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Home LSI Papers Articles Homeschooling Section LSI Public Programs LSI Event Calendar Educational Resources	Welcome to the League of the South’s Homeschooling section. What follows here are our suggestions for good books on Southern history and literature, both for the region in general and by state. What we have for you now is only a beginning. We do not have lists for all states, or always for the two age groups we hope to cover (high school and middle school). Also, in the future we plan to include not just lists but curricula. This is, however, our start and we hope the information we can provide now will be of use to families wishing to give their children more than the bland and often inaccurate history outlines that are typically available. We also want children to know more of the great literature written by Southerners than is usually included in packaged course outlines. We have checked the availability of all books mentioned and where you are likely to be challenged finding the book for sale, we say so. Links have been provided (with more coming) to books and where to purchase them. Many books that may be hard to find for sale may be readily available in your library. At the end of this section, we include some suggestions for finding books through various means. General American History We can recommend as a reliable text on U.S. government, available in paperback: Liberty, Order and Justice: An Introduction to the Constitutional Principles of American Government by James McClellan. The American history textbooks used in Southern public high schools until the 1950s are often quite good, with solid and unbiased presentations. Two good examples are History of the People of the United States by Waddy Thompson (D.C. Heath, 1920, 1929) and History of the United States by John Holladay Latané (Allyn and Beacon, 1921). Both of these went through a number of editions. Though they don't show up too readily on the market, there are still plenty of copies around in attics and used bookstores and through the internet. For lower grades, Thompson also wrote The First Book of United States History (D.C. Heath, 1921). Also good is the recently published America: The First 350 Years by the Rev. Steve Wilkins. This is a series of lecture cassette tapes plus study guide, notes, index and bibliography. For more information or to order, go to this address: Apologia Book Shoppe The Colonial and Revolutionary South The late Texan M. E. Bradford wrote a number of excellent books, among them his examination of the Revolutionary generation, Founding Fathers: Brief Lives of the Framers of the Constitution (also published as Worthy Company). The War Between the States, General One wonderful place to start is to read (or read aloud) Shelby Foote’s masterpiece, "The Civil War: A Narrative. It is in three long volumes, and so is a large undertaking for any student or family. This is not a history per se but an accurate historical retelling of the war, illuminating on both North and South, well worth the time spent to read it. For capable high schoolers, try Robert Selph Henry's Story of the Confederacy, in print. See also Ludwell Johnson's "North Against South and Is Jefferson Davis a Traitor? by Albert Taylor Bledsoe. For readings from the period, see The Illustrated Confederate Reader, edited by Rod Gragg, or Dover Press’s The Confederate Reader: How the South Saw the War, edited By Richard B. Harwell. Also good is The War the Women Lived: Female Voices from the Confederate South edited by Walter Sullivan, a collection of memoirs from the period. For black history, see the excellent book by Eugene D. Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (823 pp.). It is chock-full of information and sympathetic to both blacks and whites. See also Black Confederates (formerly titled Forgotten Confederates) as well as Black Southerners in Confederate Armies, both edited by Charles K. Barrows, J.H. Segards and E. B. Rosenberg. We also must recommend Bobby Horton’s 6 volumes of Songs of the C.S.A., a wonderful collection sung by Horton and played on period instruments. Reconstruction In addition to the overview given in the U.S. history books listed above, we would recommend a combination of memoirs and fiction here: Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery, Destruction and Reconstruction by Gen. Richard Taylor, Elizabeth Alston Pringle’s A Woman Rice Planter, Owen Wister’s novel Lady Baltimore, Charles Henry Smith’s “Bill Arp” Stories and Sketches, and Joel Chandler Harris’s Tales of Uncle Remus. Advanced high schoolers can also read Robert S. Henry’s The Story of Reconstruction. State Reading Lists If your own state is not covered here, it is because the list is not yet complete. We will add to it as we can. Please note that the reading levels vary by list; some are advanced, some include elementary books. Where we can include suggestions for literature, we do. Again, we look forward to expanding these lists to cover books for all age groups and all Southern states. Arkansas For a good general history see Arkansas by John Gould Fletcher (reprinted 1999). Delaware General History Reading level high school+. For good overviews, see J. Thomas Scharf’s History of Delaware, 1609-1888, 2 vols., published 1888, or Henry C. Conrad’s History of Delaware, published 1907, 3 vols. Volume 3 is particularly good and Conrad gives a useful biographical rundown of important figures in Delaware’s history. Both books are old and may only be available in libraries. Other good books are listed below, suitable for mature students. Most of these are likewise old, hence hard to find for sale, but will be available in libraries, or in some cases through bookstore or internet out-of-print book services. The Life and Times of John Dickinson, 1732-1808 by Charles J. Stille, published 1969. Federalist Delaware, 1775-1815 by John Munroe, 1954. Federalism of James A. Bayard by Morton Borden, 1955. A Gentleman as Well as a Whig: Caesar Rodney and the American Revolution by Jane Harrington Scott, 2000. One of the few books on this great man (in print). The pamphlet "Delaware in the Civil War," by W. Emerson Wilson, 1964. This is hard to find but good. Delaware Poems by Gilbert Byron, 1945. The poems give a good perspective on the state. Taylor's Gut: In the Delaware State by Dudley Lunt, 1969, is a good piece of history/natural history of the state. Florida General History We can recommend a college text called History of Florida by Charlton W. Tebeau and William Marina. It is available. Georgia General and Confederate History Good high school students should be able to use the following. Georgia: A Short History by E. Merton Coulter, 1960. College Life in the Old South by E. Merton Coulter, 1929 (reprinted by the University of Georgia Press). The Children of Pride: A True Story of Georgia and the Civil War edited by Robert Manson Myers, 1972. Georgia and States Rights: A Study of the Political History of Georgia from the Revolution to the Civil War by Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, 1902 (reprinted by Antioch Press, 1968). Black Boss: Political Revolution in a Georgia County by John Rozier, 1982. Reconstruction in Georgia: Economic, Social, Political, 1865-1872 by C. Mildred Thompson, 1915. Republished by Books for Libraries Press, 1971 and The Beehive Press, 1972. Literature and Culture Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, with an introduction by Thomas Nelson Page by Joel Chandler Harris; 1920, various reprintings. Georgia Scenes by Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, 1835. A good modern edition is Nashville: J.S. Sanders, 1992. Gone With The Wind by Margret Mitchell, 1936. Collected Works by Flannery O’Connor, 1988 (violence). Georgia: The WPA Guide to its Towns and Countryside by Phinizy Spalding, 1940. Reprinted by the Univeristy of South Carolina Press, 1990. Kentucky Confederate Period All of these books are in print. Most are adult length and some may be challenging for even good high school students. The most accessible for students are Jackman’s Diary and Davis’ Orphan Brigade. Rebel Raider: The Life of Gen. John Hunt Morgan by James Ramage; paper edition 1995, 336 pages. The Civil War in Kentucky by Kent Masterston Brown, 2000; 312 pages. Orphan Brigade: The Kentucky Confederates Who Couldn’t Go Home by William C. Davis, 1983; 318 pages. John C. Breckinridge by William C. Davis; 688 pages. Diary of a Confederate Soldier: John S. Jackman of the Orphan Brigade, edited by William C. Davis; paper edition 1997, 174 pages. Kentucky Cavaliers in Dixie: Reminiscences of a Confederate Cavalryman by George Mosgrove, 1999; 320 pages. Literature For high schoolers: For a novel of early Kentucky, see Elizabeth Madox Roberts’ The Great Meadow. Her great book is The Time of Man, about a sharecropper’s daughter in the early years of the 20th century. A wrenching but beautiful book of an Appalachian woman’s triumph through grit and faith is Harriet Arnow’s The Dollmaker (some violence). The River of Earth by James Still is another fine Appalachian novel, and see his poems and short stories as well. Those families interested in simple living should read Harlan Hubbard’s Payne Hollow, a nonfiction account of his life with his wife, Anna, living on the banks of the Ohio. Wendell Berry has written many fine books but we would particularly recommend for high schoolers: the novel The Memory of Old Jack and his Collected Poems (be sure to see the “Mad Farmer” poems). He is a fine essayist as well; try What Are People For? Louisiana General These books are recommended for