Download or read book Debunking the Yule Log Myth written by Robert E. May and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2024-12-01 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to an oft repeated legend, during Christmas before the Civil War, all enslaved people in the American South enjoyed lengthy vacations of a week or more depending on how long an oversized “Yule log” burned in their master’s fireplace. As long as the log held out, slaves escaped heavy labor and their masters’ whips and enjoyed a rare freedom of movement to go and do what they wished as well as gorge themselves on food and drink they never got the rest of the year. No wonder they soaked those logs in swamps to make them burn even longer. But is it true? In this book historian Robert May takes readers on a detective caper as he investigates a story that reaches back to colonial America and continues today. May finds no evidence of the Yule log tradition in the historical record, instead showing that it originated with pro-Confederate Lost Cause propagandists attempting to present the South’s prewar system of human bondage in as soft tones as possible. Tales about good-natured masters and unresentful slaves jovially sharing Christmases played to this impulse beautifully. Debunking the Yule Log Myth does more than correct the historical record. It serves as a highly instructive case study in the process of historical mythmaking. This captivating tale will appeal to all readers interested in African American history and the long struggle to support white supremacy by creating a mythical antebellum American South.
Download or read book Christmas Tradition Truth and Total Baubles written by Nick Page and published by Hodder & Stoughton. This book was released on 2020-10-29 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is Christmas the way it is? How did we get from the birth of Jesus to everyone pushing their credit card and their belts to their maximum extent? Starting with the events surrounding Jesus' birth, this book takes us through centuries of commemoration, celebration and over-consumption. Along the way we'll find out why we eat turkey, how an obscure Turkish saint turned into a man flying a sleigh, and why that tree in your house should really contain an apple and a snake. Combining in-depth historical research, cheerfully irreverent humour and cutting-edge guesswork, Nick Page explores what this festival really means, and how we can get back to something real and true beneath all that wrapping.
Download or read book Freedom Libraries written by Mike Selby and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African-Americans in the South. As the Civil Rights Movement exploded across the United States, the media of the time was able to show the rest of the world images of horrific racial violence. And while some of the bravest people of the 20th century risked their lives for the right to simply order a cheeseburger, ride a bus, or use a clean water fountain, there was another virtually unheard of struggle—this one for the right to read. Although illegal, racial segregation was strictly enforced in a number of American states, and public libraries were not immune. Numerous libraries were desegregated on paper only: there would be no cards given to African-Americans, no books for them read, and no furniture for them to use. It was these exact conditions that helped create Freedom Libraries. Over eighty of these parallel libraries appeared in the Deep South, staffed by civil rights voter registration workers. While the grassroots nature of the libraries meant they varied in size and quality, all of them created the first encounter many African-Americans had with a library. Terror, bombings, and eventually murder would be visited on the Freedom Libraries—with people giving up their lives so others could read a library book. This book delves into how these libraries were the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, and the remarkable courage of the people who used them. They would forever change libraries and librarianship, even as they helped the greater movement change the society these libraries belonged to. Photographs of the libraries bring this little-known part of American history to life.
Download or read book The Two Babylons Or the Papal Worship Proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife written by Alexander Hislop and published by . This book was released on 1858 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Wesleys and the Anglican Mission to Georgia 1735 1738 written by John Thomas Scott and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-10-23 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Wesleys and the Anglican Mission to Georgia, 1735-1738 considers the fascinating early history of a small group of men commissioned by trustees in England to spread Protestantism both to new settlers and indigenous people living in Georgia. Four minister-missionaries arrived in 1736, but after only two years these men detached themselves from the colonial enterprise, and the Mission effectively ended in 1738. Tracing the rise and fall of this endeavor, Scott’s study focuses on key figures in the history of the Mission including the layman, Charles Delamotte, and the ministers, John and Charles Wesley, Benjamin Ingham, and George Whitefield. In Scott’s innovative historical approach, neglected archival sources generate a detailed narrative account that reveals how these men’s personal experiences and personal networks had a significant impact on the inner-workings and trajectory of the Mission. The original group of missionaries who traveled to Georgia was composed of men already bound together by family relations, friendships, and shared lines of mentorship. Once in the colony, the missionaries’ prospects altered as they developed close ties with other missionaries (including a group of Moravians) and other settlers (John Wesley returned to England after his romantic relationship with Sophy Hopkey soured). Structures of imperialism, class, and race underlying colonial ideology informed the Anglican Mission in the era of trustee Georgia. The Wesleys and the Anglican Mission to Georgia enriches this historical picture by illuminating how a different set of intricacies, rooted in personal dynamics, was also integral to the events of this period. In Scott’s study, the history of the expansive eighteenth-century Atlantic world emerges as a riveting account of life unfolding on a local and individual level.
