First published 1997
Marion Barnwell assembles four hundred years of Mississippi narratives in this comprehensive anthology. The collection opens with a 1541 account from "A Gentleman from Elvas" and concludes with novelist Ellen Douglas writing about the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Barnwell organizes roughly one hundred nonfictional pieces chronologically to capture the state's distinctive character across centuries. The selections explore pioneer settlement, Civil War legacy, local customs and cuisine, religious practices, and the social upheavals that transformed both landscape and people. Notable inclusions feature early Chickasaw descriptions, a former slave's testimony, "Soggy" Sweat's celebrated Prohibition address, and W. C. Handy's account of discovering blues music at Tutwiler's abandoned train depot. Contributors range from Jefferson Davis and Ida B. Wells to William Faulkner and Eudora Welty, representing diverse racial and cultural perspectives. Barnwell presents both previously published works and original pieces, creating a multifaceted portrait of Mississippi through the voices of blacks, whites, Native Americans, and others who witnessed its evolving story.
Genres: history, 20th-century, american, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, multiple-perspectives
Setting: Mississippi, Atlanta, Tutwiler
Period: 1541, 1996, Prohibition Era
384 pages · Paperback · University Press of Mississippi