See you in 2014!

Play Ball: Baseball in Atlanta

“Before the Braves, the Crackers were our team.”—President Jimmy Carter

Today we have a guest post by award-winning journalist Tim Darnell.


With the recent Hollywood blockbuster film “42,” it’s easy to forget that, 64 years ago, another racial barrier was smashed in Atlanta.

Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey’s Brooklyn Dodgers came to Atlanta in April 1949 to play a three-game exhibition series against the Atlanta Crackers. Rickey, the owner and GM of the Dodgers, and Earl Mann, owner and GM of the Crackers, were close friends, and both arranged the contest.

If the games went off, it would mark the first time in Atlanta history that blacks and whites would compete against each other in a professional sporting contest. The Ku Klux Klan, however, had other ideas.

Here’s an excerpt from THE CRACKERS: EARLY DAYS OF ATLANTA BASEBALL, that describes the event:

“The Klan’s Grand Dragon called Dad, threatening him if Robinson played here,” recalls Oreon Mann. “My father rarely ever angry, but, Lord, when he did … Well, after telling this Grand Dragon where to go, he called (then-police chief) Herbert Jenkins.

“The Klan called later again at the park, and Jenkins happened to be standing there when the call came in. Dad told the Grand Dragon that he was going to put Jenkins on the line, and told him to repeat his threats to the Atlanta police chief.

“We never heard from that Grand Dragon again.”


Learn more about this historic event in Atlanta history in Tim Darnell's THE CRACKERS: EARLY DAYS OF ATLANTA BASEBALL. Beginning in an era before traffic jams, air-conditioning, and Atlanta’s ascension to international fame, Tim Darnell chronicles the emergence of amateur and minor-league baseball in various forms in Atlanta from just after the Civil War through the rise of the Crackers (1901–65). THE CRACKERS is a light-hearted, fun, and engrossing history of a time, a people, and one very special centerfield magnolia tree whose stories are legend to this day.

“There has always been something very magical about the early days of minor-league baseball, and Darnell makes that magic come alive.”—Jim Huber, CNN/Sports Illustrated

Tim Darnell has written for numerous Atlanta sports and political publications. He is also the author of 101 Atlanta Sports Legends and The Georgia Tech Trivia Book.

Outdoor Activities: UGA Press Titles

As the months continue to get warmer, grab a few of our titles and get inspired to get outdoors! We have subjects ranging from gardening to baseball, and everything in between.

Though nearly two centuries have passed since Robert Squibb first published THE GARDENER'S CALENDAR, this classic of southern gardening remains a delightfully instructive manual for anyone wishing to know what and when to plant.

FAVORITE WILDFLOWER WALKS IN GEORGIA is a guide to the best places to enjoy Georgia wildflowers in their natural settings. It includes five favorite walks of Hugh and Carol Nourse, complete with maps and directions, the difficulty and length of each walk, and information about the wildflowers you can expect to encounter. 

Those who prefer a slightly more physical interaction with nature should check out the ETOWAH RIVER USER'S GUIDE. This guide offers all the information needed for even novice paddlers to feel comfortable jumping in a boat and heading downstream, including detailed, accurate maps, put in/take out and optimal flow information, mile-by-mile points of interest, and an illustrated natural history guide to help identify animals and plants commonly seen in and around the river.

If the Masters left you longing for more golf, take a look at  THE ART OF GOLF, an exploration of the game as depicted by landscape and portrait artists, photographers, Pop artists, and sculptors. Essays about the history and culture surrounding the sport supplement the 95 color illustrations.

Baseball fans will love THE CRACKERS, a light-hearted chronicle of Atlanta baseball from just after the Civil War to the rise of the Crackers (1901-1965). Award-winning journalist Tim Darnell reveals how the Crackers created a southern legacy of success long before the Atlanta Braves. This collection of player interviews, rare illustrations, and extensive charts and statistics is a must-read as baseball season heats up.

