "a white supremacist insurrection against a legitimately elected interracial government," remains an enduring metaphor for how, "at every appropriate opportunity throughout American history," white Americans have, even today, found ways to betray democracy in the name of the dying ideology of white supremacy. America's imperceptibly slow evolution towards democracy has been nothing if not an uphill struggle against the reactionary forces of "white resistance" to "true democracy."

Never was the white intent to resist change towards democracy, social and political justice and equality, more raw, open and obvious, never more starkly and conscientiously used to snuff out democracy, nor more brutal, than in the 1898 Wilmington "white vigilante resurrection." And for those who might think that this was but an accident or aberration of American history, the attacks on the duly elected government of Wilmington were typical of the times. As always, they rallied the anti-democratic forces to action in the local churches. Even today, the white instigators of the 1898 riots are still very much revered: taught about in schools as heroes, with statutes of them standing tall in the town square.

Unlike today, when the U.S. has become little more than a "greater co-prosperity sphere" for the "moneyed (mostly) foreign interests of the global economy" such as the Saudi Royal family, Christian and Jewish Zionists, and now for Communist Chinese economic expansion, there was once a time, when "true democracy" was about to break out in America. Never was there a more pregnant time for it to do so than in 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina.

The Story

More than a century ago, in the aftermath of the "race riots" of 1871 in Cape Fear North Carolina, where the river ran red with the blood of its black victims, a historic experiment in interracial democracy blossomed in Wilmington, NC. Although Wilmington was composed of a thriving black majority, one of the few in all of the U.S. at that time (and now at any time), its government nevertheless was composed of a coalition of both races.

This coalition of "working level" blacks and whites, an unheard of democratic oasis in a desert of southern racist reaction, posed a threat not just to white supremacy, but also to the "Southern planter and Northern industrial class" that had traditionally run the Southern slave system that "pitted" white workers against "black slaves." [The global economy now carries out a similar program, writ large.]

In the 1898 elections, when these conservative forces failed to undo the interracial coalition at the ballot box, they sought to do so by "the gun." (giving a paradoxical twist and echo to Malcolm X's refrain: The Ballot or the Bullet). And out of the ashes of the ensuing coup d'etat was born a century of Jim Crow and Apartheid, American style.

And as Paul Harvey would say "the rest of the story" is that even today, when we have both a "Black man" and a "White woman" running for the U.S. Presidency, just beneath the veneer of racial tranquility, America remains more like "post riot Wilmington" than like the interracial coalition that the reactionary vigilante forces overthrew in 1898.

As the authors noted so carefully in the preface: " the past seems not to have receded significantly, even today. In some very fundamental ways, change [towards democracy] has come slowly, sometimes almost imperceptibly [so]."

An important book with many perceptive and cautionary lessons for our still racially tense and constipated times. A true five star effort.



An important book with many perceptive and cautionary lessons for our still racially tense and constipated times. A true five star effort.

First let me say that I rarely read non-fiction and even when I do, I rarely manage to finish an entire book of it. Democracy Betrayed is an exception. The writing was clear, precise, right-on, and interesting. And, perhaps most importantly, educational. I was born and raised in North Carolina and knew nothing--absolutely nothing--about the Wilmington Race Riots or the subject of Cecelski's essay Abraham Galloway. I am female and was a victim of gender based racial violence myself so I was aware of the issues raised in Gilmore's essay and White's essay, but I have never seen the issues written about so well. What I most like about this book is that it destroys stereotypes about class and race. After all isn't it the most well-to-do who most benefit from race violence so why should we be surprised to learn that it was not the so-called "white trash" who began the racial massacre in 1898, but the rich, the ones who were most likely to benefit from forcing the elected fusionist party officials out of office and placing themselves in their offices. I never knew--it certainly wasn't taught in my public school--that in 1896 every office in North Carolina was held by a progressive fusionist party member, elected by the fusion of lower class whites and blacks. Imagine how different this state would be, how advanced in talent and intelligence, if the massacre hadn't occurred, if black doctors, lawyers, real estate agents, newspaper editors and writers, etc, hadn't been forced from the state and if the elected officials had been allowed to remain in office. Perhaps what is most important is the book succeeds in "drawing public attention to the tragedy", a tragedy that is apparantly very much in the consciousness of Black Wilmington citizens and very much needs to be in the consciousness of all humans.

