The South at Work

Observations from 1904

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Journalism, Entertainment, Drama, Anthologies, History, Americas, United States
Cover of the book The South at Work by William Garrott Brown, University of South Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: William Garrott Brown ISBN: 9781611173765
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press Publication: July 10, 2014
Imprint: University of South Carolina Press Language: English
Author: William Garrott Brown
ISBN: 9781611173765
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
Publication: July 10, 2014
Imprint: University of South Carolina Press
Language: English

In 1904 William Garrott Brown traveled the American South, investigating the region’s political, economic, and social conditions. Using the pen name “Stanton,” Brown published twenty epistles in the Boston Evening Transcript detailing his observations. The South at Work is a compilation of these newspaper articles, providing a valuable snapshot of the South as it was simultaneously emerging from post–Civil War economic depression and imposing on African Americans the panoply of Jim Crow laws and customs that sought to exclude them from all but the lowest rungs of southern society. A Harvard-educated historian and journalist originally from Alabama, Brown had been commissioned by the Evening Transcript to visit a wide range of locations and to chronicle the region with a greater depth than that of typical travelers’ accounts. Some articles featured familiar topics such as a tobacco warehouse in Durham, North Carolina; a textile mill in Columbia, South Carolina; and the vast steel mills at Birmingham. However, Brown also covered atypical enterprises such as citrus farming in Florida, the King Ranch in Texas, and the New Orleans Cotton Exchange. To add perspective, he talked to businessmen and politicians, as well as everyday workers. In addition to describing the importance of diversifying the South’s agricultural economy beyond cotton, Brown addressed race relations and the role of politicians such as James K. Vardaman of Mississippi, the growth of African American communities such as Hayti in Durham, and the role universities played in changing the intellectual climate of the South. The editor, Bruce E. Baker, has written an introduction and provided thorough annotations for each of Brown’s letters. Baker demonstrates the value of the collection as it touches on racism, moderate progressivism, and accommodation with the political status quo in the South. Baker and Brown’s combined work makes The South at Work one of the most detailed and interesting portraits of the region at the beginning of the twentieth century. Publication in book form makes The South at Work conveniently available to students and scholars of modern southern and American history.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1904 William Garrott Brown traveled the American South, investigating the region’s political, economic, and social conditions. Using the pen name “Stanton,” Brown published twenty epistles in the Boston Evening Transcript detailing his observations. The South at Work is a compilation of these newspaper articles, providing a valuable snapshot of the South as it was simultaneously emerging from post–Civil War economic depression and imposing on African Americans the panoply of Jim Crow laws and customs that sought to exclude them from all but the lowest rungs of southern society. A Harvard-educated historian and journalist originally from Alabama, Brown had been commissioned by the Evening Transcript to visit a wide range of locations and to chronicle the region with a greater depth than that of typical travelers’ accounts. Some articles featured familiar topics such as a tobacco warehouse in Durham, North Carolina; a textile mill in Columbia, South Carolina; and the vast steel mills at Birmingham. However, Brown also covered atypical enterprises such as citrus farming in Florida, the King Ranch in Texas, and the New Orleans Cotton Exchange. To add perspective, he talked to businessmen and politicians, as well as everyday workers. In addition to describing the importance of diversifying the South’s agricultural economy beyond cotton, Brown addressed race relations and the role of politicians such as James K. Vardaman of Mississippi, the growth of African American communities such as Hayti in Durham, and the role universities played in changing the intellectual climate of the South. The editor, Bruce E. Baker, has written an introduction and provided thorough annotations for each of Brown’s letters. Baker demonstrates the value of the collection as it touches on racism, moderate progressivism, and accommodation with the political status quo in the South. Baker and Brown’s combined work makes The South at Work one of the most detailed and interesting portraits of the region at the beginning of the twentieth century. Publication in book form makes The South at Work conveniently available to students and scholars of modern southern and American history.

More books from University of South Carolina Press

Cover of the book The Supreme Court in the Early Republic by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book Early Southern Sports and Sportsmen, 1830-1910 by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book Giving Voice to Traditional Songs by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book The Carolina Backcountry Venture by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book The Magnificent Mays by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book Protagoras and Logos by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book The Rhetoric of Mao Zedong by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book The Spirit of an Activist by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book The Consequences of Loyalism by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book Jeremiah and God's Plans of Well-being by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book Exploring the Southern Appalachian Grassy Balds by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book Dreaming with Animals by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book Understanding Chuck Palahniuk by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book A Yankee Scholar in Coastal South Carolina by William Garrott Brown
Cover of the book John Laurens and the American Revolution by William Garrott Brown
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy