reconstruction

This week, we’ll be talking with Betsy Teter and Jim Neighbors about their book, North of Main: Spartanburg's Historic Black Neighborhoods of North Dean Street, Gas Bottom, and Back of the College. In this book, co-authors Brenda Lee Pryce, Betsy Teter and Jim Neighbors tell the story of how post-emancipation black districts arose in Spartanburg and how they disappeared.

“R” is for Rollin sisters. During Reconstruction Frances, Lottie, Louisa, and Kate were active in South Carolina politics and their Columbia home became an important, if informal, venue for Republican Party leaders in Reconstruction South Carolina.

“R” is for Rollin sisters. During Reconstruction Frances, Lottie, Louisa, and Kate were active in South Carolina politics and their Columbia home became an important, if informal, venue for Republican Party leaders in Reconstruction South Carolina.

“M” is for Miller, Kelly, Jr. (1863-1939). Educator, writer.

“M” is for Miller, Kelly, Jr. (1863-1939). Educator, writer.

“C” is for Chamberlain, Daniel Henry (1835-1907). Governor. In 1874 Chamberlain became the Republican candidate for governor and won the general election that fall.

“C” is for Chamberlain, Daniel Henry (1835-1907). Governor. In 1874 Chamberlain became the Republican candidate for governor and won the general election that fall.

This week, we offer you an encore of an episode from our broadcast archive: A fascinating conversation with Dr. Vernon Burton, the Judge Matthew J. Perry Jr. Distinguished Professor of History at Clemson University, and Dr. Peter Eisenstadt, affiliate scholar in the Department of History at Clemson University.Walter will be talking with Peter and Vernon about their book, Lincoln’s Unfinished Work: The New Birth of Freedom from Generation to Generation, a collection of essays from a conference that they directed at Clemson University which discussed many of the dimensions of Lincoln’s “unfinished work” as a springboard to explore the task of political and social reconstruction in the United States from 1865 to the present day.The conference was not solely about Lincoln, or the immediate unfinished work of Reconstruction, or the broader unfinished work of America coming to terms with its tangled history of race; it investigated all three topics – as does our conversation.

In their book, Reconstruction beyond 150: Reassessing the New Birth of Freedom, Vernon Burton and Brent Morris have brought together the best new scholarship, synthesizing social, political, economic, and cultural approaches to understanding a crucial period in our country’s history. They talk with us about how the their project came about, and about how many "reconstructions" our country has seen since the Civil War.

“B” is for Black Codes (1865-1866). In 1865 with little directions coming from Washington and with the South in economic and social chaos, the former states of the Confederacy drew up “Black Codes” to clarify the standing of African Americans.