50th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides

On May 4, 1961, thirteen Freedom Riders left Washington, DC on two buses with the intent of challenging segregation in bus stations and other travel facilities across the South, a campaign that ultimately resulted in a federal ruling to enforce desegregation of interstate travel. The action marked a turning point in the tactics of the Civil Rights Movement and was a foundational event in the lives of many activists.

Joan C. Browning, co-author of DEEP IN OUR HEARTS: NINE WHITE WOMEN IN THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT, along with many other surviving Freedom Riders, will be gathering in Chicago tomorrow for a reunion conference and a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show devoted to the Freedom Rides and scheduled to air on May 4, the anniversary date.

The film Freedom Riders, a production of American Experience, will premier on PBS on May 16; the show is sponsoring a 2011 reenactment Freedom Ride with students. (A UGA sophomore, JoyEllen Freeman, has been selected to join this ride.) Many other commemorations and events are scheduled nationwide.

Short Takes: Unusual in its depth and breadth

Booklist reviews Mark Hersey's new environmental biography of George Washington Carver, MY WORK IS THAT OF CONSERVATION: "Because of Carver’s close associations with poor black tenant farmers, his work and research reveal as much about their lives and struggles in a deeply racist agricultural system as they do about his vision of land conservation and his contributions to the broad context of the ecology movement."

Michael Crutcher's TREME in the New Orleans Times-Picayune and on WWNO's "The Sound of Books".

Allen Tullos on WBHM's Tapestry; also interviewed by Barbara Dooley about ALABAMA GETAWAY

Two works exploring the impact of Agent Orange, THE INVENTION OF ECOCIDE and FAMILY OF FALLEN LEAVES, reviewed together in Asia Times by Nick Turse.

Congratulations to Diane Mutti Burke, whose book ON SLAVERY'S BORDER -- the inaugural title in our Early American Places series -- is the winner of The Missouri Conference on History Book Award, given for the best history book written by a resident of Missouri.

The new American Historical Review includes reviews of MAKING CATFISH BAIT OUT OF GOVERNMENT BOYS ("This is a superb book...Unusual in its depth and breadth of research"), IN SEARCH OF BRIGHTEST AFRICA ("A novel discussion of representations of Africa in the early twentieth century...[a] very good work of cultural history"), and ACADEMIC LIVES ("a richly contextualized, if occasionally tendentious, investigation").

Dave Lucas and WEATHER in the Cleveland Plain Dealer; The Forward features David Caplan for National Poetry Month.

The Studio 360 American Icons radio series ran a story about the song “Dixie” that features commentary by Coleman Hutchisson, author of the forthcoming book tentatively titled Apples of Ashes: Literature, Nationalism, and the Confederate States of America. This undeniably catchy minstrel tune has a fascinating and complex history, and it continues to stir emotions of all kinds 150 years after it was written.

Get Ready for the New Season of HBO's Tremé

With the HBO television series TREME set to begin a new season on Sunday, we wanted to draw attention to Michael Crutcher's book TREME: RACE AND PLACE IN A NEW ORLEANS NEIGHBORHOOD, published last December as part of Georgia's series Geographies of Justice and Social Transformation. Lolis Eric Elie, a writer for the HBO show, said of Crutcher's book: "Never before has the mystery and glory of the Faubourg Tremé been brought together in one volume. Crutcher makes a cogent argument in clear prose for why this place is worthy of attention, study, and celebration.” You can read an interview with the author in our latest newsletter. Crutcher will give a talk about TREME: RACE AND PLACE IN A NEW ORLEANS NEIGHBORHOOD at Octavia Books in New Orleans on Thursday, April 21, at 6:00 p.m.

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MARION MANLEY Wins Historic Preservation Award

The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation has selected MARION MANLEY: MIAMI'S FIRST WOMAN ARCHITECT to receive Recognition of Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Preservation Education/Media. Every year, through its Statewide Annual Preservation Awards Program, the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation recognizes outstanding achievement in historic preservation. The award will be presented on Friday, May 20, during the Florida Trust's 2011 Annual Conference.

Marion Manley (date unknown).
Courtesy of the Historical Museum
of Southern Florida,
Marion Manley Collection.

Elevate Difference (formerly the Feminist Review) called the book, "an overdue tribute to a woman who accomplished so much so far ahead of her time." The Art Libraries Society of North America said, "the book is beautifully designed and is highly recommended for libraries of all types with an interest in Miami and Florida, and academic libraries collecting architectural history, art history, and women's studies."

NIkki Finney is the Oxford American's Featured Poet of the Month

Nikki Finney

Nikki Finney, editor of THE RINGING EAR: BLACK POETS LEAN SOUTH, is the subject of a lengthy, absorbing interview in the Oxford American. Read about Finney's regard for fellow poet Lucille Clifton ("She's at the center of everything I do."), her thoughts on graduate writing programs ("I don't really like the model of going right from undergraduate to graduate without some time spent out in the world."), her ties to the South ("I find that my closeness to South Carolina and to my family never goes away."), and her acute sense of history ("I was a child of Civil Rights workers in the South.").

Phillis Wheatley

Don't forget about our other recent anthology of African American poetry, BLACK NATURE: FOUR CENTURIES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN NATURE POETRY, edited by Camille T. Dungy. And, while we're on the topic of African American poetry, be sure to watch out for PHILLIS WHEATLEY: BIOGRAPHY OF A GENIUS IN BONDAGE by Vincent Carretta. Coming this November, it reveals the life and times of the first English-speaking person of African descent to publish a book and only the second woman—of any race or background—to do so in America.

Nature Sale

Even though some parts of the country are still getting snow (hang in there), beautiful weather is in full effect here in Georgia. We’re hosting a sale on nature guides and other books to help you enjoy the outdoors now through June 15. Most titles are 30% off with select books discounted 50%.

Our newest nature guides are Jim Wilson’s COMMON BIRDS OF GREATER ATLANTA and COMMON BIRDS OF COASTAL GEORGIA, available in newly designed, revised editions. These guides feature large color photographs throughout for immediate identification and are conveniently organized by bird size, starting with very small birds, and progressing to larger species. If you are in the Atlanta area, Wilson will be signing books on Thursday, April 21, at a horticulture event at Gwinnett Technical College.

Enjoy the spring.