Stark Young and the Agrarians

No, it is not the name of a new band to hit the Square! The Nashville Agrarians appeared in Cobb's chapter 4. Now you get an opportunity to read what one of the "Twelve Southerners" had to say in their classic volume, I'll Take My Stand. Please post your discussion questions below.

Also, note that we will dedicate at least half of class on Thursday to the discussion of your essay questions which will post shortly. Please come to class prepared.

Southern Industrialization and its Discontents

One of the main themes that we have been exploring in the early part of this semester is the tension between the past and future in the southern mindset. We are going to dig a little deeper into this theme today.

Our podcast lecture outlines efforts made by private enterprise as well as local and state governments to industrialize the South. Be ready to discuss the ingredients of southern industrialization and to what extent it succeeded or failed.

These changes, however, did not go unnoticed, and not everyone appreciated what the push to industrialize had done to what they saw as the South's imperiled culture. Our reading today from Cobb's Away Down South discusses the reaction of southern writers and intellectuals to the "New South Creed."

As we discussed in class last Thursday, you might consider formulating your discussion questions by tying them to our other materials, in this case Percy and Birth of a Nation.

As a side note, you might want to take a look at this video produced by the Oxford Chamber of Commerce in 1987 and consider how some of the tensions between the selling of the South and the preservation of its culture remain a factor in our lives.


OXFORD - The Right Place from The Oxonians on Vimeo.

Lanterns on the Levee - Part 2

Please post your discussion questions about the second half of Percy here:

Viewing Fatal Flood

One of the great things about using episodes of PBS's American Experience series is that their website has a full transcript of the documentary in question. Fatal Flood is no exception. You may find the companion web site here.

William Alexander Percy and Lanterns on the Levee

Please post your discussion questions for the first part of Lanterns on the Levee below.

Links to Primary Source Readings

Henry Grady's "New South" pitch.
Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise"
Walter White recalls the 1906 Atlanta Riot

The Danville Riot

Post your discussion questions for the Jane Dailey reading below.