Southern History

March 8, 2013 - A story in a 1977 issue of Southern Exposure reported on how in the midst of the Great Depression Jessie Daniel Ames organized a mass "revolt against chivalry" that linked the anti-lynching campaign with the struggle for sexual emancipation. We share it today in honor of International Women's Day.

March 4, 2013 - What was true for the civil rights movement in the 1960s is true for the labor movement today: Any social movement in the South needs religion as part of its DNA if it's going to succeed.

February 21, 2013 - U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia tore down many barriers in his rise from sharecroppers' son to civil rights activist to Medal of Freedom recipient. And he's about to break another as the first sitting member of Congress to author a graphic novel telling his inspiring life story.

February 15, 2013 - With North Carolina flipping back into the Republican column, you could say that the new Solid South begins in Henderson, N.C. and ends in Valdosta, Ga., bracketed by Virginia and Florida.

February 14, 2013 - Once known as the "most aggressively conservative" federal appeals court and the "black hole of capital litigation," the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond has shifted to the center, thanks to six appointments by President Obama.

January 25, 2013 - Two pregnant Southern women played key roles in the legalization of abortion in the United States. A story in the 1977 edition of Southern Exposure detailed their experiences, and we share it in honor of the 40th anniversary of both the magazine and the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.

January 25, 2013 - At the same time North Carolina is dramatically expanding the number of charter schools operating in the state, new research from Duke University finds that charter schools are much more likely than traditional public schools to be racially unbalanced -- and that can have negative educational consequences for students.