As the title suggests, this is a memoir of antebellum days in New Orleans, although the author does recall incidences after the war of her days in Cuba. This is purely a memoir, not a commentary for social justice. It is profitable reading for anyone who enjoys a picture of life in the 19th century. Mrs. Ripley goes into great detail about dress, making this a good primary source for those who participate in living history events. Although this book is widely available and have been reprinted quite a few times; this edition is unique in that it has detailed annotations which make understanding of things of which the author writes much easier and more interesting. These do not obtrude with the flow of the reading of the original wording, which has been left intact.

Adams explores how the commodification of black bodies during slavery did not disappear with abolition--rather, the same principle was transformed into modern consumer capitalism. From Storyville brothels and narratives of turn-of-the-century New Orleans

From the award-winning author of Dressing Up, a riveting and diverse history of women’s hair that reestablishes the cultural power of hairdressing in nineteenth-century America. In the nineteenth century, the complex cultural meaning of hair was not only significant, but it could also impact one’s place in society. After the Civil War, hairdressing was also a growing profession and the hair industry a mainstay of local, national, and international commerce. In Beyond Vanity, Elizabeth Block expands the nascent field of hair studies by restoring women’s hair as a cultural site of meaning in the early United States. With a special focus on the places and spaces in which the hair industry operated, Block argues that the importance of hair has been overlooked due to its ephemerality as well as its misguided association with frivolity and triviality. As Block clarifies, hairdressing was anything but frivolous. Using methods of visual and material culture studies informed by concepts of cultural geography, Block identifies multiple substantive categories of place and space within which hair acted. These include the preparatory places of the bedroom, hair salon, and enslaved peoples’ quarters, as well as the presentation places of parties, fairs, stages, and workplaces. Here are also the untold stories of business owners, many of whom were women of color, and the creators of trendsetting styles like the pompadour and Gibson Girl bouffant. Block’s ground-breaking study examines how race and racism affected who participated in the presentation and business of hair, and according to which standards. The result of looking closely at the places and spaces of hair is a reconfiguration that allows a new understanding of the cultural power of hair in the period.

Macaulay challenges the prevailing belief that religion in the south developed solely through "revivalistic emotion" and not by religious rationalism.