Review of \u3ci\u3eMy Remembers: A Black Sharecropper\u27s Recollections of the Depression\u3c/i\u3e By Eddie Stimpson Jr.

This volume recalls experiences during the 1930s and 1940s on farms in the Plano, Texas, area north of Dallas. Frances Wells, a local Plano historian, helped Eddie Stimpson organize into a book his written memories, intended originally for descendants. In the introduction James W. Byrd, a literary scholar, suggests the influence of African American folk culture on the writing style and on some activities described in the volume, such as yard sweeping. Popular culture phrases also appear occasionally, and the author\u27s phonetic spelling has been retained throughout. After an opening summary of his life, Stimpson presents short chapters on a range of economic and social topics. He discusses raising animals, hunting, bootlegging, and family roles in farming, along with changes such as the use of tractors and the impact of insecticides on wild fruit and animals. He recounts the strain between opportunities and the fear of failure. Chapters on aspects of social life are more extensive. When Stimpson turns to family tensions and roles he recounts his washing and ironing, although gender defined other tasks. He also describes houses as well as types of food and canning

Review of Lynching to Belong: Claiming Whiteness through Racial Violence, By Cynthia Skove Nevels

From the Civil War to the early twentieth century the growing population of Brazos County, Texas included about equal numbers of white and black southerners. That division contributed to tense political campaigns between Democrats and Republicans as well as acts of political and racial violence. Among new settlers came Bohemian, Irish, and Italian immigrants. Anglos did not immediately accept them as white because of cultural differences. The immigrants sought white status in several ways, including racial violence. In 1896 a mob seized three African Americans from jail and hanged them. Two had been accused of assaulting a white girl. The case remained clouded, however, by the differing reactions of her parents and by political conflicts between Populists in the mob and the Democratic sheriff. The third black man had been accused of rape by an Italian woman and convicted, but had won retrial on appeal. Questions about a possible personal relationship, her fainting to establish white womanhood, and alibi witnesses left the circumstances and the woman\u27s status unclear. The mob killed the accused because he was in jail with the other black men

'To live and die [for] Dixie': Irish civilians and the Confederate States of America

Around 20,000 Irishmen served in the Confederate army in the Civil War. As a result, they left behind, in various Southern towns and cities, large numbers of friends, family, and community leaders. As with native-born Confederates, Irish civilian support was crucial to Irish participation in the Confederate military effort. Also, Irish civilians served in various supporting roles: in factories and hospitals, on railroads and diplomatic missions, and as boosters for the cause. They also, however, suffered in bombardments, sieges, and the blockade. Usually poorer than their native neighbours, they could not afford to become 'refugees' and move away from the centres of conflict. This essay, based on research from manuscript collections, contemporary newspapers, British Consular records, and Federal military records, will examine the role of Irish civilians in the Confederacy, and assess the role this activity had on their integration into Southern communities. It will also look at Irish civilians in the defeat of the Confederacy, particularly when they came under Union occupation. Initial research shows that Irish civilians were not as upset as other whites in the South about Union victory. They welcomed a return to normalcy, and often 'collaborated' with Union authorities. Also, Irish desertion rates in the Confederate army were particularly high, and I will attempt to gauge whether Irish civilians played a role in this. All of the research in this paper will thus be put in the context of the Drew Gilpin Faust/Gary Gallagher debate on the influence of the Confederate homefront on military performance. By studying the Irish civilian experience one can assess how strong the Confederate national experiment was. Was it a nation without a nationalism

Book Review: The Making of a Lynching Culture: Violence and Vigilantism in Central Texas, 1836-1916

This Volume focuses on extralegal violence and its Causes in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, The author is especially interested in the role of historical memory in sustaining the use of violence for a seven-county region in Central Texas on the edge of the Great Plains

Texas politics, 1876-1906

Several factors distinguished the period in Texas politics from the adoption of a new constitution in 1876 to the final passage of sweeping changes in election laws in 1905. Democratic domination and a steady shift in interest away from the passions and issues of Reconstruction set it apart from the preceding years. The increasing problems of Texas farmers, which produced the two strongest third party movements in the state's history, provided the major political theme of the era. Changes in the electorate and the electoral system, stemming from adoption of the white primary, the poll tax, and a detailed election law, separated the period from the following years.Histor

Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times

Compilation of essays about black leaders in Texas who made significant contributions within their communities or the state. The introduction and essays include commentary and context provided by the editors. Index starts on page 223