The Clinton Massacre of 1875 – A Bloody Key to American History

A few events in history are so emblematic of their times that we rightly call them keys to understanding something larger. The Clinton Massacre of 1875 is one such event. Clinton was a small town in Mississippi in 1875. In September of that year, Republican supporters organized a large rally in support of their candidates […]

Review of The Girls in the Stilt House – Should You Try This Novel?

My review of The Girls in the Stilt House is for the novel by Kelly Mustian that appeared in 2021. It’s the story of Ada and Matilda, two young women who grow up poor in 1920s Mississippi. The young ladies live on the Natchez Trace in a swampy area (that’s why the house needs stilts) […]

Review of The Battle of Ole Miss by Frank Lambert

The book The Battle of Ole Miss is a nonfiction history published in 2010. Author Frank Lambert was a college professor (Purdue University) at the time of publication. The Battle of Ole Miss is an important historical event that took place in 1962. Ole Miss, of course, refers to the University of Mississippi. The battle […]

The Bloody Sunday Attack at Pettus Bridge – Who Was Edmund Pettus?

The Bloody Sunday Attack at Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, is a signature event from the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. It proved important enough to feature in a Hollywood movie, Selma, that appeared over the winter of 2014-15. While the Bloody Sunday attack at Pettus Bridge is famous, the person for whom […]

The Carroll County Courthouse Massacre – Its Startling, Tragic End

It’s true I write about civil rights on my blog often. This entry on the Carroll County Courthouse Massacre (Carroll County, Mississippi) is in that vein, too. Why? Because most readers have no idea how deeply-rooted this issue is in American history. The country has witnessed far more massacres and killings than most of us […]

Grace Lorch Helps Elizabeth Eckford

It’s unlikely you’ve heard of Grace Lorch. Unless you are a serious student of Arkansas history, her name likely doesn’t register. But when Grace Lorch helps Elizabeth Eckford in 1957, she changed history. Grace Lorch is a superb example of how regular people, almost unknown today, contributed to the Civil Rights Movement. The main event […]