The Upshaws of County Line: An American Family Contributor(s): Orton, Richard S. (Author), Sitton, Thad (Foreword by), Flukinger, Roy (Preface by) |
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ISBN: 1574415719 ISBN-13: 9781574415711 Publisher: University of North Texas Press OUR PRICE: $26.96 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: October 2014 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Photography | Individual Photographers - General - History | United States - State & Local - Southwest (az, Nm, Ok, Tx) - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - African American Studies |
Dewey: B |
LCCN: 2014020875 |
Physical Information: 0.58" H x 10.26" W x 8.53" (1.43 lbs) 144 pages |
Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Cultural Region - Southwest U.S. |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Winner of the Ottis Locke Best Coffee Table Book Award from the East Texas Historical Association Guss, Felix, and Jim Upshaw founded the community of County Line in the 1870s in northwest Nacogdoches County, in deep East Texas. As with hundreds of other relatively autonomous black communities created at that time, the Upshaws sought a safe place to raise their children and create a livelihood during Reconstruction and Jim Crow Texas. In the late 1980s photographer Richard Orton visited County Line for the first time and became aware of a world he did not know existed as a white man. He met some remarkable people there who changed his life. The more than 50 duotone photographs and text convey the contemporary experience of growing up in a "freedom colony." Covering a period of twenty-five years, photographer Richard Orton juxtaposes his images with text from people who grew up in and have remained connected to their birthplace. Thad Sitton's foreword sets the community in historical context and Roy Flukinger points out the beauty of the documentary photographs. This book should appeal to anyone interested in American or Texas history, particularly the history of African Americans in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. The book should also be of interest to anyone with an appreciation for documentary photography, including students and teachers of photography. |