Philosophy and Religion Forum Hosting Author’s Presentation on Book Examining History of Racial Segregation, Civil Rights Movement in Hattiesburg

Thu, 09/12/2019 - 03:34pm | By: David Tisdale

A former member of The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) History program faculty will return to Hattiesburg Oct. 16-17 to discuss his most recent and widely acclaimed book, one that has garnered more than a passing interest from local residents.

In “Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White” Dr. William Sturkey looks at the city’s black and white communities from its founding in the post-Civil War South through the era of segregation, and, ultimately, how the American civil rights movement changed “The Hub City” forever. Dr. Sturkey’s presentations on his book is the focus of the USM Philosophy and Religion Forum for the fall 2019 semester.

“We're excited to have Dr. Sturkey coming to Hattiesburg to discuss his book,” said USM Associate Professor of Philosophy Dr. Amy Slagle, who serves as coordinator of the USM Philosophy and Religion Forum. “It's a landmark study that really sheds light on the complex, finely-textured history of this city, and this will be a great opportunity to continue, in person, the conversation his study inaugurates."

Dr. Sturkey’s presentation schedule is as follows:

• Wednesday, Oct. 16: Dr. Sturkey will speak at the Eureka School Museum, located at 412 East 6th St., historic downtown Hattiesburg, with a reception at 5 p.m., and his book talk to follow at 6 p.m. Both the reception and talk are open to the public. 
• Thursday Oct. 17:  Dr. Sturkey will speak on the USM Hattiesburg campus at 3 p.m. in the International Center, room 101. The theme for his presentation will be "A Way of Life: Race and Capital in the Hub City of the New South." 

Other sponsors of Dr. Sturkey’s visit include The Library of Hattiesburg Petal and Forrest County; Friends of the Library; the Hattiesburg Convention Commission; and Historic Eureka School.

Currently an associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Dr. Sturkey conducted research on his dissertation while a visiting member of the USM faculty in 2013. He says he will touch on the elements of “race, economics and memory” during his presentations.

“Living in Hattiesburg was the greatest professional experience of my life,” Dr. Sturkey said. “I came down to teach and write a dissertation about the remarkable Civil Rights Movement in a Southern community, and came away with a book about white and black people who came to a new town brimming with hope at the dawn of the New South."

Dr. Sturkey was attracted to Hattiesburg because of the Freedom Schools that operated here during Freedom Summer in 1964. Despite Freedom Summer’s fame, he said, not many people have written about the schools themselves, and for him, “seemed to be an interesting story to tell there.”

“But then I began to think about where the Freedom Schools came from — where the bricks and mortar and the traditions that made Freedom Schools possible came from. And then I began to learn much more about the local white community, which was fascinating in unexpected ways,” Dr. Sturkey said.

“And so it all came together to write this book about the era between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement. I expected to begin with the first day of Freedom Schools, but then that ultimately became the ending of what I think is a far more complex, yet remarkable story of race in the Jim Crow South.”

He said learning about race through the perspectives of white citizens was also important to him, “especially as I learned about some of their own challenges.”

USM Associate Professor of History Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, an expert on the U.S. civil rights movement, said she’s been struck by the eagerness of both black and white residents of Hattiesburg to read and discuss Dr. Sturkey’s book.

“This work is a first step in the city’s white residents’ reckoning with the brutal racism of Hattiesburg’s past, and also an important step in recognizing the courage of the city’s black residents in fighting against white supremacy, despite the greatest odds,” Dr. Tuuri said.

The Philosophy and Religion program is housed in the USM College of Arts and Sciences’ School of Humanities. For more information about Dr. Sturkey’s presentations for the USM Philosophy and Religion Forum, contact Dr. Slagle at amy.slagleFREEMississippi.