Hunting and Fishing in the New South: Black Labor and White Leisure after the Civil War

• Acknowledgments
• Chapter
• Johns Hopkins University Press
• pp. 177-179
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Acknowledgments

Research and writing can be a daunting and isolating experience at times and, for that reason, is never a truly individual endeavor. This study could not have been completed without the intellectual, emotional, and moral support of many fine people, and it is a great pleasure to acknowledge my debts. My deepest appreciation and gratitude goes to my family, friends, and colleagues for their help, guidance, and patience through this challenging and sometimes difficult process.

I first developed an intense love for studying the past while a history major at Hiram College, in Ohio. There I had the great fortune to learn from Wilson Hoffman, now Emeritus Professor of History, and Glenn Sharfman, now Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs at Manchester College. In classes, in their offices, or just talking around the big table in Pendleton House, Wil and Glenn inculcated an appreciation for the twists and turns of history and provided an outstanding model of teaching, advising, and mentoring. My eventual decision to pursue a career in academics was based in part on their example and I would be remiss in not expressing my gratitude to them.

My thanks also go to the members of my dissertation committee at the University of Pittsburgh for their efforts reading, criticizing, and sharpening my work over the years. Without welcome advice and keen insight from Professors Kathleen Blee, Seymour Drescher, and Marcus Rediker this project would not have been possible. My work and my own understanding of history are much stronger for their efforts, and I sincerely thank them for their interest and guidance.

I especially wish to express my deepest appreciation for the unbending support of my valued graduate advisor, Professor Van Beck Hall. Dr. Hall’s mentoring over the long years, from our explorations of Southern history in early independent studies (during which I first glimpsed the full scope of his terrifying but inspirational knowledge of the region) to the final stages of writing, showed me what it truly means to be a dedicated scholar, thoughtful educator, and concerned advisor and friend. I intend to follow his fine example as best I can in my own career.

Numerous organizations provided generous financial support for the research and writing of this book. I was fortunate to twice receive the Samuel P. Hays Research Award from the Department of History of the University of Pittsburgh, which greatly aided in locating and, later, completing the necessary research. In between those awards, I received valuable support from the Virginia Historical Society in the form of an Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellowship that funded my work in Richmond. For my work in the Southern Historical and North Carolina Collections at the University of North Carolina, I benefited from the Archie K. Davis Research Fellowship from the North Caroliniana Society. In addition to the above grants and awards, the Lillian B. Lawler Predoctoral Fellowship provided most valuable assistance that enabled me to complete the majority of my research. I sincerely thank each organization and the individuals involved for these muchappreciated awards.

I also wish to acknowledge the librarians and archivists at the sites I visited for my research. Their help and interest in my study made the research process much easier. I especially thank the staff of the Hillman Library at the University of Pittsburgh, particularly the Inter-Library Loan and Microfilm departments, which were a great help for this project. I also thank the staff of the Library of Virginia and Virginia Historical Society in Richmond, the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh, the South Carolina Historical Society in Charleston, the South Carolina State Archives and the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, in Columbia, and the Southern Historical and North Carolina Collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

For a junior scholar navigating the world of publishing for the first time, I benefited greatly from working with the fine people at the Johns Hopkins University Press. Robert J. Brugger showed interest in and support for the study before the dissertation draft had even been completed and was extremely helpful in shepherding the manuscript toward completion. He also found an anonymous reader whose comments and criticism proved both encouraging and helpful. In addition, the Press assigned a wonderful copyeditor, Linda Strange, whose careful attention to the book improved it greatly. I thank Bob and the staff of the Press for their efforts.

I wish to make special mention of the many friends and colleagues whose friendship over the years, from my days as a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh to my time at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri, has been so important, personally and professionally. Without their interest in my work and their steadfast intellectual and emotional support, this project would not have been started, let alone finished. Whether in seminars, over lunch, on research trips, via telephone and e-mail, or at conferences, that network of friends proved invaluable. I deeply thank Tania Boster, John Donoghue, Mike Ervin, Jeff Forret, Patrick Hotle, Jack Kapluck, Jayme Long, Steve Long, Mike McCoy, Dave Recht, Chad Statler, Vanessa Sterling, and Andy Walsh for their friendship and valuable contributions to my work.

Special thanks go to those friends and colleagues who have read all or parts of the manuscript over the years as it changed from master’s proposal to dissertation to book, and generously lent their time and honesty toward pointing out the study’s strengths and weaknesses. Andrew Haley, Craig Marin, and Ellie Walsh generously gave their time to this project since the beginning, discussing the research, helping shape the argument, and reading and critiquing chapter drafts. I am forever grateful for their efforts. Their questions, suggestions, and criticisms are an important reason why the work has reached this stage. Any places where the book falls short, of course, reflect my shortcoming and not theirs.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge the love and support from my family that made my studies of history possible in the first place. Without the tireless and unwavering support from my parents, John and Judy Giltner, I could never have reached this point. I thank them for their patience during this long process and for their faith that it would someday reach a conclusion. Ultimately, the existence of this book is much more a testament to their hard work and dedication than to mine.