Download or read book Racial Cleansing in Arkansas 1883 1924 written by Guy Lancaster and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2014-07-30 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even before the end of Reconstruction in Arkansas, the state already possessed a long-standing reputation for violence, including lynchings, duels, and feuds. However, the years following Reconstruction witnessed the creation of new forms of mob violence. All across the state, gangs of whites sought to drive African Americans from their homes, their jobs, and their positions of authority, creating communities shamelessly advertised as “100% white.” This happened not only in the highland regions, the Ozarks and the Ouachitas, where the expulsion of African Americans created so-called “sundown towns,” but it also occurred in the low-lying Delta lands of eastern Arkansas, where cotton was king and where masked mobs of landless “whitecappers” and “nightriders” regularly dealt terror and murder to black sharecroppers. Racial Cleansing in Arkansas, 1883–1924: Politics, Land, Labor, and Criminality by Guy Lancaster is the first book to examine the phenomenon of racial cleansing within the context of one particular state, illustrating how violence relates to geography and economic development. Lancaster analyzes the wholesale expulsion of African Americans and the emergence of “sundown towns” together with a survey of more limited deportations, including those with blatant political goals as well as vigilante violence. The book has broader implications not only for the study of Southern and American history but also for a deeper understanding of ethnic and racial conflict, local politics, and labor history
Download or read book Mixed Race Identity in the American South written by Julia Sattler and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This interdisciplinary investigation argues that since the 1990s, discourses about mixed-race heritage in the United States have taken the shape of a veritable literary genre, here termed “memoir of the search.” The study uses four different texts to explore this non-fictional genre, including Edward Ball's Slaves in the Family and Shirlee Taylor Haizlip's The Sweeter the Juice. All feature a protagonist using methods from archival investigation to DNA-testing to explore an intergenerational family secret; photographs and family trees; and the trip to the American South, which is identified as the site of the secret’s origin and of the family’s past. As a genre, these texts negotiate the memory of slavery and segregation in the present. In taking up central narratives of Americanness, such as the American Dream and the Immigrant story, as well as discourses generating the American family, the texts help inscribe themselves and the mixed-race heritage they address into the American mainstream. In its outlook, this book highlights the importance of the memoirs’ negotiations of the past when finding ways to remember after the last witnesses have passed away. and contributes to the discussion over political justice and reparations for slavery.
Download or read book The Alabama Knights of Pythias of North America South America Europe Asia Africa and Australia written by Marilyn T. Peebles and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2012-08-16 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Knights of Pythias fraternal organization was founded in 1865 by an Act of Congress. When African American men were denied membership, they created their own organization in Vicksburg, MS, in 1880. Its founder, Thomas Stringer, believed that fraternal organizations could provide the black community with business networks, economic safety nets, and political experience at a time when Jim Crow laws were being constructed all around them. In Birmingham, Alabama, these Pythians became the cornerstone of an African American business community that included the first black-owned and operated bank in the state. They provided burial, life, and disability insurance for members and became a source of civic pride and racial solidarity. When their right to exist was challenged, they took the case to the Supreme Court in 1912 and won. This strategy would be used decades later in Brown v. Board of Education.
