A history lesson

10,000 Acres

Shirley Blosser likes to keep track of her ancestors. She’s descended from four families in Meigs Township, Ohio.   Out of the four, it’s the Spillman clan that can be the most challenging to think about. It’s their land that was dug up for coal, reshaped and planted in grass, and […]

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Ohio Has Always Had Confederate Apologists

In June, Ohio legislators refused to ban confederate memorabilia from county fairs. The state has long had a complicated relationship with the confederacy. Symbols of the Confederacy have had a bad month. Confederate battle flags will no longer fly at Talladega, there is talk of renaming Fort Benning and Fort Bragg, […]

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From Grandfather to Grandson, the Lessons of the Tulsa Race Massacre

My family sat down to watch the first episode of HBO’s “Watchmen” last October. Stephen Williams, the director, included quick cuts of gunshots, explosions, citizens fleeing roaming mobs, and even a plane dropping bombs. We’ve come to anticipate these elements in superhero films. As the sepia-toned footage spooled across the […]

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How One Man Fought South Carolina Democrats To End Whites-Only Primaries – And Why That Matters Now

A rusting chain-link fence represents a “color line” for the dead in Columbia, South Carolina. In Randolph Cemetery, separated by the barrier from the well-manicured lawn of the neighboring white graveyard, lies the remains of George A. Elmore. A Black business owner and civil rights activist, Elmore is little remembered […]

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