Mississippi Books

Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors is an excellent first book for any young person interested in the history of the Cajun people. Nicely illustrated and very readable, the book draws on the broad range of academic Cajun studies to produce a overview of the Cajun & Acadian history from the groups origins in France to Nova Scotia to Louisiana. Cultural history is covered as well. This book should be in all public and school libraries in Louisiana and in many places outside so young people can explore the history of this unique group.

I read this book as a boy and have it still. The attitudes toward growing up in America, toward the North and South, toward African-Americans are all somewhat of a century ago, but not hostile nor judgemental. The story itself is still quite readable: young Bill, not doing well in school or on the farm, runs away and walks or boats through New England, Pennsylvania and down the Mississippi. He has adventures, but very realistic ones. He grows and finds himself, partly by connecting with the history of the US and by realizing both his own and the country's potential. Raymond Spears is a good storyteller and the book, for all its old-fashioned flavor is not merely quaint, but a decent read. Aimed (probably) at young male readers of some 90 years past, "Camping" offers some insight into the American character----like "The Virginian" or "The Rise of Silas Lapham". This is a pleasant read, a visit into a world long gone.

Wow! I have never been to the Canton Flea market, but yet after reading this book I feel like I have. This book made me want to drive to Canton and see these homes that were so beautifully described in the book - The priestly house, the Greene masion, etc. You felt like you were in Canton the whole time. Hardwick has a way of writing that makes you feel like you are right there. The story was very well written. I could not put the book down - it held my attention until I finished the book.

I'm originally from Indianola, Mississippi, the town Schweid writes about in this book. It's an unusual place--the home of B. B. King and the Citizen's Council, a town that is sixty-five percent black but one in which almost everything is owned and run by whites. Schweid sees and records all that is troubling about the place--and there's plenty that is--but at the same time he finds himself inexorably drawn to it. The people of the Delta, both black and white, come alive here, and it's also worth noting that Schweid writes like an angel. Buy the book--it's a gem.

THIS TERRIFIC BOOK RECAPTURES BLACK WOMEN'S EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF THE UNIQUE LIVES THEY LED. WE KNOW SO LITTLE ABOUT FREE BLACK WOMEN IN THE SOUTH AND THESE LETTERS AND DIARIES BRING TO LIFE A NEGLECTED CHAPTER OF OUR HISTORY AND THEIR EXPERIENCE.....PLUS THE DIARY OF THIS YOUNG BLACK WOMAN DURING THE CIVIL WAR IS A COMPELLING HISTORICAL VOICE. THE EDITOR HAS DONE A TERRIFIC JOB SETTING THESE VOICES IN CONTEXT SO WE CAN ONCE AGAIN HEAR THEIR STORIES AND READ THE WORDS OF LOST BLACK WOMEN FROM THE PAST.

This study on Baker's Creek near Port Gibson, MS is a compelling analysis of slope stability and channel gradation at a bridge site in the loessial bluffs of SW Mississippi and in a tributary of the Bayou Pierre. Excellent read for those having trouble sleeping at night.

Once you're through reading Chaplin's memoirs and David Robinson's biography, you easily get the impression that's everything a Chaplin-fan needs to know about their hero. I assure you such is not the case; I can name several other books just as significant for any student of the comedian's life and work, and CHARLIE CHAPLIN: INTERVIEWS is certainly among them.

Kevin J. Hayes has done a wonderful job collecting some of the relatively few truly insightful interviews Chaplin ever did, beginning with "The Funniest Man on the Screen" by Victor Eubank (published 1915), in which Chaplin, who at that time had just signed his Essanay-contract, expressed some very reflected thoughts about comedy, being still just a newcomer in the movie-business. There are twenty-four interviews in all, other titles included are:

"Beneath the Mask: Witty, Wistful, Serious Is The Real Charlie Chaplin" (Grace Kingsley, 1916)
"Charlie Chaplin, Philosopher, Has Serious Side" (Frank Veeland, 1921)
"Shy Charlie Chaplin Opens His Heart" (Mordaunt Hall, 1925)
"Future of the Cinema: Mr. Charles Chaplin" (Robert Nichols, 1925)
"Chaplin Explains Chaplin" (Harry Carr, 1925)
"Chaplin Draws a Keen Weapon" (Robert van Gelder, 1940)
"Charlie Chaplin's MONSIEUR VERDOUX Press Conference" (George Wallach, 1947)
"Ageless Master's Anatomy of Comedy: Chaplin, An Interview" (Richard Meryman, 1967)
...etc.

The latter title is not really an interview, but rather an essay written by Chaplin where he covers both personal feelings and his view on the movie industry of today (which, of course, is the 1960's). Despite the fact that some interviews have nearly reached a century of age, they stand out as remarkably fresh and modern in their style and subjects. Naturally, some are better than others --the MONSIEUR VERDOUX press conference offers little except several attacks on Chaplin's politics and questions concerning Orson Welles' contributions to the screen-play-- but the very best are simply terrific.

The book includes no photos, but who needs that when all these great articles are available? CHARLIE CHAPLIN: INTERVIEWS is a unique sampling of some very sensitive and interesting interviews, which every admirer of the great comedian should read and own. I'll sure get Hayes' similar Buster Keaton-book one of these days.

Monette Morgan Young wrote about the area she knew best, the northeast corner of Calhoun County, Mississippi, where she was born and reared. This area included the old communities of Cherry Hill and Reid with their focal point at the Poplar Springs Baptist Church. She blends her library and census data research with the information from family Bibles and hours of discussions with older family members and hundreds of letters she exchanged with far-flung distant cousins. To this she adds her own personal memories of growing up as a single child on a small isolated farm and the daily life there. I think this is a great book, but I am a bit biased since I'm her son and I helped her edit and publish this book. There are no longer paper copies, but it is available on line at the Scribd web site. I don't know why it is listed by Amazon.Com, but I thought I'd put up this review of it.

Chickasaw the Scout is a relative of my wife and the story is family legend. It describes in detail how a Southerner is conflicted about the WBTS and how important preservation of the Union was to Levi Naron. Chickasaw was Chief of Union Scouts (spies) for the Southern Campaign and served Sherman, Grant, and others in the TN, MS, AL, GA theaters of operation. Needless to say, he could not return to Chickasaw County, Mississippi after the war because of retaliation from his neighbors so he relocated to Kansas on government land grants where his family still resides.

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.