The multigenerational history of land that became one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries in the United States

In 1982, sisters Ruth Finley and Margaret Finley Shackelford made wills bequeathing 2,500 acres and two antebellum houses in Marshall County, Mississippi, to the National Audubon Society. Early in 1998, the surviving sister Margaret Shackelford invited the society to open its state headquarters at the family home in Holly Springs and to begin working at Strawberry Plains, the plantation where she lived four miles north of town. At her death late that year, the society took full possession of the sisters' bequest, and Strawberry Plains Audubon Center was established. Strawberry Plains Audubon Center: Four Centuries of a Mississippi Landscape documents the unique and complex history of the land encompassed by the center. With a large cast of characters from many generations, this book richly delineates life on a tract of land in north Mississippi. It tells a fascinating story involving famous historical figures like Hernando de Soto and William Tecumseh Sherman, but concentrates on those who owned and worked this land and their changing fortunes. Through their individual stories, the author conveys the larger sweep of history in the South and tells an uplifting saga of stewards of the land, conservators whose vision led to the creation of a lasting legacy for people and wildlife. Hubert H. McAlexander is Josiah Meigs Professor of English at the University of Georgia. His previous books include Peter Taylor: A Writer's Life and Conversations with Peter Taylor (published by University Press of Mississippi), and his work has appeared in numerous periodicals.

Tired of the same old tourist traps? Whether you’re a visitor or a local looking for something different, let Mississippi Off the Beaten Path show you the Magnolia State you never knew existed. Purchase stone-ground cornmeal from the oldest continuously operating water mill in the United States at Sciple’s Water Mill; listen to first-class blues music at Margaret’s Blue Diamond Lounge in Clarksdale; or stay in the Shack Up Inn to get a genuine plantation experience. So if you’ve “been there, done that” one too many times, get off the main road and venture Off the Beaten Path.

2022 Anthropology of Tourism Interest Group Nelson Graburn Prize, winner When residents and tourists visit sites of slavery, whose stories are told? All too often the lives of slaveowners are centered, obscuring the lives of enslaved people. Behind the Big House gives readers a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to interpret the difficult history of slavery in the U.S. South. The book explores Jodi Skipper’s eight-year collaboration with the Behind the Big House program, a community-based model used at local historic sites to address slavery in the collective narrative of U.S. history and culture. In laying out her experiences through an autoethnographic approach, Skipper seeks to help other activist scholars of color negotiate the nuances of place, the academic public sphere, and its ambiguous systems of reward, recognition, and evaluation.

Hummingbird facts accompany tales from various peoples of the Americas to give readers an informative and cultural look at these amazing birds.