A Tour of Dyersburg’s Bruce Neighborhood
After a late lunch in Halls, I drove on to Dyersburg. One of the reasons was that a few years ago, I had seen a …
Education
The Tennessee Delta IV: Tipton County
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in June, I decided to head out around some of the backroads in Tipton County in search of things to …
The Tennessee Delta IV: Ruins of George Ellis High School in Munford
Abandoned schools in the South always depress me. There is hardly a region of the country that needs education more than ours, and I can …
Celebrating West Tennessee’s Lost Fife and Drum Tradition
Last summer, the Tennessee Arts Commission began a Folklife Apprenticeship program to preserve endangered folkways in the state, and one of the areas of interest …
Fayette County Easter Sunday
In my ongoing research on West Tennessee fife and drum music, I have focused a great deal on Fayette County, largely because of its demographics …
Remembering the Legacy of Bartlett’s Shadowlawn High School
Back in 1979, I had attended Shadowlawn Middle School in a rural area along Shadowlawn Road north of Ellendale. I was in the sixth grade …
From Benton County to Fayette County on Labor Day
On Labor Day, after breakfast at Huddle House in Senatobia, I decided to head out into Benton County on a search for the possibility of …
Remembering Phelix High School and the Town of Sunset
Segregation of the races was the law in most of the Southern United States from around 1890 on, but as the Progressive era dawned in …
How To Destroy A Town Part 2: Turrell, Arkansas
The small town of Turrell, Arkansas in northern Crittenden County is yet another victim of Arkansas’ vicious school-closing law. Because Turrell’s school enrollment fell below …
From Savage to Minter City
On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, I decided to continue my exploration of small towns and backroads in the Mississippi Delta. My first stop …