In my opinion this book was great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I feel that every one should read about Denmark Vessey and his contributions to Black History. If you have nothing to do, read this book. I promise you it will change your views on Black History.

In my opinion this book was great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I feel that every one should read about Denmark Vessey and his contributions to Black History. If you have nothing to do, read this book. I promise you it will change your views on Black History.

I recently just finished reading this collection of stories about North Carolina. This book is filled with intriguing mysteries and legends about the Tar Heel state. The more famous story of Roanoke Island is covered here, as well as many others most from outside the region have probably never heard about. The stories include tales about shipwrecks, anomalies of nature as well as disappearing people. I found particularly interesting the story entitled 'The Devil's Tramping Ground' itself, as well as 'The Strange Hoof-Marks at Bath' and the mystery of 'The Brown Mountain Lights'. These alone will capture anyone's imagination and spark a desire to explore the hills of North Carolina. All in all a very enjoyable book, and if you like a good collection of short stories this is a good one for you. The fact that they all come from a particular region and are researched North Carolina mystery stories makes it even more facinating and entertaining.

Seeing as how "I'm a Tarheel born, I'm a Tarheel bred, and when I die I'm a Tarheel dead," I am of course fascinated by the legends and stories of the Old North State, just as John Harden was. In 1946 and 1947, Harden hosted a radio show called Tales of Tarheelia, in which he recounted many of the state's legendary stories and mysteries. Interest in that radio series and Harden's commitment to preserving these stories that could be lost forever if not put down in writing led to the publication of this book, The Devil's Tramping Ground and Other North Carolina Mystery Stories, in 1949. One should note the fact that the stories collected here are indeed mysteries as opposed to, say, ghost stories (of which North Carolina can boast of her fair share); these stories won't give you the creeps, but they will fascinate you and sharpen whatever interest you have in the history of the state of North Carolina.

When you talk about North Carolina mysteries, you must of course start at the very beginning - the Lost Colony. The first English settlement in the New World was made in the late 16th century at Roanoke, and it was here that the first non-native American child was born (Virginia Dare); when the long-delayed supply ship returned to these shores, the entire colony had disappeared completely, leaving behind a single clue as to the colonists' fate: the carving of the word Croatoan on a tree. This, North America's first mystery, remains as compelling and unsolved today as it was over four hundred years ago. The famous Brown Mountain Lights of western North Carolina, of which many may have heard, necessarily earn a chapter. The Devil's Tramping Ground to which the title refers is a circular spot of land in Chatham County in which the devil is said to pace each night as he thinks up his evil plans. The circle has a diameter of forty feet, and nothing will grow inside it; also, any material placed inside the circle will disappear overnight. A similar story involves the Magic Horse Tracks in the town of Bath; this series of holes remain fresh and unobscured after some two hundred years, and legend says they were made by the hoof prints of a horse whose owner asked him to either win the horse race he was engaging in (on the Sabbath, no less) or take him straight to hell - the horse obviously chose the latter by immediately barreling into a tree, killing his sacrilegious rider. You will read of deserted ships that mysteriously came to shore through the treacherous waters of the North Carolina Outer Banks, strange and unexplained disappearances of several individuals, the legend I must assume all new students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill continue to be told about (I was, but that was back in 1988) related to the present site of Gimghoul Castle, a couple of botanical mysteries, several stories related to animals, and a number of others miscellaneous tales.

I must admit that I was unfamiliar with several of these stories, although many were well known to me. One of the most interesting tales involves the identity of a schoolmaster of Rowan County; there is plenty of evidence that this man, Peter Stuart Ney, was in fact Marshal Ney of France, one of Napoleon's most trusted military strategists. Marshal Ney was, history tells us, executed by a firing squad after Napoleon's downfall, but rumors abound that his execution was in fact a hoax.

