The coasts of today's American South feature luxury condominiums; resorts; and gated communities; yet just a century ago; a surprising amount of beachfront property in the Chesapeake; along the Carolina shores; and around the Gulf of Mexico was owned and populated by African Americans. Blending social and environmental history; Andrew W. Kahrl tells the story of African American–owned beaches in the twentieth century. By reconstructing African American life along the coast; Kahrl demonstrates just how important these properties were for African American communities and leisure; as well as for economic empowerment; especially during the era of the Jim Crow South. However; in the wake of the civil rights movement and amid the growing prosperity of the Sunbelt; many African Americans fell victim to effective campaigns to dispossess black landowners of their properties and beaches.Kahrl makes a signal contribution to our understanding of African American landowners and real-estate developers; as well as the development of coastal capitalism along the southern seaboard; tying the creation of overdeveloped; unsustainable coastlines to the unmaking of black communities and cultures along the shore. The result is a skillful appraisal of the ambiguous legacy of racial progress in the Sunbelt.
#656247 in Books J Brent Morris 2014-09-02Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.50 x 1.25 x 6.25l; .0 #File Name: 1469618273352 pagesOberlin Hotbed of Abolitionism College Community and the Fight for Freedom and Equality in Antebellum America
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Where All Are Welcomed; Challenged; and ChangedBy BokononerThis is a remarkably fine historical study by a young southern scholar. Oberlin; at times; may have failed to live up to its own highest aims; but fairly consistently it has led the nation in education and in attunement of the human spirit through arts; sciences; and music while barring none on the basis of their gender; color; or origin. In short; the institution and the town -- the community as a whole -- has been and continues to be a positively remarkable version of a great human aspiration that made Oberlin a hotbed before; during; and after the American civil war. Perhaps no longer a hotbed; but Oberlin continues to be a great and distinctive place today.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy fph1947Excellent book.well researched.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A Fine Study of OberlinBy Matthew BartlettIn the age of abolitionism; one institution stood out unlike any other. Oberlin was not just a college; but a whole community of people in the most diverse atmosphere ever imagined. In the antebellum period; this was the place which shone as a haven for escaped slaves and the diverse population helped to aid the cause of the abolitionists. In his work; J. Brent Morris gives us the history of the institution not only throughout the antebellum period but gives us an outlook into the world of the school and the culture which is helped to create. Oberlin: Hotbed of Abolitionism is a work that stands out like no other; it melds the history of an institution with the world of the antebellum period bringing us to the forefront of the American Civil War. J. Brent Morris is the assistant professor of history at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. He received his PhD in 2010 from Cornell University and lectures on slavery and anti-slavery in the United States. He is also the author of Yes Lord I Know the Road and has written many articles and encyclopedia entries on the subject in prominent publications. J. Brent Morris was also the recipient of South Carolina Historical Society’s Malcolm C. Clark’s Award in 2010 which is given for excellence in a scholarly article in the society’s journal. The book opens with a lengthy introduction into the history of the institution and the people who helped to create the abolitionist society created by the university. As I read through the pages; I began to realize the progressive nature of Oberlin and all of the different types of study from the college and how it seeped into the people of the community. The incredible push of religiosity explained in these pages shows the great impact of the Second Great Awakening on all of the country. However; in Oberlin; Morris makes a point that it all did not start in Ohio; but all around the East Coast. As the text continued; I realized the impact which this place had on the cause of abolitionism in which every person; man and woman; had to be a part of the whole operation. After reading the introduction; this was no surprise since Oberlin seemed steeped into equality which; as stated before; empowered progression of the very age. The fights which the abolitionists in Oberlin partook of after the Mexican War and the expansion of slavery seemed difficult but not out of control for them. The author finishes the work in an epilogue of the events which have occurred in Oberlin to this day and even talks about the issues of racism as the work was being finished. What was amazing to me as I read through the pages was the incredible feats of the people of not only the college; but of the community of Oberlin. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of slavery during the antebellum period and anyone who studies the slavery movement in the nineteenth century. The things accomplished by the people of this community not only showed that the abolition movement was much stronger than many other historians would have you tend to think; but had a strong headquarter like hub from where they could operate without any shrouds. I was also amazed at the breadth of research which Morris has placed into this work without bogging down the narrative as the chapters flowed easily from one to the next. Highly recommended.Matthew Bartlett - Gettysburg Chronicle
