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Continue reading →: Twelve Years a Slave Filming in New Orleans
By Colin Woodward New Orleans is a terrific city, dripping with history. And one of the great things about history, whether in New Orleans or elsewhere, is that it’s always changing. It’s being made every day. Not only are new events–wars, elections, and the redrawing of borders–changing history, historians and scholars are…
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Continue reading →: “An Empire in Extent”: Civil War Conference in Fayetteville
From August 9-11, I had the opportunity to attend a terrific conference at the University of Arkansas’ Global Campus, which is located in the heart of downtown Fayetteville. The conference, titled “An Empire in Extent,” examined the too-often neglected Trans-Mississippi theatre of the Civil War. The gathering of scholars and history buffs…
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Continue reading →: “To My Old Master”: A Sassy Slave Letter
Here’s an interesting article about a slave named Jourdon Anderson who wrote a letter to his master in 1865 after he had won his freedom. The slave said he had no desire to go back to his old “family,” and he had the audacity to ask his former master for…
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Continue reading →: The Republican Party and the New Obstructionism
By Colin Woodward For the past four years, the Republican Party has been waging an obstructionist war against the Democrats and their leader Barack Obama. From the first, the Right has wanted Obama to fail and has done everything in its power to undermine his presidency. The conservative attacks have…
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Continue reading →: The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and “Dixie”
Here’s an interesting website about efforts to stop the band playing “Dixie” at Razorback football games a few decades ago. The site is the work of two eighth graders at Pulaski Heights Middle School in Little Rock.
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Continue reading →: Stonewall Jackson’s Arm
By Colin Woodward Ever wanted to know where Stonewall Jackson’s arm is buried? You can read about it here. In case you didn’t know, Stonewall Jackson was wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 by his own troops while scouting a mission in the dark. Anxious Confederate pickets…
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Continue reading →: “After the Battle,” an Antietam Image by Capt. James Hope
The other day, I came across this very cool image of the battle of Antietam drawn by Capt. James Hope, who made a sketch of the carnage while he was there. I’ve never seen a picture quite like this, especially one with the hills in the background. At a quick…
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Continue reading →: Memphis and the Nathan Bedford Forrest Legacy
By Colin Woodward I was in Memphis for the first time back in late May. I visited for a rock concert, but it wasn’t hard to stumble upon Civil War history. About a block from where I stayed were markers along the Mississippi River discussing the fall of Memphis in 1862,…
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Continue reading →: My Visit to Lakeport Plantation in Lake Village, Arkansas
By Colin Woodward The Lakeport house in Lake Village (Chicot County) is the only surviving antebellum Arkansas plantation home along the Mississippi River. It was built around 1859, just before the war, and was recently renovated through the efforts of Arkansas State University, which has made a name for itself…
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Continue reading →: A Kinder, Gentler Klan?
By Colin Woodward Saw this post on someone’s Facebook today about the KKK in northern Georgia adopting a highway. I’m not sure if the folks in the picture in the article are waving to the camera or giving a fascist salute. But, I’m glad the Klan hates litterbugs, too. (Photo…
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About
Colin Woodward is a writer, historian, archivist, and recovering podcaster. His latest book is Country Boy: the Roots of Johnny Cash, winner of the Ragsdale Award for best book on Arkansas history, 2022. He has also written for the Civil War Times, Civil War Monitor, Arkansas Times, Style Weekly (Richmond, Va.), and other publications. He is a frequent contributor to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. He lives in Richmond.
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