While the caliber of the twenty mysteries chronicled here varies somewhat, only a couple of them failed to fascinate me. Naturally, those with no association with North Carolina won't feel the connection I feel to the material, but anyone interested in the legends and mysteries of former times should find much to interest them in this engaging collection of Tarheel mysteries.

The diary of a single, young Southern Belle who gives us glimpses of her life from before the Civil War, to when the fighting comes close to home and when they have to flee to the West. You experience her emotions and innermost thoughts.

Often overlooked, diaries are the primary source of women's history during the Civil War. Here this elite South Carolina woman documents her life, not for prosperity, but as the custom of her day, via her private diary. Poignant and enjoyable to read, Emma carries through this time of war with the true dignity of Southern womanhood. Excellent social history of the daily life of a Southern woman. Thank you for bringing this wonderful diary to light. Joy Melcher, Civil War Lady Magazine

En Paris un poeta al salir de una orgia Angeles aleteando en la bestia veia Noble vision ustorio de este bardo maldito que canta, en tono grave, su fulgor infinito

Yo tambien se visiones en mi mente precita Un tropel de mirages sin descanso palpita Querubines-demonios,grande veldad...conmociones, Que harian estreecer los duros corazones Y en el mortal ignoto un angel canta No ha elevado un estigma,una vision que espanta? Alguna vez poeta, aunque el simple no creer

En el angel dormido una bestia loquea (patea)

Autor: Dr.Jesus Garcia Vazques

Symbolism is one of those schools of poetry that seems to fallen out of favor. Baudelaire's own particular brand is harsh, revolutionary, and sensual. This is not frilly love poetry but the work of a great decadent of mid-nineteenth century France. While much is lost in translation, his poetry still rings quite powerfully and is as relevant today as it ever will be. This is one of the books that helped found later surrealist movements along with the work of Rimbaud and Marquis De Sade. A great beautiful book dealing with the great temptations and filth of existence, in essence that which brings on evil.

Frederickson furnishes the historical background necessary to understand the political history of the South--and the nation--for the past half century. The Dixiecrats, who bolted the Democratic Party in 1948 out of their opposition to the notion of racial equality, only won four states in their effort to elect Strom Thurmond. But their reactionary stance would eventually reach a wider public frightened by the integration of public schools, fair housing laws, and federal protection of citizenship rights. The campaign marks the beginning of the white South's flight from the New Deal coalition. Like Strom Thurmond himself, a lightning rod figure in this excellent book, the heirs of these segregationist rebels become Republicans in 1964 and 1968, and bring about the two-party South. The future of the region was foretold in the white supremacist revolt of 1948, and is retold here with clarity, grace, balance, and style. A fine piece of historical research and writing that illuminate American politics today.

Kari Frederickson's analysis of the Dixiecrat movement and their influence on Southern (and American) politics is an important volume, and will likely be the definitive work on the subject. The author charts the course of southern dissatisfaction with the national Democratic Party beginning in the 1930s, culminating in the "critical election" of 1948 when the Dixiecrats challenged President Truman.

What differs in this volume is the detail given to the Dixiecrat Party and J. Strom Thurmond and Fielding Wright, the party's candidates for president and vice-president, respecitively. As a result, we not only gain a better understanding of the Dixiecrats and why the party won the votes of only four southern states, but also how this pivotal event was the beginning of the end for the one-party South. Recommended for those interested in American political history and a must read for historians and students of the American South.

Being from the Mt. Pleasant/Charleston area myself, I can vouch that this as a great collection of Black Charleston folklore. I know some of the areas that are spoken of in this tales. Essentially, Bennett, a sympathetic white Ohioan, collected these tales from African-Americans in Charleston in the early 1900s, but since this was the dark days of segregation and he chose not to patronize the tellers of these tales and treated them with dignity, he and these stories were scorned by White Charleston's establishment until he published this book in 1943.

