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) […]
Tag: South
Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial – History’s Most Famous Concert?
Truly, history’s most famous concert is a matter for debate. But the performance of Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial on April 9 of 1939 was memorable for a host of reasons. Anderson, a world-famous contralto, sang before an audience estimated at 75,000 on Easter Sunday that year. It’s a performance still remembered today. What […]
Steinbeck’s East of Eden, is it Worth My Time? Rob’s Expert Review
There’s little I can write about John Steinbeck’s East of Eden that no one’s written before, I realize. The classic is about to reach its sixth decade since publication. But that doesn’t mean that you’ve read it. So, hopefully this review will be new to you. The book is about as epic as books get. […]
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 […]
Octavius Catto, Civil Rights Legend
The career of Octavius Catto ranks among the great stories of the United States in the 1800s. This versatile figure came to prominence during and after the Civil War. This was a time of dramatic change in America. Octavius Catto is a second-generation figure in the struggle of African Americans for equality in the United […]
David Walker & Walker’s Appeal
David Walker, author of the publication Walker’s Appeal, is one of the greatest civil rights figures in early American history. However, it’s quite likely you’ve never heard of David Walker. Today we explore his story. Walker was a free African American who lived from 1796 to 1830. He was born in North Carolina to a […]