\nCharles Reagan Wilson. UM photo by Robert Jordan.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
OXFORD, Miss. – It’s an experience most Southerners who
\nhave traveled beyond the South can relate to: When people
\nfind out you’re from a Southern state like Mississippi,
\nthey instantly develop an opinion about you – especially if
\nthere’s even a hint of a Southern drawl in your voice.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n“Some Northerners might think you’re slow, less educated or
\nrural,” said Charles Reagan Wilson, the inaugural Kelly
\nGene Cook, Sr. Chair of History at the University of
\nMississippi. “Others may think of Southern hospitality and
\ncharm. But where did this concept of what it means to be
\nSouthern come from? And is that concept more than an
\nidealized myth?”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nWilson will tackle these and other tough questions Tuesday
\n(April 8) during his inaugural lecture as the Cook Chair of
\nHistory. “The Southern Way of Life: The History of a
\nConcept” is slated for 7 p.m. in the Johnson Commons
\nBallroom and is free to the public.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“This event isn’t just for students and faculty, it is for
\nanyone who is curious about what it means to be from the
\nSouth,” said Joseph Ward, chair of the Department of
\nHistory. “During his 27-year career at UM, Dr. Wilson has
\nbeen consistently productive and successful as a teacher,
\nscholar and administrator. We’re delighted to both honor
\nhim and learn from him.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nFormer director of the UM Center for the Study of Southern
\nCulture, Wilson said he has been studying the evolution of
\nthe Southern sense of identity for more than 10 years.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“I’m interested broadly in how Southerners came to think
\nthey’re Southerners,” he said. “Throughout Southern
\nhistory, you have a culture that was a biracial culture and
\na biracial way of life. You have people from West Africa
\nand West Europe interacting on an uneven playing ground,
\nessentially creating a blend of western civilization and
\nThird World life.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Only recently are we really beginning to understand that
\nstory. It’s fascinating.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Charles Wilson may be the only scholar who could – or
\nwould – take on a topic as large as Southern identity,”
\nsaid Ted Ownby, interim CSSC director. “His work is a way
\nboth to ask who cares about Southern identity and how that
\nsense of identity has changed. He’s certainly the most
\nqualified person to address the question of Southern
\nculture as a whole.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nWilson’s research uncovers many of the intriguing
\ncomplexities of Southern culture and identity that run the
\ngamut from religion and politics to music and food. For
\nstarters, until the 1830s, white Southerners were morally
\nambivalent about slavery and, ironically, Northern
\ninfluence helped forge the notion of white supremacy,
\nWilson said.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Before the 1830s, many Southerners thought of slavery as a
\nnecessary evil,” he said. “But as Northern abolitionists
\nclaimed moral superiority over the South, Southerners
\nresponded by adopting a sense of Southern pride. They began
\nto romanticize the plantation and slavery. And of course,
\nthe Civil War was a unifying event, and white Southerners
\ncame out of it with a very race-conscious outlook.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nThe dynamics between blacks and whites have been a driving
\nforce in the evolution of Southern identity, whether in the
\nkitchen, the juke joint or the church, he said.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Blacks and whites often cooked and ate the same greens,
\ncornbread and black-eyed peas, but socially they couldn’t
\neat together, because it would have symbolized a sense of
\nequality,” Wilson said. “Jazz, gospel and blues were all
\nborn out of the Southern experience. And even though whites
\nand blacks often sing the same songs from the same hymnals,
\nthe worship experiences are very different, and, more often
\nthan not, separate.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nEqually fascinating to Wilson is where Southern identity is
\nheading, particularly as Mexican immigrants find their way
\ninto the workforce. Wilson recalls a parade of immigrants
\naround the Oxford Square during the Christmas holidays in
\nwhich the revelers were paying homage to Our Lady of
\nGuadalupe, a traditional religious custom in many Latin
\ncultures.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n” Mexican immigrants are the new players,” Wilson said.
\n“They weren’t here for the civil rights movement, let alone
\nthe Civil War, so what does a ‘Southern Way of Life’ mean
\nto them? My prediction is that when you start to notice the
\nblues and country music with a Latin flavor, that will be
\nthe next stage of the evolution of Southern identity. It’s
\nreally fascinating.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nAs Cook Chair of History, Wilson is getting to do more
\nteaching. He is teaching a class on the history of religion
\nin the South. “I haven’t taught undergraduates in about 10
\nyears,” he said. “I hope I’m not too rusty.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nA Tennessee native who grew up in El Paso, Texas, Wilson
\nenvisions compiling his research on Southern identity into
\na book. But like an onion, the topic seems to have layer
\nafter layer after layer.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“On one hand, the South has been solidly Republican. On the
\nother hand, this is where Barack Obama wins primaries,” he
\nsaid. “In many ways, the South has been the most prosperous
\npart of the country for many years. And at the same time,
\nwe still have rural poverty, underperforming schools and
\nthe highest infant mortality rate.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“The complexities of the South are still here,” Wilson
\nsaid. “I started this project several years ago and I’m
\nstill learning new things about it.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nFor more information on Wilson’s lecture or for assistance
\nrelated to a disability, call the Department of History at
\n662-915-7148.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 Charles Reagan Wilson. UM photo by Robert Jordan. OXFORD, Miss. – It’s an experience most Southerners who have traveled beyond the South can relate to: When people find out you’re from a Southern state like Mississippi, they instantly develop an opinion about you – especially if there’s even a hint of a Southern drawlRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCharles Reagan Wilson to Analyze Southern Identity During Inaugural Lecture as Cook Chair of History - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/charles-reagan-wilson-to-analyze-southern-identity-during-inaugural-lecture-as-cook-chair-of-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Charles Reagan Wilson to Analyze Southern Identity During Inaugural Lecture as Cook Chair of History - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 Charles Reagan Wilson. UM photo by Robert Jordan. OXFORD, Miss. – It’s an experience most Southerners who have traveled beyond the South can relate to: When people find out you’re from a Southern state like Mississippi, they instantly develop an opinion about you – especially if there’s even a hint of a Southern drawlRead the story …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/charles-reagan-wilson-to-analyze-southern-identity-during-inaugural-lecture-as-cook-chair-of-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-23T14:24:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/wp-content\/uploads\/stories\/wilson.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Ole Miss News\",\"description\":\"The official source for University of Mississippi news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/charles-reagan-wilson-to-analyze-southern-identity-during-inaugural-lecture-as-cook-chair-of-history\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/wp-content\/uploads\/stories\/wilson.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/charles-reagan-wilson-to-analyze-southern-identity-during-inaugural-lecture-as-cook-chair-of-history\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/charles-reagan-wilson-to-analyze-southern-identity-during-inaugural-lecture-as-cook-chair-of-history\/\",\"name\":\"Charles Reagan Wilson to Analyze Southern Identity During Inaugural Lecture as Cook Chair of History - Ole Miss News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/charles-reagan-wilson-to-analyze-southern-identity-during-inaugural-lecture-as-cook-chair-of-history\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-23T14:24:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/charles-reagan-wilson-to-analyze-southern-identity-during-inaugural-lecture-as-cook-chair-of-history\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e8e7562bf6d779d771ad8ce4cecd7ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42789,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions\/42789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n