Southern Cultures Volume 20: Number 1 – Summer 2014 Table of Contents Front Porch by Jocelyn R. Neal “One of the challenges—and, simultaneously, deep pleasures—of studying the South is that the disciplinary walls of the academy neither contain nor constrain the work.” Rewriting Elizabeth A Life Lost (and Found) in the Annals of Bryce Mental Hospital by Lindsay Byron “Her name was never to be spoken. Even upon the lips and within the hearts of her own children, remembrance was forbidden. Silence nearly erased her from history.” Ghosts, Wreckers, and Rotten Ties The 1891 Train Wreck at Bostian’s Bridge by Scott Huffard “When train number nine on the Western North Carolina Railroad tumbled off Bostian’s Bridge in 1891, it ignited a media frenzy, as well as a firestorm of outrage, a detailed investigation, a compelling mystery, and a series of unanswered questions.” Photo Essay Teenage Pastime by Natalie Minik “When the unlimited energy of adolescence comes to bear on the limited experience of childhood, the results often swing toward one of two poles—an enthusiastic confirmation of the culture a child grew into or a bold rejection of the culture they grew out of.” “The Best Notes Made the Most Votes” W. C. Handy, E. H. Crump, and Black Music as Politics by Mark A. Johnson “‘Feet commenced to pat. A moment later there was dancing on the sidewalks below. Hands went into the air, bodies swayed like the reeds on the banks of the Congo.’” Taking Strong Drink by Bill Koon “Some devout Baptists complained that there was too much booze in a mini bottle for one drink; the rest of us complained that there wasn’t enough.” South Polls Partisan Change in Southern State Legislatures, 1953–2013 by Christopher A. Cooper and H. Gibbs Knotts “At mid-century, the South had no Republican senators and only two Republicans in the 105-person southern House delegation. By 2000, [both] delegations were majority Republican.” Beyond Grits and Gravy Maggie and Buck Coal Camps, Cabbage Rolls, and Community in Appalachia by Donna Tolley Corriher “Maggie’s neighbor-women saw a young woman just like themselves, with children to feed, trying to build a life, and so they helped her, unquestioning in recognition that she would help them in return. This was so.” Not Forgotten Winning Friends and Influencing Dead People by JL Strickland “Joe cackled fiendishly, addressing Vernon through the closed lid. ‘Who’s got the last laugh now, big boy?’” Mason–Dixon Lines Apple Slices poetry by Todd Boss “. . . flavored of tin from the lip of the cup of a dented thermos passed between us—” Books Elaine Neil Orr A Different Sun: A Novel of Africa reviewed by Fred Hobson Jennifer Rae Greeson Our South: Geographic Fantasy and the Rise of National Literature reviewed by Michael McCollum Angela C. Halfacre A Delicate Balance: Constructing a Conservation Culture in the South Carolina Lowcountry reviewed by Brian Grabbatin About the Contributors