Dr. Jessie Wilkerson Wins Award for Best Dissertation

We’re excited to congratulate faculty member Dr. Jessie Wilkerson, who just won an award for  her UNC dissertation, “Where Movements Meet: Women’s Activism in the Appalachian South, 1965–1980.” The Lerner-Scott Prize from the Organization of American Historians is awarded for the best dissertation in US women’s history. She accepted the award this weekend at the

New Gammill Gallery Exhibit of Civil Rights Photographs by Jim Lucas

The Gammill Gallery currently has an exhibit of photographs by Jim Lucas, taken between 1964 – 1968.  The photos document the search for civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, James Meredith’s 1966 March for Freedom, Robert F. Kennedy’s trip to the Delta, and others. The exhibit is from Delta State University’s

Studying the Blues at the University of Mississippi

Blues at the Center Article by Rebecca Lauck Cleary, originally published in the Winter 2015 Southern Register A Southern Studies program class description from Fall 1984 encouraged students to “Study the Land That Gave Birth to the Blues.” Since then, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the University of Mississippi have continued

Two New Study the South Articles on Writer Margaret Walker

The Center’s journal Study the South has two new articles on writer Margaret Walker published in conjunction with the Oxford Conference for the Book. The conference, held March 25 – 27, honored the life and work of Walker. “Sister Act: Margaret Walker and Eudora Welty” is by Walker biographer Carolyn J. Brown. The essay examines

Director’s Column: Studying Peace and the South

Ted Ownby, Center Director

In the Fall of 2015, there will be a Southern Studies special topics course on Peace and Southern Culture taught by Dr. Ted Ownby.  Learn more about it here. The following post is taken from Dr. Ownby’s Director’s Column from the Winter 2015 Southern Register, where he discusses the origins of his idea for the

SST and Sociology Professor Barbara Combs Explores Legacy of Selma

Many, including several of our Southern Studies students and alumni, traveled to Selma, Alabama earlier this month to be part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march.  We hope to share their stories and photos on the blog soon.  In the meantime,we recommend From Selma to Montgomery: The Long

Sumner Courthouse, Site of Till Murder Trial, to Re-Open March 21

In 1955, the Sumner County Courthouse was the site of the acquittal of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, who both soon after confessed to the murder of 14 year old Emmett Till.  The courthouse, which has been under renovation, will open to the public on March 21 with a special ceremony and show by Thacker

SouthDocs Films to be Shown at Oxford Film Festival Feb. 26 – Mar. 1

SouthDocs FilmS to Be Screened THIS WEEK at 2015 Oxford Film Festival The Oxford Film Festival’s 12th annual festival will be held February 26–March 1, 2015, at the Oxford Commons Malco, 206 Commonwealth Blvd., Oxford. The opening night event includes the Mississippi premiere of James Franco’s adaptation of The Sound and The Fury. Films by the Southern

Listen to Dr. Jessie Wilkerson’s Brown Bag

In case you missed Dr. Jessie Wilkerson’s Brown Bag lecture last Wednesday, take a listen here.  In her lecture titled “I’m a Southern, Farm Girl, Union, Democrat Feminist: Finding Feminism in the American South” she drew on oral history work done at the Southern Oral History Program at UNC. SouthDocs will be sharing more sound