elementary students (a few as noted veer towards secondary). Ten Flags in the Wind: The Story of Louisiana by Charles Dufour (elem./secondary-limited availability). Gone Are the Days: An Illustrated History of the Old South by Harnett Kane. The Civil War Diary of Sarah Morgan, edited by Charles East (upper elem./secondary). Stars in Their Eyes: Dreamers and Builders in Louisiana by Clayton Rand (elem./secondary). And for secondary students: The Louisiana Governors by Joseph Dawson. So Vast, So Beautiful a Land: Louisiana and the Purchase by Marshall Sprague. The Civil War in Louisiana by John D. Winters. Bernardo de Galvez in Louisiana, 1776-1783 by John Caughey. For a photographic overview of the state, see Philip Gould’s Louisiana: A Land Apart (limited availability). Literature For young children, the illustrated fables and stories written by Morris Raphael of New Iberia, Louisiana are excellent. For older students, see the works of George Washington Cable (Old Creole Days), Grace King (available as Grace King of New Orleans: A Selection of Her Writings), Robert Penn Warren (All the King’s Men is one the great American novels; it does have some mature content), and Lyle Saxon (Gumbo Ya-Ya: A Collection of Louisiana Folk Tales; Lafitte the Pirate). See also John James Audubon’s Birds of America and his journals, John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings. Mississippi General History A History of Mississippi, edited by Richard Aubrey McLemore. A Mississippi Reader: Selected Articles from The Journal of Mississippi History, edited by John E. Gonzales (not all are sympathetic). Mike Fink, King of Mississippi Keelboatmen by Walter Blair and Franklin J. Meine. Mississippi : Storm Center of Secession, 1856-1861 by Percy Lee Rainwater. Mississippi as a Province, Territory and State by John F. H. Claiborne. Natchez Trace A Way Through the Wilderness: The Natchez Trace and the Civilization of the Southern Frontier by William C. Davis. The Old Southwest, 1795-1830: Frontiers in Conflict by Thomas D. Clark and John D. W. Guice. Antebellum Mississippi Antebellum Natchez by D. Clayton James. Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi by J. G. Baldwin. Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour by William C. Davis. Recollections of Mississippi and Mississippians by Reuben Davis. Confederate Period The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government by Jefferson Davis. Postbellum Mississippi Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter's Son by William Alexander Percy. Early Twentieth Century Redneck Liberal: Theodore G. Bilbo and the New Deal by Chester M. Morgan. Economic Development The Selling of the South: The Southern Crusade for Industrial Development, 1936-1990 by James C. Cobb. The Delta The Most Southern Place on Earth: the Mississippi Delta and the Roots of Regional Identity by James C. Cobb (not written by someone known to be sympathetic). Literature and Criticism Go Down, Moses, The Hamlet and The Unvanquished by William Faulkner. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. On the Prejudices, Predilections, and Firm Beliefs of William Faulkner and William Faulkner : Toward Yoknapatawpha and Beyond, by Cleanth Brooks. North Carolina General History Two good titles in North Carolina history are Builders of the Old North State by Marshall DeLancey Haywood (Raleigh: Litho Industries, 1968), and Grandfather’s Tales of North Carolina History by Richard Benbury Creecy, originally published in 1901 and reprinted in 1965 by The Reprint Co., Spartanburg, SC. Both books may be hard to find for sale. Confederate Period These are suitable for high school students. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War, 1861-65 by Walter Clark. These are histories of all units, written by the participants. This is an expensive book to purchase. Rebel Boast by Manley Wade Wellman. The true story of six North Carolina soldiers. Black Confederates (formerly titled Forgotten Confederates), edited by Charles K. Barrows, J.H. Segards and E. B. Rosenberg. Stephen Dodson Ramseur: Lee’s Gallant General by Gary W. Gallagher. Carolina Cavalier: The Life and Mind of James Johnston Pettigrew by Clyde N. Wilson. Boy Colonel of the Confederacy: The Life and Times of Henry King Burgwyn, Jr. by Archie K. Davis. Zebulon Vance: Champion of Personal Freedom by Glenn Tucker. (May be hard to find.) South Carolina General History See The History of South Carolina by Mary C. Simms Oliphant (Columbia, S.C.: State Co., beginning in 1918 and going through many revised editions up till the 1950s). Mrs Oliphant was the granddaughter of William Gilmore Simms (limited availability). See also The Sack and Destruction of the City of Columbia, South Carolina by William Gilmore Simms--an eyewitness account by one of the South’s great writers. Texas For a state overview see Lone Star: A History of Texas and Texans by T.R. Fehrenbacher. See also J. Evetts Haley’s books Charles Goodnight: Cowman and Plainsman, and Jeff Milton: A Good Man With A Gun. We would also recommend two histories by Walter Prescott Webb, both published originally in the 1930s: The Great Plains and The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense. Another great release worth using, is Jeffrrey D. Murrah's None But Texians: A History of Terry's Texas Rangers A Southern Literature Reading List for High Schoolers INFORMATION TO COME Great Men and Women of the South Here is a list of great men and women of the South who are well worth learning more about. Where we can suggest books, we do, and we intend to add books to list as time goes on. See our remarks about the Landmark biography series under “Other Resources.” John James Audubon - A Frenchman who spent much of his life in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and then especially Louisiana. For middle schoolers there is a good Landmark biography John James Audubon by Margaret and John Kieran, out of print. See his own Birds of America and his journals, John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings. John Bachman, naturalist. Father John Bannon, Confederate chaplain. William Bartram, naturalist. Daniel Boone - Middle schoolers can read the excellent Landmark bio (out of print) Daniel Boone, by John Mason Brown. High schoolers truly interested in this man can read the adult biography Daniel Boone: Life and Legend of an American Pioneer by John Mack Faragher. John C. Calhoun - For mature high schoolers, see Margaret Coit’s John C. Calhoun: American Portrait. See also The Essential Calhoun, ed. By Clyde N. Wilson, which gives selections of Calhoun’s writings on all subjects. George Rogers Clark, Revolutionary war hero of the frontier. Henry Clay, Kentucky senator and one of the most important American statesmen of the 19th century. Thomas Cooper, pioneer economist and great advocate of free trade. Davy Crockett (see also Sam Houston) There is an out of print Landmark bio for middle schoolers, Davy Crockett by Stewart H. Holbrook. Robert Lewis Dabney, theologian. Jefferson Davis and Varina Howell Davis Bishop John England, Catholic bishop. Nathan Bedford Forrest Oliver P. Fitzgerald, pioneer clergyman and author in California. Richard Furman, Baptist. Joel Chandler Harris, author. Patrick Henry Sam Houston Charles Goodyear, Texas cattle industry. William Crawford Gorgas Made the Panama Canal possible by epidemic control. D.W. Griffith Central figure in the development of the America movie art. Andrew Jackson Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jefferson Middle schoolers can read the Landmark biography Thomas Jefferson by Vincent Sheehan (out of print). Andrew Johnson Grace King, New Orleans writer. Sgt. Kirkland, an ordinary Confederate known as the angel of Fredericksburg. Sidney Lanier, poet. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, architect. Robert E. Lee - Highly recommended but hard to find is the Boy’s Book of Robert E. Lee, by Stanley F. Horn. For middle schoolers see also the Landmark bio Robert E. Lee and the Road of Honor by Hodding Carter. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark For middle schoolers see the Landmark book by Richard L. Neuberger, The Lewis and Clark Expedition. Mathew Fontaine Maury, scientist who revolutionized ocean navigation. Francis Marion Johnny Mercer, composer. Robert Mills, architect. James Monroe John Hunt Morgan Thomas Nelson Page, author. Phoebe Yates Pender - A Jewish Confederate heroine for her hospital work. See her own A Southern Woman’s Story, 1879, or the selections from it in The War the Women Lived: Female Voices from the Confederate South, edited by Walter Sullivan, 1995. Eliza Lucas Pinckney - Pinckney developed the colonial indigo industry in South Carolina and was the mother of the two signers of the Declaration of Independence. James K. Polk Will Rogers, beloved radio and movie humorist. Father Abram J. Ryan, poet. William Gilmore Simms Captain John Smith and Pocahontas - Middle schoolers can read Marie Lawson’s Pocahontas and Capt. John Smith (an out of print Landmark bio). For middle to younger high schoolers try The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster. Sweeney, banjo pioneer and virtuoso. Zachary Taylor Henry Timrod, poet. John Tyler Booker T. Washington George Washington - For middle/lower high schoolers, see Genevieve Foster’s excellent George Washington’s World, which tells much about the man and the history of the world at the time he lived. Out of print (but available used) is the Landmark book for middle schoolers, The Winter at Valley Forge, by Van Wyck Mason. Stand Watie, Cherokee chief and Confederate general. Jenny