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Virginia Reviews

Hobbs, Tameka B. To Col- part of the book with the familiar: work on a painting of an English lect, Protect, and Serve: the Declaration of Independence, noblewoman revealed a slightly Behind the Scenes at the Li- of which the library has an early different painting beneath the brary of Virginia. Illustrated printing. surface. Students learn who can by Les Harper. Richmond: Library But the lesser-known works are use an archive and how — not just of Virginia, 2011. 42 pp. ISBN 978- where the book hits its historical for academic research, but also for 0-8849-0209-6 (paper). stride. A Culpeper County survey more personal quests like geneal- Children (one hopes) learn early done by the seventeen-year-old ogy. A glossary and web links con- on that libraries are good places to George Washington is one such clude the book. go for a variety of reasons. What treasure; so is a Revolutionary War The book doesn’t come alone; it they may not know is that libraries veteran’s petition, which comes represents the core of an education can do far more than simply pro- with its own illustrated story, as and outreach packet for teachers vide books and information — just does the tale of an African-Ameri- containing seven ready-made exer- as children (and adults too) may can Revolutionary War spy named cises, including a crossword puzzle not know that Virginia’s state li- James Lafayette. and a word scramble, reinforcing brary in Richmond performs a mul- every subject the book touches. titude of services that often happen Also for the teacher’s benefit is a out of the public eye and aware- One illustration shows substantial list of ways the book ness. Hobbs’s and Harper’s book correlates with the Virginia Stan- explains to students aged eight to a cheerfully hungry dards of Learning. twelve that the Library of Virginia As is often the case with a good archives and preserves famous and fellow taking his drink nonfiction work, Hobbs’s book pro- less well-known materials ranging and bag of chips into vides more lessons than the obvi- from Patrick Henry’s law office’s ous one. Students will come away ledgers to a copy of Edgar Allan a reading room … . not only knowing more about what Poe’s first work, a textbook on sea- the Library of Virginia does, but shells he helped compile. HOBBS REVIEW also understanding what libraries Mixing cartoon-style characters, in general do, whether or not they including famous Virginians, with archive famous documents. Even drawings and photographs of his- But, the book asks, “Can’t you keeping “ordinary” books on pub- toric Virginia buildings and events, just put [these items] on a shelf lic shelves presents challenges of Hobbs opens with a “welcome” to and leave it at that?” The enemies which students may not be aware. the Library of Virginia that prom- of books and manuscripts are rep- On the flip side, Hobbs and Harper ises a glimpse of the “thousands of resented by threatening cartoon make it clear that one of the biggest exciting stories” kept there — and characters, including Fred the threats to paper works is people history at its best really should be Flame, Mildred Mold, and oth- themselves. Readers harm books stories, after all. Hobbs explains ers children may not be aware of, not out of malice, but through what an archive is, the kinds of such as Acid Andy — referring to neglect or obliviousness. One illus- historical documents the library the acid found innately in many tration shows a cheerfully hungry archives, and how the library came old pages that destroys them from fellow taking his drink and bag of to be, and finally concludes with within. The “Archival Hall of Hor- chips into a reading room despite some impressive statistics: among ror” offers a gruesome look at the the warning sign. Whether or not other collections, the library con- potential fate of items not carefully readers ever visit the Library of tains 823,500 books and 690,000 preserved, followed by a glimpse of Virginia itself, one hopes they will “born digital” records housed how much meticulous effort goes take away the idea that they should within 316,500 total square feet. into archival work. Another illus- be careful around and protective of In case any student has a fear of trated story provides an example as all books, regardless of what they history, Hobbs opens the next well as a surprise — the restoration are and where they originated. PAGE 36 VIRGINIA LIBRARIES OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2011

