Destination Dixie: Tourism and Southern History

by Karen L. Cox

Overview

“Fascinating narratives that examine challenging intersections of history, heritage, and memory encountered along the road to historic tourism.”—Choice

 

“A thought-provoking, finely wrought collection. . . . that reveals the complexities of telling and selling of southern history.”—European Journal of American Studies

 

“Especially compelling. . . . The wide span of case studies allows an in-depth understanding of the South and highlights an interesting tension between visitor expectations and the actual variety of historical and regional variation.”—North Carolina Historical Review

 

“Leads us to the important conclusion that heritage tourism is about how people put their selves and their histories into the public eye and the conflicts of representation that arise.”—Erve Chambers, author of Native Tours: The Anthropology of Travel and Tourism

 

The contributors to this volume explore the narrative of southern history and how it is often complicated by race, influenced by local politics, and shaped by competing memories.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813060262
Publisher:	University Press of Florida
Publication date:	03/15/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.13(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Karen L. Cox is professor of history at the University of North Carolina–Charlotte and the author of the award-winning Dixie’s Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture and of Dreaming of Dixie: How the South Was Created in American Popular Culture.

Table of Contents

List of Figures vii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Part 1 People & Places

1 Persistence of Fiction: One Hundred Years of Tom Sawyer at die Mark Twain Boyhood Home Hilary Iris Lowe 17

2 From "Lawrence Comity Negro" to National Hero: The Commemoration of Jesse Owens in Alabama Barclay Key 49

3 Saving "The Dump": Race and die Restoration of the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta Kathleen Clark 69

4 "A Tradition-Conscious Cotton City": (East) Tupelo, Mississippi, Birthplace of Elvis Presley Michael T. Bertrand 87

Part 2 Race & Slavery

5 "History as Tourist Bait": Inventing Somerset Place State Historic Site, 1939-1969 Alisa Y. Harrison 113

6 "Is It Okay to Talk about Slaves?" Segregating the Past in Historic Charleston Ethan J. Kytle Blain Roberts 137

7 Selling the Civil Rights Movement through Black Political Empowerment in Selma, Alabama Glenn T. Eskew 160

Part 3 War & Remembrance

8 "Challenging the Interest and Reverence of all Patriotic Americans": Preservation and the Yorktown National Battlefield Sarah M. Goldberger 185

9 Calhoun County, Alabama: Confederate Iron Furnaces and the Remaking of History John Walker Davis Jennifer Lynn Gross 204

10 A Monument to Many Souths: Tourists Experience Southern Distinctiveness at Stone Mountain J. Vincent Lowery 223

Part 4 Landscape & Memory

11 Dead but Delightful: Tourism and Memory in New Orleans Cemeteries Anthony J. Stanonis 247

12 Tourism, Landscape, and History in die Great Smoky Mountains National Park Richard D. Starnes 267

13 Authenticity for Sale: The Everglades, Seminole Indians, and the Construction of a Pay-Per-View Culture Andrew K. Frank 285

Contributors 301

Index 303

Editorial Reviews

Reveals how narratives of history told at heritage tourism sites in the American South have been influenced by race, collective memory, economics, and local politics.”—Book News

“An especially compelling and valuable contribution. . . . The wide span of case studies allows an in-depth understanding of the South and highlights an interesting tension between visitor expectations and the actual variety of historical and regional variation.”—North Carolina Historical Review

“Fascinating narratives that examine challenging intersections of history, heritage, and memory encountered along the road to historic tourism.”—Choice

From the Publisher