GEORGIA WOMEN shine at Spotlight on the Arts at UGA

Spotlight on the Arts at UGA was an incredible success, and the Press is proud to have been a contributing entity. Our event with authors Dr. Ann Short Chirhart and UGA's own Kathleen Ann Clark was held this past Tuesday in the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Library on the UGA Campus.


Chirhart and Clark gave a presentation entitled, "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History: Georgia Women Shape the Twentieth Century," which was launched from their recent anthology, GEORGIA WOMEN: THEIR LIVES AND TIMES, VOL. 2 (published by the Press). Their talk was centered around three Georgia women—two lesser known figures, activists Lugenia Burns Hope and Vara A. Majette, and then one of the most famous women in Georgia history, Margaret Mitchell.

"One challenge we faced [in editing GEORGIA WOMEN] was finding connections between and among these eighteen incredible women," Chirhart said in the opening of the lecture. "Yet we still wanted to remain true to the independent women who had socio-political and cultural influence in many ways."

Dr. Ann Short Chirhart

But through the course of the talk, the interweaving strands became evident. The stories of these eighteen women have often been marginalized, dismissed, or misunderstood in the context of Georgia history. Some of these women viewed the past and the traditions of their time as something to overcome, yet others respected the past, despite its tumultuous nature, and wanted to simultaneously preserve it and challenge the status quo.

Perhaps most importantly, despite being trailblazers in their own times, these women set the stage for future actions. Lugenia Burns Hope's philosophy drew heavily on the Christian tradition, rejected exclusionary racial boundaries, and urged those to "love they neighbor as thyself." Almost half a century later, Coretta Scott King would be greatly inspired by Hope's actions and use her tenants to guide her own activism.

Vara A. Majette was largely critical of the media. She was skeptical of white men's claims that they had a moral duty to protect white women by any means necessary, and she blamed newspapers for fueling the fire of racial tensions in the South after the 1906 Atlanta race riots. Through her work, Majette was devoted to "turning racialized ideologies on their heads."

Dr. Kathleen Ann Clark

Finally, though most notable for writing Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell was actually quite full of gumption. She was the daughter of a suffragette and largely believed in public activism, paid work for women, gender bending, and even delaying or indefinitely postponing marriage. It is in Mitchell's lost adolescent novella, Lost Laysen (her only published work other than Gone with the Wind), that a teenage Mitchell explores pushing the boundaries of racial and gender norms.

Many thanks again to Dr. Ann Short Chirhart and Dr. Kathleen Ann Clark for joining us in Athens for our celebration of the arts, as well as providing us with a thoughtful and engaging talk. Though the week of Spotlight on the Arts at UGA has passed, these kinds of performances and events thrive in Athens year-round. The next on-campus Press event will take place on February 27, 2015, as part of a lecture series for the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts and will feature John T. Edge, Director of the Southern Foodways Alliance and general editor of the SFA Studies in Culture, People, and Place series published with the Press. We look forward to seeing you then!

Dr. Kathleen Ann Clark, Dr. Ann Short Chirhart, and Press Director Lisa Bayer at the GEORGIA WOMEN, VOL. 2 event

The University of Georgia Press and New Georgia Encyclopedia: A Collaboration of Like Minds

It's Day 1 of the American Association of University Press Week Blog Tour, and we'd like to start by applauding our friends at Duke University Press for their new book, THE MUTLISPECIES SALON, and how it epitomizes this week's theme—collaboration. In this new approach to writing culture, editor Eben Kirksey creates an anthology that brings together analyses of insects, animals, fungi, microbes, and humans with strands of economic, political, and social life. More information on the book can be found here, and there's also an outstanding companion site in the transmedia collection that's definitely worth checking out.

Roughly 350 miles away from Durham in Athens, Georgia, the spirit of collaboration is alive and well here at the University of Georgia Press. The primary mission of the UGA Press is to support and enhance the University of Georgia's place as a major research institution by publishing outstanding works of scholarship and literature by scholars and writers throughout the world. But in order to ensure knowledge was available to expand upon, the New Georgia Encyclopedia was born. Now this year, for AAUP Week, the encyclopedia is being acclaimed as a groundbreaking collaboration to make knowledge accessible to all.

