Grape & Canister
News, Books, Videos, and an Otis pic
Movie Night
OK folks, our next movie discussion will be about Ride With the Devil (1999), which stars Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jewell, and Jeffrey Wright. The movie does a great job of exploring themes about the Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas border and it is highly entertaining. I haven’t set a date, but it will be on a Sunday evening in September. Make sure to watch the movie beforehand. Bring your questions and comments.
Don’t forget, you have to be a paid subscriber to take part. :-)
Hot Off the Presses
It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of my essays in print. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to work on this short piece about the movie Cold Mountain and the depiction of United States Colored Troops in more recent Hollywood movies. Thanks to Chris Mackowski for the opportunity to contribute to this collection of essays.
The Civil War in Pop Culuture (Savas, 2023)
News
Two high schools in Montgomery, Alabama, named in honor of Confederate leaders, introduced their new colors and mascots earlier this week.
Bet you didn’t know that there is a Confederate monument in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Last month PBS aired a documentary about the history and controversy surrounding the Confederate monument at Stone Mountain, Georgia.
This is long overdue. President Biden has authorized the creation of teh Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument. This will be spread out over a number of locations, including Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, Illinois; the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi; and Graball Landing on the banks of the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi.
Videos
Here is my friend and fellow historian Jim Broomall discussing his new book project on material culture and the Civil War. Jim is a wonderful presenter and his project looks fascinating. Well worth your time.
Books
Fred Lee Hord & Matthew D. Norman eds., Knowing Him By Heart: African Americans On Abraham Lincoln (University of Illinois Press, 2023).
Jonathan W. White, Shipwrecked: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Jailbreaks, Blockade-Running, and the Slave Trade (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023).
Kenneth J. Winkle, Lincoln’s Citadel: The Civil War in Washington, DC (W.W. Norton & Company, 2014).
Otis
Otis would love to befriend our two kitties, but they are just too intimidated by his size. This is the next best thing.
I always thought Ride With the Devil was the best Civil War movie bar none. Brutal, real, no phony glorification, and actually nuanced
Delighted to hear about the Till and Till-Mobley monuments, especially considering that the original marker mysteriously kept being shot up. I knew little about Till-Mobley until I saw the recent film, Till.