Even without this basic history, these are wonderfully entertaining stories of ghosts, lost loves, and divine revenge that will be a hit at your next halloween party or your (older) children at bedtime. Read, learn, and enjoy.

Like Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Grady? Don't miss this much under-appreciated masterpiece by the man who started the Charleston Renaissance. Stories culled from the oral tradition of the Low Country's important Gullah culture, this book is an exhilarating alternative to the infinitely heavy and guilt-ridden tomes of Toni Morrison (Bennett was also from Ohio) for any serious student of Afro-American and Southern history. It includes original sketches of landscapes and portraits of black corroborators which firmly ground the stories in local history and folk culture. But this is not just a book for regionalists! One can't help but be impressed with Bennett's phenomenal interest, dedication, and erudition even if he was a bit self absorbed. The new edition, published by the University of South Carolina, is introduced with a lucid piece by Professor and Librarian Thomas L. Johnson.

glad to be a sportsman in the Tarheel state. Eagerly anticipating "The Secret Lives of Fishermen".

I came across this book while looking for something to read on a rainy day. The title was amusing and I was somewhat aquainted with Jim Dean's work as editor of "Wildlife in North Carolina" magazine. This is a truly remarkable collection of stories that celebrate the outdoor life. These stories are not just about hunting and fishing, although hunters and fishermen would certainly enjoy them. Mr. Dean has captured a unique way of approaching life. His stories are quite entertaining and will remind you of a time that many think has passed away. A time when life wasn't so complicated and things didn't seem to move so fast. The stories with names such as "The Summers Before Air," or "Dogs Are a Better Class of People" should make you wonder what this man considers important. I highly recommend this book. You will be glad you bought it. These stories will make you feel good, especially on a rainy day. It also makes a great gift for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

Can you imagine being taken away from your mother father, sisters and brothers in the middle of the night by a stranger? Yesterday, you were free to run ,play ,jump ,laugh and sing with your friends, but now you are shackled by your arms and ankles. You cannot move on your own because you are chained to another child and that child is chained to another child. All of a sudden you are on this boat with hundreds of other men, women, children, and babies,riding endlessly in the dark of the night. You look up and you see someone weak, someone in pain, someone about to die. You are afraid but you cannot run you cannot hide. You hear voices of men and women screaming at the top of their lungs. These men and women who have just been beaten. Suddenly the ship comes to a stop. The men who forced everyone on the boat are now resting, resting from the long journey. They are not paying attention to the hundreds of slaves who they threw crumbs to, who they beat continuously on this passage this long dark middle passage. One by one mothers and fathers start walking and staring straight into the sea. Children are following them. It's as if they are all in a trance. They walk like tired soldiers into the water. One by one they go farther and farther away until you can't see them anymore. The blue sea becomes the sea full of ebony people who'd rather die than live a brutal life as a slave.

Can you imagine being taken away from your mother father, sisters and brothers in the middle of the night by a stranger? Yesterday, you were free to run ,play ,jump ,laugh and sing with your friends, but now you are shackled by your arms and ankles. You cannot move on your own because you are chained to another child and that child is chained to another child. All of a sudden you are on this boat with hundreds of other men, women, children, and babies,riding endlessly in the dark of the night. You look up and you see someone weak, someone in pain, someone about to die. You are afraid but you cannot run you cannot hide. You hear voices of men and women screaming at the top of their lungs. These men and women who have just been beaten. Suddenly the ship comes to a stop. The men who forced everyone on the boat are now resting, resting from the long journey. They are not paying attention to the hundreds of slaves who they threw crumbs to, who they beat continuously on this passage this long dark middle passage. One by one mothers and fathers start walking and staring straight into the sea. Children are following them. It's as if they are all in a trance. They walk like tired soldiers into the water. One by one they go farther and farther away until you can't see them anymore. The blue sea becomes the sea full of ebony people who'd rather die than live a brutal life as a slave.