The Public History Newspaper Project
Once upon a time, the “local history” column was a common feature in local newspapers. Quality varied from paper to paper, but the space served as a medium of history writing and reading. Its decline (or, perhaps, the transition to new media) speaks to the broader decline of newspapers in a digital era.
In 2019, I asked the editor of the Americus Times-Recorder if anyone was covering the unveiling of a new historical marker in town. If not, I suggested I could write something. That first article led to an invitation to write a monthly essay up to 1,500 words (more of a page than a column) on local history. I saw an opportunity to test whether I could find a new audience who (a) might not find a blog and (b) would be unlikely to read my peer-reviewed scholarship. While I pledged myself to write a variety of articles, I was especially committed to uncovering the tougher stuff of local, regional, and national history and memory.
I kept it up for three years. Most of the impact—as planned—was been local. In this connected world, though, I received positive feedback from hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles away. In the fall of 2020, I started a faculty “teaching circle” devoted to brainstorming public-facing articles from disciplines across the university. Why not a local geology column? Or English? Or political science?
Below is the full series. Footnoted copies are available on request. As part of the agreement with the newspaper, they are also available for republication.
“A New History in an Old Town: Sumter Historic Trust Commemorates the SAM Railway,” 800 words. June 19, 2019. Read here.
“Till Death, Not Distance: The Separation and Reunion of Peter and Catherine August.” Americus Times-Recorder, July 23, 2019. 1,000 words. Read here.
“Listening to Early Americus,” Americus Times-Recorder, August 15, 2019. 1500 words. Read here.
“The Grave Digger, the Labor Day Petition, and the Great Migration,” Americus Times-Recorder, September 7, 2019. 1500 words. Read here.
“This Place Matters: The Florrie Chappell Gymnasium,” Americus Times-Recorder, September 28, 2019. 1500 words. Read here.
“The Haunting in the House of Rylander,” Americus Times-Recorder, October 22, 2019. 1,500 words. Read here.
“Wreaths across America at Andersonville National Cemetery,“ Americus Times-Recorder, December 14, 2019. 1,500 words. Not online.
“On New Era Road: A Rosenwald School’s Decline,” Americus Times-Recorder, January 22, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“Finger Lickin‘ Modernism: Americus’s First KFC, 1968-1980,” Americus Times-Recorder, February 19, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“Lost and Found on Elm Avenue,” Americus Times-Recorder, March 21, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“The Conscript and the Freedom Fighter,” Americus Times-Recorder, April 22, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“The Sumter County Oral History Project: A Past, a Present, and a Prospectus,” Americus Times-Recorder, May 27, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“An Americus Lynching, Part 1: Facing South on Cotton Avenue,” Americus Times-Recorder, June 10, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“An Americus Lynching, Part 2: The Law of Cotton Avenue,” Americus Times-Recorder, June 17, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“An Americus Lynching, Part 3: The Lost Counternarrative,” Americus Times-Recorder, June 24, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“An Americus Lynching, Part 4: Remembering and Commemorating,” Americus Times-Recorder, July 1, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“Oak Grove Cemetery: A Shelter for the Dead, a Park for the Living,” Americus Times-Recorder, October 21, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“Georgia Runoffs, A Brief History,” Americus Times-Recorder, November 9, 2020. 1,200 words. Read here.
“‘Dear Santa’ in a Year of War and Pestilence,” Americus Times-Recorder, December 3, 2020. 1,500 words. Read here.
“Before the Barista: The Layers of 134 W. Lamar Street,” Americus Times-Recorder, January 27, 2021. Read here.
“Fueling Up: Early Filling Stations in Americus,” Americus Times-Recorder, March 5, 2021. Read here.
“Carved in Americus: One Confederate Ring,” Americus Times-Recorder, March 24, 2021. Read here.
“Is Anthony School Worth Mourning?” Americus Times-Recorder, April 28, 2021. Read here.
“What Makes a Place Historic?” Americus Times-Recorder, May 12, 2021. Read here.
“Billy Proctor’s Appeal,” Americus Times-Recorder, June 19, 2021. Read here.
“Why did the Callaway House Cross the Street,” Americus Times-Recorder, June 30, 2021. Read here.
“Alf Hudson, Perry Grove, and the Middle Passage,” American Times-Recorder, August 11, 2021. Read here.
“Professional Baseball in Americus,” Americus Times-Recorder, September 15, 2021. Read here.
“History, Hauntings, and Ghosts at the Windsor Hotel,” Americus Times-Recorder, October 6, 2021. Read here.
“The Artist and the Doughboy,” Americus Times-Recorder, November 3, 2021. Read here.
“Fairgrounds and College: The Local Lester Maddox,” Americus Times-Recorder, December 1, 2021. Read here.
“Civil Rights and a Lived Theology in a Southern Town,” Americus Times-Recorder, January 19, 2022. Read here.
“Saving Places, Telling Stories,” Americus Times-Recorder, February 26, 2022. Read here.
“The Layers of a St. Patrick’s Day Postcard,” Americus Times-Recorder, March 17, 2022. Read here.
“Influenza in Americus, Part 1: The Force of a Train,” Americus Times-Recorder, April 27, 2022. Read here.
“Influenza in Americus, Part 2: Navigating Uncertainty,” Americus Times-Recorder, May 4, 2022. Read here.
“Influenza in Americus, Part 3: Remembering a Pandemic,” Americus Times-Recorder, May 11, 2022. Read here.