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Preface
- Texas A&M University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Preface The publicationofC.VannWoodward’s The Strange CareerofJim Crowin1955promptedanextendedscholarlydebateaboutthetiming andpracticesofsegregationintheyearsimmediatelyfollowingtheCivil War.InfactthediscussionwassoprofoundthatWoodwardhimselfreentered thefray,withsubstantiallyalterededitionsin1957,1966,and1974 andinanexchangewithHowardRabinowitzpublishedinthe Journalof AmericanHistoryin1988.Theheartofthe“Woodwardthesis”isthat segregationdidnotfullycrystallizeuntiltheendofthenineteenthcentury andthatbetweentheendoftheCivilWarandthe1890sthereexistedin racerelationsafl exibilitythatmighthaveproducedahistoricaltrajectory differentfromwhatdidoccur.Inthe1990s,historiansmovedthisdebate ontonewintellectualterrain,leavingbehindthestandardWoodward- orientedquestionsaboutcontinuityversusdiscontinuityandthetiming ofJimCrow.Thisnewgenerationofscholarsfocusedonsuchtopicsas theroleofwomen,therelationshipbetweengenderandpolitics,theculture ofresistance,andthehegemonicfunctionof“whiteness.”Prompted bytheamazingrichnessofthisintellectualinquiry,in2008wesetoutto capturearepresentationofitand,inaddition,toexplorenewavenues andaskfreshquestions,firstinaconferenceandtheninthiscollection ofessays.Itisperhapsfittingthat,althoughtheresultingvolumedeparts fromWoodward’sfocusontiming,abiracialSouth,andmenalone,itreinforces hisobservationthatthepoliticsandmeansofJimCrowweredecidedly “strange”—idiosyncratic,contradictory,andmultifaceted. ThegenesisofthisvolumewastheForty- ThirdAnnualWalterPrescott WebbMemorialLectures,whosethemewas“TheCultureofJimCrow: RethinkingtheSegregatedSouth,1880– 1920.”HeldonMarch13,2008, theconferencewasalivelyaffair,withpresentationsbyThedaPerdue, NatalieJ.Ring,MiaBay,andJaneDailey.Perdueisadistinguishedhisto- x Preface rianattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill.Herseveralbooks onIndiansoftheSouthincludeMixedBloodIndians:RacialConstruction intheEarlySouth(2003).Ring,theconferenceco-organizer,isassistant professorofhistoryattheUniversityofTexasatDallasandauthorofthe forthcomingbookTheProblemSouth:Region,Empire,andtheNewLiberal State,1880–1930.Bay,professorofhistoryatRutgersUniversity,is theauthoroftheinnovative WhiteImageintheBlackMind(2000)and ofToTelltheTruthFreely:ALifeofIdaB.Wells(2010).Daileyisassociate professorofhistoryattheUniversityofChicago.Herwide-ranging listofpublicationsaboutsegregationandtheSouthincludes BeforeJim Crow:ThePoliticsofRaceinPostemancipationVirginia(2000).Revised versionsoftheconferencepresentationsareofferedhere,alongwithvaluable contributionsbyPeterWallensteinandMelissaStein,solicitedasa resultofconversationsthatbeganatthatconference.Wallenstein,professor ofhistoryatVirginiaPolytechnicInstituteandStateUniversity,isthe authorofTelltheCourtILoveMyWife:Race,Marriage,andLaw—An AmericanHistory(2004)andnumerousotherpublicationsonthesocial andlegalhistoryoftheSouth.Stein,anassistantprofessorintheGender andWomen’sStudiesprogramattheUniversityofKentucky,isrevising hermanuscript“EmbodyingRace:Sex,Gender,andtheSciencesof Difference,1830– 1936.”W.FitzhughBrundage,whograciouslyaccepted ourinvitationtowritetheintroduction,isWilliamB.UmsteadProfessor ofHistoryatUNC- ChapelHill.HismanypublicationsontheSouthsince theCivilWarinclude TheSouthernPast:AClashofRaceandMemory (2005). InitiallyourgoalwastoreconsidertheformativeyearsofJimCrowin lightofrecentdevelopmentsinAfricanAmerican,NativeAmerican,and genderstudies,thehistoryofcross- culturalandmultiracialexchanges,and emergingeffortstoplacetheSouthinatransnationalcontext.Wesoon discoveredthatourcontributorsviewtheconsolidationofsegregationas aprocesscontinuingthroughmanydecades,beyondthechronologicalparameters originallysetforthelectureseries.AsBrundagenotes:“These essaysdemonstratepersuasivelythatitisfollytotrytolocateasinglemoment ofcreationforsegregationfromwhichitssubsequentdevelopment inevitablyfollowed.Instead,formalsegregationevolvedthroughanuntidy processofexperimentationandadaptation.”Thusourtitle, TheFolly ofJimCrow,acknowledgestheprecariousandever- shiftingnatureofsegregation andthe“strangeness”ofthesegregatedSouth. Wewouldliketothankall...