Mostly, though, To Collect, Pro- which he travels to Vietnam to brother. He’s also trying to trans- tect, and Serve is an open invita- understand his brother’s death, late and publish a wonderful set tion. The library can seem intimi- the time when he tries to rescue of poems by a hitherto unknown dating or overwhelming even to a woman he believes is pregnant female Vietnamese poet. (Pay close adults, and certainly to children. with his brother’s son, and the attention for the brief Christopher This book is the literary equivalent present in which he tries to piece Walken Deer Hunter reference.) He of a children’s librarian kneeling his life back together with his new visits the Museum of American in front of her prospective young romantic interest, Alice. The other War Atrocities, draws obvious par- patrons and holding out her hand parts of the story are told as flash- allels between Vietnam and Iraq, to welcome them into a place they backs, providing reference points and reads his brother’s letters in might not otherwise go. Even bet- in relation to those three periods. his spare time. This part of the ter, it may encourage children to It’s complex and confusing at book offers some amazing insights ask more questions about books, li- times, but Chamberlain uses the and comparisons between Eros and braries, and archiving in their own Thanatos, juxtaposing the creativ- local or school libraries. ity of art and literature against — Danny Adams, evening services the potential absolutism of “might librarian assistant, Ferrum College … with postmodern makes right.” relativistic ramblings The third section and other points in the narrative are much Chamberlain, Jonathan. like these, philosophers more gripping. The letters Jack The Alphabet of Vietnam. leaves behind are alcohol-induced Hong Kong: Blacksmith are sure to chase their ramblings and confessions of an Books, 2011. 296 pp. tails ad infinitum into incredibly sorrowful and violent ISBN-13: 978-9881900289. $13.95 nature. Jack and his friend Wash (softcover). madness… . (an ex-pimp and ex-con turned The Alphabet of Vietnam is a enlisted man from a basically seg- CHAMBERLAIN REVIEW meditation on the duality of regated part of New York) commit human nature. The book reveals a atrocities in Vietnam that compare postmodern window into the dark with the worst from the My Lai side in all of us, as revealed by the time switches to periodically reveal Massacre. Jack and Wash continue brutality of postindustrial war- key bits of information that create their unaccountable rampage back fare. It’s not a book for everyone. suspense throughout the novel. home in Appalachian Virginia Anyone sensitive to issues of race, The author holds off on expo- after the war, until Jack’s guilt be- religion, or patriotism could be put sition in the beginning, reveal- comes too much. Jack leaves Joe a off or offended by the work (not ing information as the narrative note asking him to stop Wash and that the book is actually guilty of progresses. Much like a Hitchcock rescue a girl named Maddie; he these offenses). Nonetheless, it’s an film, the opening is dull and awk- believes she’s pregnant with his amazingly intelligent and insight- ward, but if the audience can sit child. Events climax one drunken ful work that reveals much truth through the first fifteen pages (or evening amidst sex and violence about humanity for anyone will- minutes of the film), they will at Wash’s cabin deep in the Appa- ing to venture forth into its pages. be treated to an amazingly dark lachians. Jack’s pre-suicidal ram- The title refers to the abecedary and gripping tunnel of suspense. blings, coupled with Wash’s dark in the titles of the subchapters: Unlike Hitchcock, who usually view of life, really make the high “N is for Napalm,” “B is for Baby provided too much dry, conver- point of the book. Chamberlain Killer.” Some of the actual sen- sational exposition, Chamberlain mixes in brief asides from Hans tences used in the book are equally doesn’t provide enough, leaving von Clausewitz and the Marquis de blunt, but most are far more sub- the reader initially wondering Sade to create a postmodern philo- tle — appropriate for the metaphor- what real purpose several of the sophical masterpiece. One could ical themes the book takes on. characters serve. (Perhaps he’s try- wish he’d dug deeper, but with Chamberlain narrates the story ing to epitomize the worthlessness postmodern relativistic ramblings through protagonist Joe Glauss, Jack sees in them.) like these, philosophers are sure who lost his brother Jack in Viet- The second part of the narrative to chase their tails ad infinitum nam. The narrative moves back involves Joe Glauss traveling to into madness (which Chamberlain and forth between three time pe- Vietnam as a tourist. He wants to surely knew). riods in Joe’s life: the period in understand what happened to his The main issue is that several PAGE 37 VIRGINIA LIBRARIES OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2011

characters in the book are not de- in both academic and public li- older ideas rather than new obser- veloped enough. Wash seems like a braries. That is not because it is a vations, his success as a storyteller two-dimensional bad guy. Cham- great account of the war, though assures readers a clear and com- berlain reveals just enough of his it does describe some of the war’s plete look at the era. past to give reason to his mad- participants; it is because this read- Virginians, particularly those of ness, but not enough to make him able little volume is an example of us who have attended — or paid for believable. He needs more back- history writing at its best. children to attend — the modern ground. Alice seems pointless and Pace successfully combines me- versions of the seven colleges (of out of place except as a reminder of ticulous scholarship with a clear, twenty-one from all the South- the book’s constant theme of the direct writing style functioning ern states combined) in the Old dark side of humankind, a theme in a logically organized narrative. Dominion that Pace includes in that isn’t visible in her until the Moreover, this book is an exam- his study, will feel a personal con- last ten pages. The book climaxes ple of the best work in American nection to the young men whose well before the reader sees any accounts come to life thanks to third dimension to her charac- the author’s research. But Pace is ter. Three hundred pages are not doing more than telling enter- enough to do this story justice. The … this readable little taining stories; he is using the characters need to be fleshed out volume is an example students’ own words to provide more. The Alphabet of Vietnam is an evidence to support his conclu- example of an excellent book that of history writing sions about the quality of honor needs to be better. as it was understood in Southern The bottom line is that The Al- at its best. society, most particularly that phabet of Vietnam is sophisticated, “Being a man of honor in the PACE REVIEW revealing many dark truths about South meant that one exhibited American culture to which most a persona that conformed to the people will simply turn a deaf society’s expectation. Appearance ear. While the book suffers from a history because the author uses superseded content.” Learning to few developmental and narrative copious primary sources — includ- maintain the necessary appear- ­issues, it is an incredibly worthy ing over ninety unpublished ar- ances was the unacknowledged piece of literature that deserves to chives — to show in the students’ curriculum of college life as Pace be read and taken seriously. own words what concerned them describes it, with accounts of how — Joseph Yamine, English professor in their collegiate environment. students learned to handle every- and writer from Roanoke When they write a few sentences thing from academics to fashion home for money for clothes, the to race to entertainment to violent reader is given a glimpse of fam- confrontations. Pace, Robert F. Halls of ily life that is far more immediate The portrait of Southern society Honor: College Men in the and powerful than a dozen general Pace outlines makes the South’s Old South. Baton Rouge: statements about life in the ante- precipitous rush toward war a bit LSU Press, 2004. 158 pp. bellum South. Pace acknowledges more understandable, as it does ISBN-13: 978-0807138717. $17.95 in his introduction that he is re- the endurance of the Confederate (softcover). sponding to E. Metron Coulter’s States in a long and costly conflict. After their brush with clos- classic College Life in the Old South So this is a book for both the Civil ing this past year, one can hardly from 1928 (and to some extent War buff and for the twenty-first blame LSU Press for marketing Helen Horowitz’s Campus Life: Un- century Southerner who cannot this paperback reissue of Pace’s dergraduate Cultures from the End of fathom why “honor” required such outstanding study as a Civil War the Eighteenth Century to the Pres- remarkable sacrifices. book. After all, there is a fascinat- ent), but it is clear that Pace’s scope — Cy Dillon, Hampden-Sydney ing chapter on the effect of the war is much broader than that of Coul- College on colleges and their students, and ter and that his evidence is drawn nothing seems to sell better in the from a rigorous exploration of the South these days than a book on primary materials available. While McClurken, Jeffrey W. Take the War Between the States. This his conclusions about the culture Care of the Living: Recon- book is one of the relatively rare of the well-to-do Southerners who structing Confederate Veteran academic histories that will appeal sent their sons to liberal arts col- Families in Virginia. Charlot- to a wide audience, and it belongs leges are sometimes refinements of tesville and London: University of PAGE 38 VIRGINIA LIBRARIES OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2011

Virginia Press, 2009. 239 pp. ISBN- erans or provided monetary assis- Sutherlin to be the type of person 13: 978-0-8139-2813-5 (hardcover). tance to their own members. Rev. who will help. Many of them were McClurken, chair of the Depart- J. E. L. Holmes of Danville stated, indeed granted their requests for ment of History and American “It is well to raise monuments to assistance. Studies at the University of Mary the dead, but I think it is far better McClurken’s concluding chap- Washington, has written this book to take care of the living” (86). In ters describe the ways psychologi- for the University of Virginia Press an interesting sidebar, McClurken cal help was provided to veterans series A Nation Divided: Studies in teases out some of the gender issues and their families, as well as the the Civil War Era. It is a scholarly of the day; when a woman seeks impact of the Virginia Pension work, dense with documentation, assistance, her case is adjudicated Acts of 1888, 1900, and 1902. The in which he explores the short- by a team of men from the church, author concludes by stating that and long-term impact of the war and that panel is also the conduit no one source of support — fami- on Confederate veterans and their for help. When a man seeks as- lies, church, the wealthy, or the families at all societal levels in Pitt- sistance, the aid is given directly state — would have been sufficient sylvania County. to him without review. It appears for the veterans and their families, The author contends that Pitt- but that it took all of them to “take sylvania County (which for the care of the living.” purposes of the book includes It appears that there This is a scholarly work and what is now the independent city should be of particular help to of Danville) provides an ideal was a lack of trust on those who are researching the place to measure the human con- impact of the war on populations sequences of the war. Four-fifths the part of the churches relatively immune from the effect of the men of service age were in in a woman’s ability of battles. It is also of interest to front-line Confederate units. One those who want to know how Vir- quarter of them died, and half to handle money. ginia veterans and their families survived after being wounded, seri- fared after the war. McClurken has ously ill, or incarcerated as prison- McCLURKEN REVIEW created two large databases for the ers of war. Since no battles were project, one of which documents actually fought in Pittsylvania the soldiers of the county, and one County, the corresponding lack of that there was a lack of trust on the which incorporates the entire 1860 property damage allows the author part of the churches in a woman’s and 1870 manuscript population to attribute familial changes solely ability to handle money. censuses as well as the 1860 slave to injuries to people. In the section highlighting peti- schedules for the county. Both are McClurken investigates the tions for aid directed to what the potentially valuable compilations. strategies Pittsylvania families author calls “the elite,” he uses — Diane S. Adkins, director, Pitt- employed to deal with war’s con- only the example of William T. sylvania County Public Library System sequences. He focuses on four Sutherlin, the county’s preeminent areas of support for the veterans citizen. A manufacturer, farmer, and their families: their own ex- banker, mayor of Danville, and McKnight, Brian D. Con- tended network of families and one of the county’s delegates to federate Outlaw: Champ Fer- friends; churches; the well-to-do, the 1861 state secession conven- guson and the Civil War in or elite, citizens of the county; and tion, it is not surprising that his Appalachia. Baton Rouge: the state. He narrows his focus to correspondence, including many Louisiana State University Press, particular cases to illustrate this pleas for help, survived to docu- 2011. 288 pp. ISBN 978-0-8071- support. For example, only Bap- ment this difficult era. This section 3769-7 (hardcover). tist churches are used to highlight of the book is the most interesting; Many history books claim that the benevolence that faith com- the author effectively uses a signif- Henry Wirz, the notorious com- munities distributed to veterans icant number of direct quotations mander of Camp Sumter near and surviving family members. from the writers who ask Sutherlin Andersonville, Georgia, was the The reader is left to assume other for intervention. Many go to great only Confederate executed for war denominations behaved similarly. lengths to establish a connection crimes. In fact, he was the sec- The Baptist churches of the county to him in these letters, tenuous ond; the first, nearly as infamous provided emotional and spiritual though it may be. The desperation as Wirz when the war ended, was support, and in some cases they in the letters is palpable, however, Champ Ferguson, a guerilla fighter hired veterans or relatives of vet- and it is clear the writers believe of the Cumberland region of PAGE 39 VIRGINIA LIBRARIES OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2011 south-central Kentucky and north- enemies,” Ferguson explained, worse” — to inventing stories of central Tennessee credited with “and it was regarded as legitimate atrocities against his family by over one hundred civilian murders to kill them at any time, at any Union soldiers that even Ferguson during the war, and successfully place, under any circumstances.” himself denied before his hanging. charged with more than fifty of While connected with the Stories cropped up for decades that those. regular army, Ferguson fought as he had secretly escaped his hang- As McKnight points out, there a soldier, pursuing no vendettas ing and lived in hiding. was little in Ferguson’s pre-war life even when close to his Unionist McKnight’s recounting of Fer- to indicate that he would become enemies, with one major excep- guson’s violent career is not dis- the Confederacy’s most famous tion. Several witnesses testified passionate, but hardly sensational; outlaw. He was married twice, once to him killing as many as twelve as a good historian should do, he widowed; had two children, one of men during the infamous massa- allows readers to react to each bru- whom died at the age of three; and cre of wounded black soldiers after tality not by telling them what to was a farmer who became afflu- the Battle of Saltville in southwest think but by presenting the reac- ent enough to own three slaves. It Virginia. Even while admitting to tions of those who were present, wasn’t until 1858, when Ferguson quoting Ferguson’s own accounts, was thirty-seven years old, that or offering both side by side (espe- he killed his first man — probably “… it was regarded cially when they contradict each in self-defense, though he may other). What McKnight does es- have been the initial instigator in as legitimate to kill pecially well is connect Ferguson’s the situation. Ironically, Ferguson words and actions into a tapestry would claim self-defense in all of them at any time, that makes his motivations seem the killings that ultimately led to at any place, under obvious, such as his repeated as- his hanging. sertions that every killing (at least At the time of the war’s outbreak any circumstances.” the ones he admitted to) was in in 1861, Cumberland was full of self-defense — many of these as- Unionists, perhaps outnumbering McKNIGHT REVIEW sertions practically verbatim. those who sympathized with the While ­McKnight traces Ferguson’s Confederacy. But McKnight quotes wartime life chronologically, he Ferguson’s reason for joining the many other civilian murders be- does so in such a transparent way Confederacy, which had nothing fore his trial and execution, he de- that undeniable patterns of force to do with politics or regionalism, nied participating in the massacre. emerge, all of which have Ferguson but was a direct consequence of After the war ended, so did at their epicenter. his murder charge: “When the war Ferguson’s campaigns. He no lon- The author doesn’t present Fer- broke out, I was induced to join ger pursued those who had been guson’s activities in a vacuum, the army on the promise that all Unionists; likewise, he befriended but against the larger picture of prosecution in the case would be many of his Federal soldier guards. the war in the Appalachian South. abandoned.” While Ferguson did By then, of course, the bloody work He notes numerous examples that eventually join the army briefly, was done. He and his men were there was indeed heavy guerilla his guerilla career started imme- the only guerillas denied peace- fighting (and cold-blooded killing) diately. His modus operandi was ful surrender due to their activi- through Tennessee and Kentucky. generally the same: he would hunt ties and notoriety, and Ferguson However, the mosaic he assembles down or run across people he knew would hang in October 1865, four makes it clear that far from fit- to be pro-Union, always civilians, months after Appomattox. ting in with what everyone else and murder them with either a In the years following Fergu- was doing, as Ferguson and his gun or a knife, sometimes stab- son’s hanging — after a trial so supporters claimed, Ferguson’s vi- bing them after they’d been shot. famous that the U.S. government ciousness stood out amid the ongo- If challenged about the murder held off trying Henry Wirz until it ing terror. later, he invariably insisted either was over — Ferguson became a sort There are almost countless that it was one of his men who did of dark Robin Hood to sympathiz- books on the Civil War’s major the killing, or that the victim had ers of the “Lost Cause,” as well as actions and personalities, but far been hunting him for some time a few more recent historians. Sup- fewer on the war’s regional aspects, and would have killed Ferguson port for the executed guerilla went and fewer still about irregular war- first if given the chance. “Each of from basic apologetics — “Every­ fare. McKnight’s book is not the us had twenty to thirty proscribed one was doing it and some were first about Ferguson — he started PAGE 40 VIRGINIA LIBRARIES OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2011

making such appearances during shaped during periods of war and ments (that no one wants to admit) the war itself — but it does seem social upheaval. in Southern culture in relation to to be the most thorough and per- Historians and educators from education. haps the most accurate as well. It colleges and universities across the About halfway through the text, doesn’t shy away from horrors, South contribute the various ar- these articles end and a ­series of but likewise doesn’t push them in ticles; many contributors are from shorter articles begin. The shorts readers’ faces. Overall, Confederate the Deep South. This volume’s are biographies of important edu- Outlaw is an even-handed look at editor, Clarence Mohr, offers an cators and historical descriptions a bloodthirsty time and the com- encompassing introductory article of schools across the South (col- plex, beyond-the-obvious motiva- giving a general overview of the leges and universities). Several tions that many people had to stay history of education in the South. noteworthy Virginia schools are out of the war’s regular action in His theme is nothing new or sur- covered, including William & favor of fighting on home soil. prising. Education in the South Mary, Hampden–Sydney, and the — Danny Adams, evening services has evolved slowly and sometimes Virginia Military Institute. librarian assistant, Ferrum College painfully over the centuries, due Some of the larger articles seem redundant, reiterating over and over how race relations have sty- Wilson, Charles Reagan, Slavery apologetics mied educational advancement in and Clarence L. Mohr, eds. the South, or consistently repeat- The New Encyclopedia of and the general mistrust ing how agrarian culture clashed Southern Culture. Vol. 17. over the decades with all but vo- Chapel Hill: University of North of the intelligentsia, cational education. Almost every Carolina Press, 2011. 464 pp. however, are very article starts the same way: “(Insert ISBN-13: 978-0807834916. $45.00 topic here) reflects the cultural, (hardcover). real elements … . economic, and political history of True to its namesake, The New the South.” At the same time, sev- Encyclopedia of Southern Culture is REAGAN and MOHR REVIEW eral more unique topics like home- a series of critical essays creating schooling and John T. Scopes re- a reference guide to the southern ceive barely any attention at all. Fi- and southeastern United States. largely to issues of race, religion, nally, the diversity of authors both Volume 17, the most recent, cov- and rural geography. The other helps and hinders the book. The ers various topics dealing with the major articles include topics that variety is limited to authors in and history and evolution of education expand on these issues. Several around the South (but then, who in the South. It begins wonderfully refute common misconceptions more qualified?). It is up to the and appropriately with an invoca- about Southern education, while reader to decide what this does for tion from the works of William others confirm and support per- the objectivity and moderation of Faulkner (which is also ironic, as ceived misconceptions. For in- the work. Surprisingly, all the dif- his work has never been the most stance, the progressives of the ferent voices hold the theme con- flattering about the South). 1920s and activists of the 1960s sistently, only delving occasionally The book covers events in the were much more prominent than into cacophony. history of Southern education as historically perceived (though still All that aside, it’s a well-written, far back as the pre-Colonial period not quite as active as at schools intelligent reference book that and as recent as No Child Left Be- in the North and West), and inte- will be indispensible for decades hind. It focuses largely on higher gration and universal education as a starting point for academic education, but pays sufficient at- in places like New Orleans began research on the topic of Southern tention to elementary education much earlier (as far back as the education. and the beginnings of compulsory mid-1800s) than most people re- — Joseph Yamine, English professor education. It discusses political alize. Slavery apologetics and the and writer from Roanoke VL and economic influences on educa- general mistrust of the intelligen- tion, as well as how education was tsia, however, are very real ele-