Download or read book The Extraordinary Power of Praise written by Becky Harling and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When stress abounds, soothe your anxious heart with peace and praise. From constant waves of negative news to meeting family, career, and community needs, women today often feel more anxious than ever. Amidst the clamor of the world and the internal longings for peace, our overwhelming need is for more of God’s extraordinary presence, peace, and power in our lives. Join Becky Harling for a 6-week study that looks to Psalm 94:19: “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy!” The Extraordinary Power of Praise will help you put into practice the two-step process for soothing an anxious heart: finding joy to replace anxiety and learning to pour out our hearts to God in praise. Each day includes a study of a Psalm, thought provoking questions, and short morning and evening prayers. You’ll also find suggested praise songs and prayer journaling prompts to help you engage more deeply with God. As you meditate on the Psalms throughout this 6-week study, you’ll experience the genuine joy of God’s presence, develop a positive outlook in the midst of the world’s stress, and find victory over fear and anxiety. The Extraordinary Power of Praise is suited for both individual and group use. For more of Becky’s engaging, empathetic Bible teaching, go deeper into this study with the companion video series, available on Vimeo or for download. You can also find more peace through the Psalms with Becky’s latest daily devotional Psalms for the Anxious Heart.
Download or read book Paganism in the Roman Empire written by Ramsay MacMullen and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1981-01-01 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "MacMullen...has published several books in recent years which establish him, rightfully, as a leading social historian of the Roman Empire. The current volume exhibits many of the characteristics of its predecessors: the presentation of novel, revisionist points of view...; discrete set pieces of trenchant argument which do not necessarily conform to the boundaries of traditional history; and an impressive, authoritative, and up-to-date documentation, especially rich in primary sources...A stimulating and provocative discourse on Roman paganism as a phenomenon worthy of synthetic investigation in its own right and as the fundamental context for the rise of Christianity.”--Richard Brilliant, History "MacMullen’s latest work represents many features of paganism in its social context more vividly and clearly than ever before.”--Fergus Millar, American Historical Review "The major cults...are examined from a social and cultural perspective and with the aid of many recently published specialized studies...Students of the Roman Empire...should read this book.”--Robert J, Penella, Classical World "A distinguished book with much exact observation...An indispensable mine of erudition on a grand theme.” Henry Chadwick, Times Literary Supplement Ramsay MacMullen is Dunham Professor of History and Classics at Yale University and the author of Roman Government’s Response to Crisis, A.D. 235-337 and Roman Social Relations, 50 B.C. to A.D. 284
Download or read book A Christmas Cornucopia written by Mark Forsyth and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2016-11-03 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BY THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF A SHORT HISTORY OF DRUNKENNESS Discover the unpredictable origins and etymologies of our Christmas customs this festive season. For something that happens every year of our lives, we really don't know much about Christmas. We don't know that the date we celebrate was chosen by a madman, or that Christmas, etymologically speaking, means "Go away, Christ". We're oblivious to the fact that the advent calendar was actually invented by a Munich housewife to stop her children pestering her for a Christmas countdown. And we would never have guessed that the invention of crackers was merely a way of popularising sweet wrappers. Luckily, like a gift from Santa himself, Mark Forsyth is here to unwrap this fundamentally funny gallimaufry of traditions and oddities, making it all finally make sense - in his wonderfully entertaining wordy way. 'Witty and revelatory. Blooming brilliant' Raymond Briggs 'Everything we ever thought about Christmas is wrong! Great stuff' Matthew Parris
Download or read book The Myth of Saint Thomas and the Mylapore Shiva Temple written by Ishwar Sharan and published by Voice of India. This book was released on 2019-06-20 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • Comprehensive study of the St. Thomas in India myth with reference to Christian iconoclasm in South India from the 7th century till today. • Reviews and related material for this book can be accessed on the Acta Indica website at https://ishwarsharan.com/. • The copyright © of this book belongs to Voice of India, 2/18 Ansari Road, New Delhi 110002. The Creative Commons licence for this book is Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND).
Download or read book The Anthropology of Religion Magic and Witchcraft Pearson eText written by Rebecca L Stein and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-08-07 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book emphasizes the major concepts of both anthropology and the anthropology of religion and examines religious expression from a cross-cultural perspective while incorporating key theoretical concepts. It is aimed at students encountering anthropology for the first time.