On February 12, 2004 (aptly Georgia History Day) the New Georgia Encyclopedia launched with a virtual ribbon cutting ceremony.  What started with only 700 entries has grown into a scholarly monolith of the state's history, with over 2,000 articles and over 6,000 images.  It is the first state encyclopedia to to be conceived and designed exclusively for publication online, and it is the product of unification between The Georgia Humanities Council, the University System of Georgia/GALILEO, the Office of the Governor, and the Press.

Though the content is exclusively digital, the award-wining encyclopedia has published two books with the Press to supplement the knowledge of Georgia history. In 2007, THE NEW GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA COMPANION TO GEORGIA LITERATURE was published by the Press, and the anthology (which contains articles originally published online) collects biographical profiles of Georgia writers to highlight the state's literary contributions.

In 2011, THE CIVIL WAR IN GEORGIA: A NEW GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA COMPANION was published, also by the Press. Edited by John C. Inscoe, editor of the New Georgia Encyclopedia, this groundbreaking work draws attention to the war's legacy, as well as originally published online articles that cover the prelude to the war and the war's years.

Director of the Press, Lisa Bayer, said, "The New Georgia Encyclopedia has become so deeply embedded in the ways in which Georgians of all ages (and people everywhere) learn about our state that I sometimes think we take it for granted. Where else can you find well-organized, vetted, expert information along with images, references, and crosslinking for free? We should be very, very proud—and supportive—of this amazing resource, which shares the rich history of our state with our world."

Kelly Caudle, project director and managing editor of the New Georgia Encyclopedia, elaborated on on how each compliments the other. "The NGE and the Press are natural partners, each doing its part to make the best scholarship on Georgia available to the academic community as well as the larger public," she said. "With a scholarly credibility endowed by the Press partnership, the NGE attracts a wide audience of readers curious about Georgia's stories—and in turn the NGE sends users straight to the authoritative source behind the entries: UGA Press books. It's been a mutually supportive partnership."

If you have any comments or are interested in learning more about the New Georgia Encyclopedia, the Press, or University Press Week, tweet to us at @UGAPress or talk to us on Facebook at the University of Georgia Press using the hashtag #upweek.

Event for Georgia Women: Their Lives and Times, Vol. 2

Through history, southern women have often been more than the demure belles and sweet Georgia peaches that many frequently think - and the editors of a new volume about women's roles in Georgia history will speak about these dynamic trailblazers on Nov. 11 at the University of Georgia Richard B. Russell Special Collections Library.

The talk, "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History: Georgia Women Shape the Twentieth-Century" will feature Kathleen Ann Clark, an associate history professor at the University of Georgia, and Ann Short Chirhart, associate history professor at Indiana State University. The professors will discuss their collection, GEORGIA WOMEN: THEIR LIVES AND TIMES, VOL. 2 at 3 p.m. in Room 285 of the Russell Special Collections Building. This event is free and open to the public.

GEORGIA WOMEN, VOL. 2 delves into the vital roles women played in twentieth-century Georgia, further detailing the contributions of commonly known women such as Coretta Scott King and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, as well as highlighting lesser-known figures such as World War II aviator Hazel Raines and carpet entrepreneur Catherine Evans Whitener. The comprehensive collection of essays, published by the Press, is part of the Southern Women: Their Lives and Times series, which focuses on the lives of individuals that address larger issues and gender roles in the histories of various southern states and the nation.

"Women were leading actors in the 20th-century developments in Georgia, yet most histories minimize their contributions," said Lisa Bayer, director of the Press. "Collectively, the life stories portrayed in this volume deepen our understanding of the multifaceted history of not only Georgia women but also the state itself."

Further praise for GEORGIA WOMEN, VOL. 2 comes from Dr. Rebecca Sharpless, history professor at Texas Christian University and author of Cooking in Other Women's Kitchens: Domestic Workers in the South, 1865-1960, who commends, "An amazing group of women shine forth in this collection of essays. They represent the best of Georgia in the twentieth century, from the farm to the city; in the classrooms, the arts, and the halls of law; and on the streets fighting for justice. Georgia women have brought significant vitality and change to their home state, and their stories come together brilliantly in this volume."

