Short Takes

Mark Anthony Neal interviews Claudia Milian about her new book, LATINING AMERICA, for Left of Black. In the interview, Milian addresses Mark Anthony Neal's question about the difference between "blackness, brownness, and dark brownness." Watch the engaging interview via The Root website here. The segment with Milian starts at 3:56.

The Utne Reader has an excerpt from AMERICAN AFTERLIFE up on its website. Learn about memorial tattoos here.

The Island Packet features an interview with Andrea Feeser about her new book, RED, WHITE, AND BLACK MAKE BLUE. In the article, Feeser explains how she attempted to dye a garment using indigo:

Feeser conducted archival research in South Carolina and also traveled to England on a grant from Clemson to do research. She even enlisted the help of two of her colleagues to dye a garment the way slaves would have originally done.

"When we pulled it out of the vat it was a greenish-yellow color, but then as the oxygen made its way into the dye, it was absolutely gorgeous watching that transformation," Feeser said. In her book she writes that "watching the transformation is not unlike watching time-lapse photography of a flower blossoming: One thing becomes another slowly enough to mesmerize and quickly enough to thrill. In short, it seems magical."

"The Junto: A Group Blog on Early American History" praises THE LARDER for offering a solid argument about food studies:

These essays do more than merely entertain; they challenge and encourage deep thinking about food. Early Americanists will be grateful that these pieces complement new work in food history, hopefully heralding longer contributions in the form of forthcoming books.

THE DANCE BOOTS author Linda LeGarde Grover makes Indian Country Today's list of "worthy yet lesser-known American Indian female fiction writers.

Congratulations, Frank X Walker! The TURN ME LOOSE poet is one of five finalists for outstanding literary work--poetry for the 45th annual NAACP image awards. The winners will be announced February 21(non-televised categories) and 22 (televised categories). More information is available here.

CHICKEN DREAMING CORN author Roy Hoffman recounts his dancing experiences from childhood to present day in a recent piece for the New York Times. The essay is available here.

UGA Press announces new editor for Environmental History and the American South series

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Writer/Contact: Amanda E. Sharp
 
Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Press announces James C. Giesen, Mississippi State University (MSU), as the new series editor for Environmental History and the American South (EHAS). Giesen will be replacing Paul S. Sutter, University of Colorado, Boulder, effective February 1.

“It’s a great honor to take over as editor of a series that has done so much to build and shape the field of southern environmental history,” said Giesen. “It’s hard to think of a book series that has had such a direct impact on the research, methodologies, and scholarship of a field of history in as short a time. I hope to build on the series’ success by continuing to find manuscripts that push the boundaries of the field. Historians and other scholars have been so influenced by the books in this series that they’re beginning to ask new questions and apply fresh, imaginative approaches to understanding the South’s environmental past. My goal is to make sure that this next wave of scholarship is part of the EHAS series as well.”

Giesen is the author of Boll Weevil Blues: Cotton, Myth, and Power in the American South, published by the University of Chicago Press. It has won several major awards – including, most recently, the Southern Historical Association Francis B. Simkins Award. Geisen is also the executive secretary of the Agricultural History Society, and he directs the Center for the History of Agriculture, Science, and the Environment in the South (CHASES) at MSU.

Sutter will be taking over the Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books series at the University of Washington Press. He will continue to support the EHAS series by serving on the advisory board.

“This is a move that I have been contemplating for several years now, since I relocated from the University of Georgia to the University of Colorado, “said Sutter. “ While I remain critically interested in the environmental history of the South and believe that the South remains one of the most fruitful regions for future environmental history scholarship, my career trajectory here in Colorado has slowly pulled me away from the region.”

“James’ superb scholarship and admirable organizational energy make him a great fit for the series, and I am excited to see what he does with it in the years to come,” said Sutter. “I have invested a lot of energy in the series, and it is important to me that it continues to enjoy success. I have been so thankful to the entire press for their continuing commitment to producing beautiful books.  I leave the series editorship, then, confident that it is in the hands of a great team.”

"This change of series editor comes at an auspicious time for UGA Press and the EHAS series,” said Mick Gusinde-Duffy, UGA Press editor-in-chief. “The series has a rock-solid reputation and we look forward to building on that success with James Giesen's energetic leadership and editorial vision. We are so grateful to have had the brilliant Paul Sutter as our founding editor, and he remains close to the series via our advisory board. Together, we will refocus our efforts to recruit and cultivate the very best, most innovative scholarship in this vibrant field."

For more information on the University of Georgia Press: http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/about_us/who_we_are
For more information on the Environmental History and the American South series: http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/series/EHAS

Launch Events for SLAVERY AND FREEDOM IN SAVANNAH

With Black History month approaching ever so fast, we at the UGA Press are very excited about the publication and launch events for SLAVERY AND FREEDOM IN SAVANNAH, edited by Leslie M. Harris and Daina Ramey Berry. This book is a richly illustrated, accessibly written book modeled on the very successful Slavery in New York, a volume Leslie Harris coedited with Ira Berlin. Here Harris and Daina Ramey Berry have collected a variety of perspectives on slavery, emancipation, and black life in Savannah from the city’s founding to the early twentieth century. Written by leading historians of Savannah, Georgia and the South, the volume includes a mix of longer thematic essays and shorter sidebars focusing on individual people, events, and places.

In collaboration with Telfair Museums, some events we have scheduled for the release include:

February 8 - August 31, 2014
Location: Jepson Center for the Arts, Savannah, GA
Description: Slavery & Freedom in Savannah Exhibition

Telfair Museums presents Slavery and Freedom in Savannah exhibition in conjunction with the newly published book of the same title. The exhibition’s images, documentary accounts and objects from Telfair Museums and other collections provide a deeper understanding of our collective American past. The exhibition also presents objects that tell stories into the 20th century, highlighting Savannah-only histories and representing some contemporary interpretations of the African American experience in Savannah and America. For more information, click here.

Wednesday, February 12 @ 6:00 PM 
Location: Jepson Center for the Arts, Savannah, GA
Description: Launch and Reception

This event will celebrate the publication of Slavery and Freedom in Savannah with a launch party and reception. The Windsor Forest Troubadours and Knights of Harmony will give a choral performance, followed by a presentation by the book’s editors, nationally-recognized scholars Leslie M. Harris of Emory University and Daina Ramey Berry of the University of Texas. The Friends of the Owens-Thomas House are generous hosts of the reception, open to general membership and guests. Includes light appetizers and cash bar for beer and wine. For more information, click here.

Upcoming Events for Author and Poet Cynthia Lowen

As we near the end of January and head into February, take some time to attend these author events for Cynthia Lowen and her new book THE CLOUD THAT CONTAINED THE LIGHTNING:

Wednesday, January 22
Location: Greenlight Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY
Description: Reading and Signing
For more information, visit the Greenlight Bookstore website.

Tuesday, January 28
Location: KGB Bar, New York, NY
Description: Reading
For more information, visit the KGB Bar website.

Friday, January 31
Location: Red Sofa Salon, Philadelphia, PA
Description: Reading and Signing
For more information, visit the Red Sofa Salon website.

Wednesday, February 12
Location: NYU Bookstore, New York, NY
Description: Talk and Signing