Publications to Note

By Linda T. Wynn, Assistant Director for State Programs

Melcher Media, Inc. published Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel, His Master Distiller Nearest Green, and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest by Fawn Weaver. Love and Whiskey’s account takes place in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and interlaces an exciting narrative of personal discovery, historical exploration, and the eye-opening revelation of a story eclipsed by time. Through wide-ranging research, personal interviews, and the unearthing of long-buried documents, Weaver illuminates not only the relationship that existed between Nearest Green and Jack Daniel, but also Daniel’s resolute undertakings during his life to assure Green’s legacy would not be overlooked. His profound regard for his teacher, mentor, and friend was reflected in Jack's commitment to guaranteeing that the accounts and accomplishments of Nearest Green's progenies, who continued the tradition of collaborating with Jack and his descendants, would not be forgotten. As Weaver; a New York Times bestselling author, Harvard-certified Corporate Director, and CEO of Uncle Nearest Inc., intermingles her present-day goal with the historical threads of Green and Daniel's lives, she not only pays due deference to their heritage but also directed the creation of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey. This endeavor has not only brought Nearest Green's name to the forefront of the whiskey industry, but has also set new records, symbolizing a step forward in recognizing and celebrating African American contributions to the spirit world. As Clay Risen, reporter with the New York Times noted, Fawn Weaver through Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel, His Master Distiller Nearest Green, and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest “didn’t want to use Green to promote whiskey, rather, she wanted to use whiskey to promote Green―and the idea that enslaved Black people were also a part of the story.” Hardback, $28.00.

Page Publishing published Gloria Thomas Pillow’s Who We Are: Cameron High School Alumni (1957-71), Nashville’s Last Generation of Segregated Education. This work is a memoir―and a study― of African American youth, who were the last to receive their secondary education under the auspices of a segregated educational system. The work is a compilation of Cameron students from the classes of 1957 through 1971, composed of six chapters that investigate how Cameron students became who they are today. Who We Are also includes short essays written by former teachers who taught Cameron students from the same period. It thoughtfully informs the reader of the journey Cameron students traversed with an optimistic vision toward the future. Framed by the de jure and de facto racial segregation of the period and enlightened by the historical, sociological, and psychological dynamics, but it is a narrative of determination and the possibility of opportunity. A former professor at Michigan State University and Cameron alum, Gloria Thomas Pillow, is a freelance editor who previously published articles in literary criticism. In addition to Who We Are, she is the author of Motherlove in Shades of Black: The Maternal Psyche in the Novels of African American Women that closely examines the mother figure in six works by African American women at various times in American history: Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Pauline Hopkins's Contending Forces, Nella Larsen's Passing, Gwendolyn Brooks's Maud Martha, Alice Walker's The Color Purple, and Toni Morrison's Beloved. Obviously, Who We Are: Cameron High School Alumni (1957-71), Nashville’s Last Generation of Segregated Education would be of interest to those who attended Nashville’s Cameron High School, but it should also appeal to those who have an interest in the city’s educational system during the era of segregation and its impact on those students who navigated the educational landscape. Paperback, $19.95.

The University of Arkansas Press published Archivist Collin Edward Woodward’s Country Boy: The Roots of Johnny Cash. The novel focuses on how Cash’s native state of Arkansas influenced his principles and fostered his musical ingenuity. This tome adroitly fuses biography, history, and music analysis to illustrate how the life, experiences, and work of “the man in black” was informed by his natal state. Country Boy: The Roots of Johnny Cash joins such biographical titles as Johnny Cash: The Biography by Michael Streissguth; Citizen Cash: The Political Life and Times of Johnny Cash by Michael Stewart Foley; Johnny Cash: The Life and Legacy of the Man in Black by Alan Light; and Johnny Cash: The Life by Robert Hilburn, among others. Cash recorded many of his classic songs at Memphis’ Sun Records and because he was among Nashville’s country music royalty, it causes individuals to connect him to Tennessee. However, biographers have asserted that some of his best songs―such as Pickin’ Time, Big River, and Five Feet High and Rising ― came out of his experiences in the cotton fields of northeastern Arkansas. Drawing upon Cash’s songs and writings, as well as the accounts of family, musicians, and chroniclers, the author, who earned his Ph.D. in history from Louisiana State University, and the host of the American Rambler history and pop-culture podcast, reveals how the profound sincerity and empathy so central to Cash’s music depended on his maintaining a connection of his native Arkansas. Paperback, $26.95

Third Man Books published Betsy T. Phillips’ Dynamite Nashville: Unmasking the FBI, the KKK, and the Bombers Beyond Their Control. The author focuses on three Nashville bombings that took place on September 10, 1957; March 16, 1958; and April 19, 1960, all of which have yet to be solved. These unresolved bombings included Nashville’s Hattie Cotton Elementary School, the Jewish Community Center, and the home of Civil Rights attorney and Nashville city council member, Z. Alexander Looby, which he and his wife managed to escape with their lives. These bombings took place as the nation moved toward a racially desegregated society or the dawning of the Modern Civil Rights Movement. As Phillips explains, just as a cadre of activists like John Lewis, James Lawson, Diane Nash, C.T. Vivian, and others began to expressly question the de facto or de jure system of racial segregation, the “Athens of the South” harbored a plexus of racial terrorists. Phillips asserts that well-connected individuals supported the activities of poor racists without being implicated. The differing agendas of local law enforcement and the FBI allowed the bombers to escape prosecution until decades later, if at all. Not only does the author focus on Nashville’s unresolved early Civil Rights terror campaigns, but she also ties them to bombings that took place in Miami and Jacksonville, Florida; Charlotte and Gastonia, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; and Birmingham, Alabama, between 1957 and 1963. Thereby, demonstrating how Nashville was the precursor to racial viciousness and violence. Phillips, a writer for the Nashville Scene and the Washington Post. In 2019, she was named Best Historian in the Best of Nashville edition of the Nashville Scene. A former board member of Historic Nashville Inc., she resides in Whites Creek, Tennessee. Betsy T. Phillips’ Dynamite Nashville has garnered attention from those interested in Nashville’s civil rights narrative and from local officials who have vowed to investigate the unresolved bombings. Paperback $21.95.

Vanderbilt University Press published The Realms of Oblivion: An Excavation of the Davies Manor Historic Site’s Omitted Stories by Andrew C. Ross, a Memphis based writer and museum professional. The author has worked as the museum director of the Blues Foundation and as executive director for the Davies Manor Association. His tome, The Realms of Oblivion delves into the minutiae interwoven in reconciling competing narratives of history, channeled through historic Davies Manor, located near Memphis, Tennessee. Like many southern plantations, Davies Manor was once a wealthy, enslaved-owning family’s sprawling cotton plantation. Ross interrogates the forces of memorialization that often go unquestioned in the stories believed about individuals and communities, The Realms of Oblivion presents the reader with an instructive and fascinating bottom-up history―of the Davies family, African Americans they enslaved and oppressed across generations, and of Memphis and Shelby County. The author challenges the reader to consider what sustains the survival of that historical narrative to the present. The Realms of Oblivion: An Excavation of the Davies Manor Historic Site’s Omitted Stories employs microhistories to explore race and class in the South and should be of interest to those who want to comprehend the historical narrative of the historic Davies Manor. Paperback, $27.95.