Still Fighting the Civil War: The American South and Southern History

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments This book has many parents. It rests on the work of scholars, journalists , and novelists. If I listed them all here, I would inevitably leave someone out, not to mention that I would reduce the pool of potential reviewers significantly . Embalmment of my sources in the endnotes is the best I can do. Some of the professionals whose work is evident in this book are not acknowledged in the notes. Copy editor Sarah Richards Doerries made splendid suggestions that improved the flow of the manuscript. Archivists in the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Library of Congress, the Duke Divinity School Library, Clemson University, and the Virginia Historical Society shared their expertise. Don Veasey of the Birmingham Public Library, Jim Willard of North Carolina Historical Sites, Michael Rose and Betsy Ricks of the Atlanta History Center, Cathy Mundale and Karen Jefferson of the Robert W. Woodruff Library at the Atlanta University Center, and Heather A. Whitacre of the Museum of the Confederacy were particularly helpful. Staff at the Charlotte Observer, especially Don Hinshaw and talented artists Kevin Siers and Diedra Laird, and Mic Smith and Tom Spain at the Charleston (S.C.) Post & Courier offered generous support to my project. And speaking of support, there is no finer staff to work with than the folks at LSU Press. The greatest gift to a historian is time; the time to engage in research, and the time to reflect, write, and rewrite. I have been fortunate to work in an environment at UNC-Charlotte that not only encourages my efforts but supports them, too. My history department colleagues, especially department chair xiii xiv Acknowledgments John Smail, have indulged my work probably more than I deserve. And the university administration, particularly Dean Schley Lyons and Provost Denise Trauth, have supported this and other productions. Chancellor James H. Woodward has created an atmosphere that promotes both scholarship and collegiality. It is a pleasure to come to work. Melinda H. Desmarais served as my graduate assistant for three years during the research and writing phases of the project. Her work with the Journal of Urban History proved invaluable to my efforts, enabling me to devote more of my time to this book. Her judgments were always correct and deadlines always met. At the same time, she carried on an extensive research agenda of her own, uncovering the role of black domestics in North Carolina textile towns before World War II. I completed the manuscript while serving as the Fulbright Chair in American Studies at Uppsala University in Sweden. I am grateful to the Fulbright program and to Jeannette Lindström, Executive Director of the Swedish Fulbright Commission, for making this possible. I cannot say that Sweden provided any great insights into my work on the American South, but it did offer a relaxed environment and the time to shape the manuscript. Erik Åsard, Director of the Swedish Institute for North American Studies, was especially supportive of my project, and he offered several opportunities to inflict my ideas on colleagues. The American Seminar at Cambridge University, run by Tony Badger, also provided suggestions for my work in progress. I have been especially blessed by a wonderful family. My father, Alex, with his stories of life in Memphis, generated my initial curiosity about the South. My sister, Joni Schwager, has been a source of good humor and fellowship, often presenting the northern ‘‘take’’ on my region. Without Marie-Louise Hedin, my wife, I doubt very much whether this page could have been written at this time. She has provided a stability and affection that has allowed me to sustain my work and my life. The South for her is really a foreign country . The contrast with her native Sweden has provided some interesting and occasionally humorous insights. This is the first book I have written that my mother, Sarah, will not see. Through her struggles for life and against it she maintained a steadfast belief in me and a spiritual love of learning. Through her, I learned to appreciate good books, but especially good writing. May she rest peacefully. Blaine Brownell is not related to me biologically as far as either of us can figure out, but he has been a brother to me for more than thirty years. When- Acknowledgments xv ever I despaired about the South, I thought of Blaine, a Deep South native, and...