A reception will follow the talk, and copies of both volumes of GEORGIA WOMEN will be available for purchase. Parking is available at the Hull Street Deck and at the Tate Center Deck, or access is available via free public transportation through UGA Campus Transit.

This event is part of the UGA Spotlight on the Arts festival and is co-sponsored by the UGA Libraries and UGA Press. For more information, contact Amanda Sharp at asharp@uga.edu or at 706-542-4145.

Short Takes

In a special Memorial Day episode, BackStory with the American History Guys explores Americans’ changing attitudes about death: historian Drew Gilpin Faust talks about how the Civil War altered the American way of dying; writer Kate Sweeney explores the 20th Century shift toward private, restrained mourning; and our own Ed Ayers tours Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery — and discovers his own gravesite. (Kate Sweeney talks about her book, AMERICAN AFTERLIFE, in the first segment.)


In a recent interview with Connect Savannah, Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Historic Sites for the Telfair Museums Tania Sammons says, "Most people associate slavery with rural environments and plantations. The truth is that slavery existed all over the Americas." More of this is addressed in the new book, SLAVERY AND FREEDOM IN SAVANNAH, that we published in partnership with the Telfair Museums. Sammons was also on WTOC's "Mid-Morning Live" last week to discuss SLAVERY AND FREEDOM IN SAVANNAH (book and exhibition), as well as some upcoming events. Watch the video here.

The Journal of Southern History calls Erica L. Ball's TO LIVE AN ANTISLAVERY LIFE a "gem of a book," while the Civil War Book Review claims that it has "critically filled a large gap in African American studies with deep research and elegant writing."

The Civil War Monitor recommends James Marten's AMERICA'S CORPORAL. "History enthusiasts whose interests have been confined to the Civil War years would do well to read this short book, for it shows how the conflict continued to affect America—and especially her veterans—for decades after the last shot was fired."

In A LATE ENCOUNTER WITH THE CIVIL WAR, "Michael Kreyling offers a probing examination of the complex ways Americans have grappled with the memory and meaning of the Civil War," according to the Civil War Book Review. "[N]o scholar with an interest in the war or the contours of American historical memory can afford to miss an encounter with this book."


Did you miss the "Exuberant, Elegant & Alive Old Louisville Homes Tour" of 10 sites included in David Domine's book, OLD LOUISVILLE? The tour was part of a benefit for the Conrad-Caldwell House in Louisville, KY. If you missed the event but are in the area, be sure to check out the "America’s Most Exuberant Neighborhood Tour," sponsored by the Old Louisville Information Center in Central Park. The tour is offered daily at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm; allow approximately 90 minutes for this walking tour. Cost: $20 per person. This tour stops in front of many of the homes featured in OLD LOUISVILLE. More information is available here.

Comparative Education Review offers a positve review of Marc Sommers's STUCK:

Marc Sommers’s account of the concerns and struggles of out-of-school youth opens a new vista into the lives of rural and urban youth in Rwanda. . . . The study constitutes a significant contribution to the international community’s understanding of the lives of “stuck” youth in this tiny but significant East African country. The challenges presented by a disaffected and underserved youthful majority are not exclusive to Rwanda. The results of Sommers’s work raise real concerns for continuing peace in Rwanda, as the challenges posed by an unsettled and desperate youth underclass threaten to derail the progress that has been achieved there since the end of the war and the genocide.

Congratulations, Larry B. Dendy! His book, THROUGH THE ARCH, is the recipient of a 2014 Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation Preservation Award for Outstanding Publication or Program. This category honors outstanding publications, in the field of preservation and/or history, possessing a high degree of graphic design integrity and/or wide use or impact are also recognized by this award. The foundation’s award program has been recognizing Athenians for excellence in historic preservation since it was founded in 1967. All award winners will be recognized at the 45th Annual Preservation Awards on Monday, June 2nd at The Morton Theatre.

