Episode 068 – Bertis English Recipient of the 2023 C.J. Coley Award from Alabama Historical Association
Air Date: November 8, 2023
Dr. Bertis English, professor of history at Alabama State University, discusses his book, Civil Wars, Civil Beings, and Civil Rights in Alabama's Black Belt: A History of Perry County (University of Alabama Press, 2020) that won the Alabama Historical Association's 2023 C.J. Coley Award for the best book on local history published in the previous two years. English argues that African American agency and the power of interracial citizens made the history of Perry County, AL, significantly different from the orthodox understanding of the Black Belt's history from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement as one of relentless racial strife and oppression.
Links to things mentioned in the episode:
Alabama Historical Association www.alabamahistory.net/
AHA's Clinton Jackson Coley Award https://www.alabamahistory.net/clinton-jackson-coley-book-award
Civil Wars, Civil Beings, and Civil Rights in Alabama's Black Belt https://www.uapress.ua.edu/9780817320690/civil-wars-civil-beings-and-civil-rights-in-alabamas-black-belt/
Perry County https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/perry-county/
Marion, AL https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/marion/
Uniontown, AL https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/uniontown/
The Dunning School https://slaveryexhibits.ctl.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/williamdunning
Alabama's Tragic Decade [John Witherspoon Dubose at BhamWiki] https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/John_DuBose
Sarah W. Wiggins, The Scalawag in Alabama Politics https://www.uapress.ua.edu/9780817305574/the-scalawag-in-alabama-politics-18651881/
W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Reconstruction_in_America
Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction:_America%27s_Unfinished_Revolution,_1863%E2%80%931877
Lincoln School https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/lincoln-school/
Judson College https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/judson-college/
Howard College (Samford University) https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/samford-university/
Journal of African American History https://asalh.org/document/journal-of-african-american-history/
Rather read? Here's a link to the transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3968ebuc
*Just a heads up – the provided transcript is likely to be less than 100% accurate.
The Alabama History Podcast's producer is Marty Olliff and its associate producer is Laura Murray.
Founded in 1947, the Alabama Historical Association is the oldest statewide historical society in Alabama. The AHA provides opportunities for meaningful engagement with the past through publications, meetings, historical markers, and other programs. See the website www.alabamahistory.net/