Download or read book Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy written by Barrington Moore and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 1993-09-01 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This classic work of comparative history explores why some countries have developed as democracies and others as fascist or communist dictatorships Originally published in 1966, this classic text is a comparative survey of some of what Barrington Moore considers the major and most indicative world economies as they evolved out of pre-modern political systems into industrialism. But Moore is not ultimately concerned with explaining economic development so much as exploring why modes of development produced different political forms that managed the transition to industrialism and modernization. Why did one society modernize into a "relatively free," democratic society (by which Moore means England)? Why did others metamorphose into fascist or communist states? His core thesis is that in each country, the relationship between the landlord class and the peasants was a primary influence on the ultimate form of government the society arrived at upon arrival in its modern age. “Throughout the book, there is the constant play of a mind that is scholarly, original, and imbued with the rarest gift of all, a deep sense of human reality . . . This book will influence a whole generation of young American historians and lead them to problems of the greatest significance.” —The New York Review of Books
Download or read book A Dictionary of English Folklore written by Jacqueline Simpson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-10-09 with total page 1046 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dictionary is part of the Oxford Reference Collection: using sustainable print-on-demand technology to make the acclaimed backlist of the Oxford Reference programme perennially available in hardback format. An engrossing guide to English folklore and traditions, with over 1,250 entries. Folklore is connected to virtually every aspect of life, part of the country, age group, and occupation. From the bizarre to the seemingly mundane, it is as much a feature of the modern technological age as of the ancient world. BL Oral and Performance genres-Cheese rolling, Morris dancing, Well-dressingEL BL Superstitions-Charms, Rainbows, WishbonesEL BL Characters-Cinderella, Father Christmas, Robin Hood, Dick WhittingtonEL BL Supernatural Beliefs-Devil's hoofprints, Fairy rings, Frog showersEL BL Calendar Customs-April Fool's Day, Helston Furry Day, Valentine's DayEL
Download or read book The Miracles of Exodus written by Colin J. Humphreys and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Real Story of the Exodus Colin Humphreys, a world-renowned Cambridge University scientist, reveals for the first time the concrete, scientific truth behind the Exodus miracles. The Burning Bush: Caused by a volcanic vent that opened up under the bush. Crossing the Red Sea: The water was pushed back by a very strong wind blowing all night. This is a known physical phenomenon called wind setdown. The details given in the Bible mean we can pinpoint where the Red Sea crossing occurred. Drowning Pharaoh's Army: When the very strong wind suddenly stopped blowing, the water rushed back in the form of a rapidly returning "bore" wave, sweeping Pharaoh's army into the sea. Mount Sinai: The real Mount Sinai is in present-day Saudi Arabia, not the Sinai Desert as is generally assumed.
Download or read book The Venice Variations written by Sophia Psarra and published by UCL Press. This book was released on 2018-04-30 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the myth of Arcadia through to the twenty-first century, ideas about sustainability – how we imagine better urban environments – remain persistently relevant, and raise recurring questions. How do cities evolve as complex spaces nurturing both urban creativity and the fortuitous art of discovery, and by which mechanisms do they foster imagination and innovation? While past utopias were conceived in terms of an ideal geometry, contemporary exemplary models of urban design seek technological solutions of optimal organisation. The Venice Variations explores Venice as a prototypical city that may hold unique answers to the ancient narrative of utopia. Venice was not the result of a preconceived ideal but the pragmatic outcome of social and economic networks of communication. Its urban creativity, though, came to represent the quintessential combination of place and institutions of its time. Through a discussion of Venice and two other works owing their inspiration to this city – Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities and Le Corbusier’s Venice Hospital – Sophia Psarra describes Venice as a system that starts to resemble a highly probabilistic ‘algorithm’, that is, a structure with a small number of rules capable of producing a large number of variations. The rapidly escalating processes of urban development around our big cities share many of the motivations for survival, shelter and trade that brought Venice into existence. Rather than seeing these places as problems to be solved, we need to understand how urban complexity can evolve, as happened from its unprepossessing origins in the marshes of the Venetian lagoon to the ‘model city’ that endured a thousand years. This book frees Venice from stereotypical representations, revealing its generative capacity to inform potential other ‘Venices’ for the future.