Announcing a new film and media series

The University of Georgia Press is pleased to announce a new film and media series, The South on Screen. The series explores representations of the South—its histories, cultures, and politics, and its dynamics of race, gender, and class—in film and television, from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. Monographs and edited collections in the series draw from the disciplines of film, media studies, history, economics, and cultural studies, offering a deep-focused but wide-ranging lens through which the South can be examined in cinema.

Though the American film business initially took root and flourished in the industrialized northeast and the west coast, filmmakers in this new medium soon became preoccupied with cultural questions and themes that resonated with the South. The South was then promoting itself as “new” and underwent, on a smaller scale than the North, the urbanization that made for a marketplace suited to the exhibition of the “picture shows” whose popularity and profitability were continually expanding in America’s cities. From its earliest moments onward, the movie industry catered to southern audiences and on southern themes. Indeed, the South has inspired a number of cinema’s landmarks, ranging from historical epics (The Birth of a Nation, Gone with the Wind) and big-budget Hollywood adventures (Cold Mountain, Deliverance) to intimate dramas (Sounder, The Color Purple) and small-scale independent tales (Matewan, Nightjohn), from sober documentaries (Harlan County U.S.A.) to hilarious comedies (The General, O Brother, Where Art Thou). In the 1960s, as television became increasingly prominent, CBS created a series of popular sitcoms (The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction among them) with distinctly southern orientation. Whether produced for theatrical production or as television series, then, the moving image has shaped and been shaped by the South and its inhabitants.

The series focuses on the following three areas:

1) Monographs that analyze specific aspects of production, adaptation, censorship, exhibition, the social experience of moviegoing and the cultural role of cinema in the South, the intersection of film/TV and music—or, on the critical side, larger questions of authorship, stardom, genre, and theme

2) Edited collections that explore from different angles and disciplines important developments requiring a multi-author approach

3) Monographs devoted to a specific significant film or television series, such as Daughters of the Dust (1991); Eve’s Bayou (1997); Intruder in the Dust (1949); Nothing But a Man (1964); Mississippi Masala (1991); O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000); George Washington (2000); The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971); In the Heat of the Night (film, 1967; TV series, 1988-1995); Treme (2010-2013); and 12 Years A Slave (2013).

Though scholarly in nature, the series intends to produce accessible works for the interested general reader that engage the South’s longstanding, contentious, and complex interactions with film and television.

The first in the new series, Tison Pugh’s Truman Capote (May 2014) reveals Capote’s literary works to be not merely coincident to film but integral to their mutual creation, paying keen attention to the ways in which Capote’s identity as a gay southerner influenced his and others’ perceptions of his literature and its adaptations. It focuses particularly on Capote’s celebrity lifestyle, his screenplays, and the numerous film adaptations of his literature.

Series editors:

Matthew H. Bernstein is professor and chair of film and media studies at Emory University. He is the author of Screening a Lynching: The Leo Frank Case on Film and TV (published by UGA Press); Michael Moore: Filmmaker, Newsmaker, Cultural Icon; and John Ford Made Westerns: Filming the Legend in the Sound Era.

R. Barton Palmer is Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature at Clemson University. He is the author of Hollywood’s Tennessee: The Williams Films and Postwar America; To Kill a Mockingbird: From Page to Screen; After Hitchcock: Influence, Imitation, Intertextuality; among other books.

Contact info:

Matthew H. Bernstein: mbernst@emory.edu

R. Barton Palmer: ppalmer@clemson.edu

To inquire about publishing in the series, please contact:

Walter Biggins, senior acquisitions editor, the University of Georgia Press

wbiggins@ugapress.uga.edu

UGA Press

Founded in 1938, the UGA Press is the oldest and largest book publisher in the state. It has been a member of the Association of American University Presses since 1940. With a full-time staff of 26 publishing professionals, the press currently publishes 60-70 new books a year and has more than 1,800 titles in print. It has well-established lists in Atlantic World and American history, American literature, African-American studies, southern studies and environmental studies, as well as a growing presence in the fields of food studies, geography, urban studies, international affairs and security studies. For more information on UGA Press, see www.ugapress.org/