O N Pruitts Possum Town

Photographer O. N. Pruitt (1891–1967) was for some forty years the de facto documentarian of Lowndes County, Mississippi, and its county seat, Columbus--known to locals as "Possum Town." His body of work recalls many FSA photographers, but Pruitt was not an outsider with an agenda; he was a community member with intimate knowledge of the town and its residents. He photographed his fellow white citizens and Black ones as well, in circumstances ranging from the mundane to the horrific: family picnics, parades, river baptisms, carnivals, fires, funerals, two of Mississippi's last public and legal executions by hanging, and a lynching. From formal portraits to candid images of events in the moment, Pruitt's documentary of a specific yet representative southern town offers viewers today an invitation to meditate on the interrelations of photography, community, race, and historical memory. Columbus native Berkley Hudson was photographed by Pruitt, and for more than three decades he has considered and curated Pruitt's expansive archive, both as a scholar of media and visual journalism and as a community member. This stunning book presents Pruitt's photography as never before, combining more than 190 images with a biographical introduction and Hudson's short essays and reflective captions on subjects such as religion, ethnic identity, the ordinary graces of everyday life, and the exercise of brutal power.

"Photographer O.N. Pruitt (1891-1967) was for some forty years the de facto documentarian of Lowndes County, Mississippi, and its county seat, Columbus--known to locals as 'Possum Town.' His body of work recalls many FSA photographers, but Pruitt was not an outsider with an agenda; he was a community member with intimate knowledge of the town and its residents. Columbus native Berkley Hudson was photographed by Pruitt, and for more than three decades he has considered and curated Pruitt's expansive archive, both as a scholar of media and visual journalism and as a community member. This stunning book presents Pruitt's photography as never before, combining more than 150 images with a biographical introduction and Hudson's short essays and reflective captions on subjects such as religion, ethnic identity, the ordinary graces of everyday life, and the exercise of brutal power"--

"Photographer O.N. Pruitt (1891-1967) was for some forty years the de facto documentarian of Lowndes County, Mississippi, and its county seat, Columbus--known to locals as 'Possum Town.' His body of work recalls many FSA photographers, but Pruitt was not an outsider with an agenda; he was a community member with intimate knowledge of the town and its residents. Columbus native Berkley Hudson was photographed by Pruitt, and for more than three decades he has considered and curated Pruitt's expansive archive, both as a scholar of media and visual journalism and as a community member. This stunning book presents Pruitt's photography as never before, combining more than 150 images with a biographical introduction and Hudson's short essays and reflective captions on subjects such as religion, ethnic identity, the ordinary graces of everyday life, and the exercise of brutal power"--

Meticulously collected from recordings, square and contra dances, fiddle contests, jam sessions and individual fiddlers- this book is meant to provide a snapshot of what American fiddlers were playing and listening to in the latter part of the 20th Century. As the vinyl record format disappears from the marketplace, a great deal of recorded fiddle music will no longer be available. In this book, Stacy Phillips shares the fruits of some timely collecting for all fiddlers to enjoy. Bowings, fingerings, and guitar chords are provided for each melody line.

He gained renown as the sidekick of Butch Cassidy, but the Sundance Kid—whose real name was Harry Alonzo Longabaugh—led a fuller life than history or Hollywood has allowed. A relative of Longabaugh through marriage, Donna B. Ernst has spent more than a quarter century researching his life. She now brings to print the most thorough account ever of one of the West’s most infamous outlaws, tracing his life from his childhood in Pennsylvania to his involvement with the Wild Bunch and, in 1908, to his reputed death by gunshot in Bolivia. Combining genealogical research, access to family records, and explorations in historical archives, Ernst details the Sundance Kid’s movements to paint a complete picture of the man. She recounts his homesteading days in Colorado, offers new information on his years as a cowboy in Wyoming and Canada, and cites newly uncovered records that substantiate both his outlaw activities and his attempts at self-reform. While taking readers on the wild chase that became Longabaugh’s life, outracing posses and Pinkertons, Ernst corrects inaccuracies in the historical record. She demonstrates that he could not have participated in the Belle Fourche bank heist or the Tipton train robbery and refutes speculations that Butch and Sundance managed to escape their fate in Bolivia. The Sundance Kid is enlivened by more than three dozen photographs, including family photos never before seen.

Based on an award-winning article published in "O, The Oprah Magazine," Latus has crafted a heart wrenching memoir about two intelligent, attractive sisters--one of whom escaped years of abuse by men--and one who did not.

From 1950 to 2001, Lovie Beard Shelton practiced midwifery in eastern North Carolina homes, delivering some 4,000 babies to black, white, Mennonite, and hippie women; to those too poor to afford a hospital birth; and to a few rich enough to have any kind of delivery they pleased. Her life, which was about giving life, was conspicuously marked by loss, including the untimely death of her husband and the murder of her son. Lovie is a provocative chronicle of Shelton's life and work, which spanned enormous changes in midwifery and in the ways women give birth. In this artful exploration of documentary fieldwork, Lisa Yarger confronts the choices involved in producing an authentic portrait of a woman who is at once loner and self-styled folk hero. Fully embracing the difficulties of telling a true story, Yarger is able to get at the story of telling the story. As Lovie describes her calling, we meet a woman who sees herself working in partnership with God and who must wrestle with the question of what happens when a woman who has devoted her life to service, to doing God's work, ages out of usefulness. When I'm no longer a midwife, who am I? Facing retirement and a host of health issues, Lovie attempts to fit together the jagged pieces of her life as she prepares for one final home birth.

Reproduction of the original.