Vol. 22, No. 4: Winter 2016

Vol. 22, No. 4: Winter 2016

Winter 2016 finds Sundays on parade in New Orleans, the Nasher’s Southern Accent exhibition, Charles R. Wilson’s last lecture, singing schools in the Ozarks, MLK’s foes interviewed, new roots in North Carolina, and more.

Front Porch: Winter 2016

by Harry Watson

“It’s true that many of the “peculiar institutions” that once made the South indisputably distinctive are gone or fading, though whether this will efface southern identity or merely change it remains unsettled.”

Sundays in the Streets

by Leslie Gale Parr

"It began early and grew fast, this romance between New Orleans and parades."

New Roots/Nuevas Raíces: Stories from Carolina del Norte

by Jaycie Vos, Maria Silvia Ramirez, Laura Villa-Torres, Hannah Gill

“‘When I got here, I felt like I was reborn because I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t walk anywhere because I didn’t know where I was going. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t be myself. So I always kept my principles and my culture, but I was reborn.’”

Clark and Pritchett: A Comparison of Two Notorious Southern Lawmen

by James Reston Jr.

“‘That night, they blew up King’s motel, and every police car they had in Birmingham got torn up. I left. I didn’t have anything in common with Bull Connor.’”

The Necessity of a Show Like This

by Trevor Schoonmaker, Stacy Lynn Waddell, Jeff Whetstone

"Southern Accent: Seeking the American South in Contemporary Art" was co-curated by Trevor Schoonmaker (Nasher Museum of Art) and Miranda Lash (Speed Art Museum). Before the show opened in September, we sat down with Schoonmaker and artists Stacy Lynn Waddell and Jeff Whetstone, both featured in the exhibition.

Handiwork: A Postscript from The South in Color

by William R. Ferris

“I passed the sign frequently and always noticed its beautiful lettering. Finally, I stopped and photographed it, thankfully, because the sign is now gone.”

Whose South?

by Charles Reagan Wilson

"In the modern and postmodern worlds mass-produced artifacts reflect something of southern pleasures, aspirations, and humor."

What Kind of Cobb Are You?: Class, Wealth, and Power in the Real and Remembered South

by James C. Cobb

“After years of putting up with this genealogical equivalent of the third degree, I finally decided to explore the distinct experiences of these two strands of a single white family, which, despite their relative physical proximity, often seemed to exist in two different, albeit intersecting, worlds.”

Where Everything New Is Old Again: Southern Gospel Singing Schools

by Brooks Blevins

“The singing school may not have been a southern creation, but its proliferation in the post–Civil War years was largely a phenomenon of the South. Its survival, and revival, in the twenty-first century is almost exclusively a southern story.”

Feeling Frank

by Jennifer Ho

“I am in Jamaica because Frank wanted his ashes scattered here; he wanted to come home.”

They Live

by Ross White

“How did They reach us so easily back in the day, on playgrounds, in convenience stores, at skate shops?

Southern Voices

by Southern Cultures

Meet the Southern Oral History Program, our colleagues at the Center for the Study of the American South, UNC-Chapel Hill.

Mason–Dixon Lines (Part II)

by Southern Cultures

Southern Cultures Poetry Editor Michael Chitwood shares two of his favorite "Mason–Dixon Lines" poems from our pages.

The King of the Birds

by Southern Cultures

We talked with illustrator (and frequent Southern Cultures contributor) Natalie Nelson + author Acree Macam about their new children's book, The King of the Birds. (Illustrations by Natalie Nelson, courtesy the authors.)