Fall 2008 - The Johns Hopkins University Press

Hunting and Fishingin the New SouthBlack Labor and White Leisure after the Civil WarScott E. GiltnerThis innovative study re-examines the dynamics of race relationsin the post–Civil War South from an altogether freshperspective: field sports.In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, wealthywhite men from Southern cities and the industrial Northtraveled to the hunting and fishing lodges of the old Confederacy—escapingfrom the office to socialize among likemindedpeers. These sportsmen depended on local blackguides who knew the land and fishing holes and could ensurea successful outing. For whites, the ability to hunt andfish freely and employ black laborers became a conspicuousdisplay of their wealth and social standing.But hunting and fishing had been a way of life for all Southerners—blacksincluded—since colonial times. After the war,African Americans used their mastery of these sports to enterinto market activities normally denied people of color,thereby becoming more economically independent fromtheir white employers. Whites came to view black participationin hunting and fishing as a serious threat to the South’slabor system. Scott E. Giltner shows how African-Americanfreedom developed in this racially tense environment—howa black sense of competence and authority flourished in aJim Crow setting.Giltner’s thorough research in slave narratives, sportsmen’srecollections, records of fish and game clubs, and sportingperiodicals offers a unique perspective on the African-American struggle for independence from the end of theCivil War to the 1920s.Scott E. GilTNER is an assistant professor of history at Culver-Stockton College.The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historicaland Political ScienceFighting for HopeAfrican American Troops of the 93rd Infantry Divisionin World War II and Postwar AmericaRobert F. JeffersonThis fascinating history showshow African-American militarymen and women seizedtheir dignity through barracksculture and community politicsduring and after WorldWar II.Drawing on oral testimony,unpublished correspondence,archival records, memoirs, anddiaries, Robert F. Jeffersonexplores the curious contradictionof war-effort idealismand entrenched discriminationthrough the experiences of the 93rd Infantry Division.Led by white officers and presumably unable to fight—and with the army taking great pains to regulate contactbetween black soldiers and local women—the division waslargely relegated to support roles during the advance on thePhilippines, seeing action only later in the war when U.S.officials found it unavoidable.Jefferson discusses racial policy within the War Department,examines the lives and morale of black GIs and their families,documents the debate over the deployment of black troops,and focuses on the ways in which the soldiers’ wartime experiencesreshaped their perspectives on race and citizenshipin America. He finds in these men and their families incredibleresilience in the face of racism at war and at home andshows how their hopes for the future provided a blueprintfor America’s postwar civil rights struggles.Integrating social history and civil rights movement studies,Fighting for Hope examines the ways in which politicalmeaning and identity were reflected in the aspirations ofthese black GIs and their role in transforming the face ofAmerica.Robert F. JEFFERSON is an associate professor of history atXavier University.War / Society / CultureMichael Fellman, Series EditorNovember 284 pages 6 x 9 7 halftones978-0-8018-9023-9 0-8018-9023-3 $55.00(s) / £29.00 hcAmerican HistoryOctober 400 pages 6 x 9 11 halftones978-0-8018-8828-1 0-8018-8828-X $55.00(s) / £29.00 hcAmerican HistoryTHE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS 1-800-537-5487 39