Person

Scott Reynolds Nelson

Bylines

The Even Uglier Truth Behind Athens Confederate Monument

It was intended to be a tool of political power, sending a message against Black voting and serving as a gathering point for the Ku Klux Klan.

by Scott Reynolds Nelson via Muster on June 23, 2020

Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World

Scott Reynolds Nelson

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Whole Wheat Shell Pasta on Grey, by artist Rachel Doom, 2019.

Wielding Wheat

A new history makes a case for the world-ordering power of wheat.

by Daniel Immerwahr via New York Review of Books on July 1, 2022

This Day in Labor History: December 1, 1868

On folk hero John Henry.

by Erik Loomis via Twitter on December 1, 2019

Illustration of the folk hero, John Henry, face down with a hammer in his hand.

A History of American Protest Music: This Is the Hammer That Killed John Henry

How a folk hero inspired one of the most covered songs in American history.

by Tom Maxwell via Longreads on October 4, 2017

Black and white photograph of a man. The main has his hair styled to point upwards, and a tattoo of the word Mississippi on his back.

Where Does the South Begin?

A new history cuts against stereotypes, to show a region constantly changing—and whose future is up for grabs.

by Scott Wasserman Stern via The New Republic on June 26, 2023

John Henry swinging a hammer, with the steam drill behind him.

John Henry and the Divinity of Labor

Variations in the legend of a steel-driving man tell us about differing American views of the value and purpose of work.

by Jake Maynard via Current Affairs on July 6, 2021

Somebody Died, Babe: A Musical Cover-Up of Racism, Violence, and Greed

Beneath the popular folk song, “Swannanoa Tunnel” and the railroad tracks that run through Western North Carolina is a story of blood, greed, and obfuscation.

by Kevin Kehrberg, Jeffrey A. Keith via The Bitter Southerner on August 4, 2020

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