Election Day: UGA Press Titles

Wanting to buff up your knowledge of the U.S. presidency for election day? Here are some recent UGA Press titles that cover American presidential leadership, policy and history:

THE FAITHS OF THE POSTWAR PRESIDENTS: FROM TRUMAN TO OBAMA
A compelling look at the role of religion in American politics and culture 

David L. Holmes

"This is an admirable and colorful yet balanced look at our recent Presidents and their religious beliefs. It will have wide appeal for all readers and particularly for those interested in presidential history." —Nancy Richey, Library Journal

"Holmes, professor of religious studies at the College of William and Mary (The Faiths of the Founding Fathers) examines the backgrounds of our presidents since WWII by delving into their families, the people who influenced their religious beliefs, and their patterns of attending Sunday worship. . . . [I]t is well-researched reading for the reader who wants to know about the presidency." —Publishers Weekly
 
FAITH BASED 

A critical examination of faith-based organizations as a replacement for the welfare state

Jason Hackworth

"Hackworth's study begins to remedy the absence of attention to religion within the critical scholarship on neoliberalism, and it will push this literature in a new and much needed direction. Faith Based is very accessible and interesting, and it moves along nicely. It's a great book." —Jason Dittmer, author of Popular Culture, Geopolitics, and Identity

HERE, GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS BORN
A lively and engaging look at patriotism and collective memory

Seth C. Bruggeman

"In addition to his discussion of this national monument, Bruggeman provides a broader insight into the history of public commemoration from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century, highlighting the changing ways in which sites and objects have been revered...Bruggeman’s study adds an important piece of the puzzle to our understanding of public history and the ways in which the past has been presented to general audiences during the last eighty years."
—American Historical Review

JIMMY CARTER, THE POLITICS OF FAMILY AND THE RISE OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
A look at the seismic shift in the political landscape that gave rise to the Religious Right

J. Brooks Flippen

"Flippen offers an exhaustive, highly documented, and fascinating account of how Jimmy Carter both helped inaugurate 'The Year of the Evangelical' in 1976 and ultimately lost the momentum of this movement to Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party."—Choice

Other related titles:
LIFE OF GENERAL WASHINGTON
David Humphreys With George Washington's Remarks Edited and with an Introduction by Rosemarie Zagarri
"Priceless . . . The book belongs on all Washington shelves."—Library Journal

JIMMY CARTER, AMERICAN MORALIST 
The life story and moral legacy of our thirty-ninth president
Kenneth E. Morris
"[Written] with humor, precision, and precocious hindsight."—Washington Post Book World

Trick-or-Treat: Give us frightening books to read!

Looking to read something that gets you in the Halloween spirit? Check out one of these spook-tacular titles that are sure to bring on the chills!

"[I]f you can't go to Oakland, then definitely invest in your own copy of ATLANTA'S OAKLAND CEMETERY. It's a wonderful journey through Atlanta's history and you won't regret educating yourself about Atlanta's rural cemetery garden." If you missed the Halloween tours at Oakland Cemetery, follow Paranormal Georgia Investigations' recommendation and pick-up a copy of ATLANTA'S OAKLAND CEMETERY. (For Halloween, we suggest reading the book while in costume!)

GHOSTS AND GOOSEBUMPS is a rich collection of folktales and superstitions that capture the oral traditions of central and southeastern Alabama. The spirits of treasure-keepers, poltergeists, murderers and the murdered, wicked men and good-men-and-true float through the book’s first section.

Ten Things to Know About the Ghosts

1. Never laugh at ghosts.

 2. Ghosts never speak unless spoken to.

3. Ghosts hardly ever appear in the daytime, usually at midnight.

4. If you're walking at night and you walk through a warm spot, you're walking though a ghost.

5. People born at midnight can see ghosts.

6. All dogs can see ghosts. If you want to see one, get behind a dog at midnight and look between his ears.

7. If you wish to speak to a certain ghost, go to its grave and walk around it backward twelve times.

8. If you want an easier way, go at midnight and call them by their first name.

9. If you meet a ghost walk around it nine times and it will disappear.

10. If you're running from a ghost, if you have the chance, run over a bridge; ghosts can't travel over running water.

 Rita Shaw (from GHOSTS AND GOOSEBUMPS)

For some chill-worthy short stories, check out Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction winner Hugh Sheehy's THE INVISIBLES.

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly aptly summarizes these haunting tales. "The best stories pair childhood idylls with horrific murder: a teacher and her student are terrorized by vicious killers in 'Meat and Mouth'; a man returns to his childhood house to learn that his next-door neighbor, once a figure of erotic fixation, has been hacked to pieces, in 'Smiling Down at Ellie Pardo'; the father in 'After the Flood' tries to account for his stunted stepson’s destructive impulses. . . . A little violence goes a long way and the lurking fear at the heart of these stories elevates them beyond the merely promising to reveal a wicked new talent."