Wiley, Indian captive in frontier Kentucky. Hank Williams, country music great. See also these Confederate generals: P.G.T. Beauregard, Matthew C. Butler, Patrick R. Cleburne, John B. Gordon, Thomas Green, Wade Hampton, Robert F. Hoke, Albert Sidney Johnston, Joseph E. Johnston, Joseph B. Kershaw, Benjamin McCullough, William D. Pender, Leonidas Polk, Sterling Price, Robert E. Rodes, L. Sullivan Ross, J.E.B. Stuart, and Richard Taylor. And see these other Confederate officers: John S. Mosby and Meriwether "Jeff" Thompson; and for the Navy: Stephen R. Mallory, Raphael Semmes, John Taylor Wood. Art Books and Artists Jesse Poesch’s Art and Artists in the Old South (may be hard to find for sale). John James Audubon’s Birds of North America. See also John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings, which include journals, letters, diaries, essays and a brief memoir (published 1999). George Caleb Bingham, artist Benjamin Henry Latrobe, artist and architect of the U.S. Capitol Guide to Latin instruction for Homeschoolers by Kathryn Boyer, Director, LSI Home Schooling and Secondary Education Program Other Resources The League summer schools have been videotaped and there are numerous talks on history and literature from those sessions that might serve homeschoolers well. Apologia Book Shoppe carries many such tapes. See also the League’s published papers series. Another Southern Book List For an extensive reading list on the many aspects of Southern history and culture, please see Clyde N. Wilson’s article on www.lewrockwell.com/orig/wilson5.html. This is a list intended for thoughtful adults, but many of the books can be read with profit by capable students, or read aloud and discussed, or serve as supplemental reading for parents. Dr. Wilson is a League board member, a professor of history at the University of South Carolina, and the author or editor of numerous books, among them 17 volumes of The Papers of John C. Calhoun. History Books for Middle Schoolers Kathy Artner has written a “Reader’s Guide to American History” for her fellow homeschoolers who are teaching children in grades 3 to 8. While we cannot recommend her unit study outlines, which follow E.D. Hirsch’s series What Your 3rd (etc.) Grader Needs to Know, her supplemental book lists are excellent. She covers in print and out of print history books and historical novels for children at the middle school level, and includes some primary sources as well. The guide is available through Memoria Press’s website at http://www.memoriapress.com/. Landmark Biographies Fifty years ago Random House produced a biography/history series called “Landmark” targeted at middle schoolers, with books written by established writers who were knowledgeable about the subjects they were assigned. Most of these books are now out of print, though some of available used (in bookstores or through internet services), some are being reissued, and many are available in libraries. They are well worth looking for as all we have read seem well done and highly appropriate for, say, 5th to 7th graders. How to Find Out of Print Books The obvious place to start is your library. Interlibrary loan may also be helpful-in this case you are borrowing a book from another library. Ask your librarian for help, and be aware that there is generally a fee for this service. A good independent bookstore can help you make a search for an out of print book. Some stories charge a small fee for the search, others simply factor in their profit to the cost of the book. Or make the search yourself on the Web. Some helpful sites are two of the big ones: alibris.com and amazon.com. We were able to find copies of the Waddy Thompson and Latané textbooks on alibris, as well as several of the other relatively obscure books. A search under “out of print” will bring up a number of other potentially useful sites as well. You will generally find better prices (but can’t make directed searches) at used bookstores, library book sales, and yard sales. Your state homeschooling organizations may also have book sales/swaps, or offer ways to network with other parents who may be willing to share/sell books. Two Dozen Southern Family Movies The films suggested below all have been produced on video. All of them give an accurate view of some aspect of past Southern life and history. All can be watched with your children without shame. Most teach ethical lessons and many of the stories include young people. There are many other good Southern stories on film (as well as a multitude of bad ones) but which are suitable only for mature viewers. THE GENERAL (1927). Buster Keaton produced one of the classic American silent films, which is also highly entertaining and gives a good picture of Southerners during The War. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939). There is nothing wrong with this old classic. It still gives a pretty good picture of the hardships faced by Southerners in war and "Reconstruction." JUDGE PRIEST (1934). The great Will Rogers, son of a Confederate officer, stars in a story of love and justice in a postwar Southern town. COLONEL EFFINGHAM'S RAID (1945). Charles Coburn fights to save a town's Southern heritage, in the process showing that nobody at the time of World War II saw any incompatibility between Southern and American patriotism. I'D CLIMB THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN (1951). William Lundigan and Susan Hayward are a young Methodist minister and his wife in rural Georgia. Based on the real life memoirs of Corra Harris that were once very popular. GOODBYE, MY LADY (1956). A boy and his dog and lessons of honour in rural Mississippi, with Walter Brennan. (Though not Southern born, Brennan gave a good imitation of it.) PROUD REBEL (1958). Ex-Confederate Allan Ladd battles "Reconstruction" to find a cure for his traumatized son, with the help of Olivia de Havilland. DRUMS IN THE DEEP SOUTH (1951). A good adventure story which also portrays some of the evils inflicted on Southern civilians during The War. Shirley Temple's THE LITTLE COLONEL and THE LITTLEST REBEL (both 1935). THE HUNLEY (1999). Though marred by a silly portrayal of General Beauregard, this film does portray Charleston during the war and Southern heroism well. Three by Faulkner. INTRUDER IN THE DUST (1949). An old lady and two boys, one white, one black, take extreme measures to save a black man from an unjust murder charge. TOMORROW (1972) with Robert Duvall, a moving story of love and hardship. OLD MAN, or WILLIAM FAULKNER'S OLD MAN (1997), danger, courage, and love during a Mississippi River flood. The latter two include scenes of childbirth. It is too bad that the film version of Faulkner's THE REIVERS cannot be recommended. It contains great moral lessons but a lot of it takes place in and around a brothel. JEZEBEL (1938). Bette Davis in a magnificent protrayal of love and sacrifce in old New Orleans. Three recent movies about Southern families that embody traditional teachings and values. THE RIVER (1984) - Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek (surprise?) as a Tennessee family trying to save their farm from "progress." STARS FELL ON HENRIETTA (1995) - A struggling Oklahoma family finds oil. A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL (1986) - Geraldine Page is a city-bound senior citizen who wants to return to her rural Texas home. SONG OF THE SOUTH (1946). One time immensely popular Disney take on Joel Chandler's Harriis's Uncle Remus, which has been suppressed by the PC crowd. It is sometimes obtainable in bootleg copies or as far as a Japanese-made video with Japanese subtitles. All the best Westerns are really "Southerns." It was the Southerner settlers of Texas who gave the West most of its heroism and all of its glamour and honour. Here are five examples. SANTA FE TRAIL (1940). The Southerner Erroll Flynn gets the girl over the Yankee Ronald Reagan, while taking care of the evil John Brown. (Reagan got to play the Confederate in CAVALRY CHARGE.) ESCORT WEST! (1959). Victor Mature and his motherless young daughter battle Indians and Bostonian arrogance. John Wayne's classic THE SEARCHERS (1956), THE ALAMO (1960), and TRUE GRIT (1969) are really Southern stories, even if they don't come right out and say so. One portrays a great event in Southern history and the other two are based on Southern novels.

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Welcome to the League of the South’s Homeschooling section. What follows here are our suggestions for good books on Southern history and literature, both for the region in general and by state. What we have for you now is only a beginning. We do not have lists for all states, or always for the two age groups we hope to cover (high school and middle school). Also, in the future we plan to include not just lists but curricula. This is, however, our start and we hope the information we can provide now will be of use to families wishing to give their children more than the bland and often inaccurate history outlines that are typically available. We also want children to know more of the great literature written by Southerners than is usually included in packaged course outlines. We have checked the availability of all books mentioned and where you are likely to be challenged finding the book for sale, we say so. Links have been provided (with more coming) to books and where to purchase them. Many books that may be hard to find for sale may be readily available in your library. At the end of this section, we include some suggestions for finding books through various means.

General American History We can recommend as a reliable text on U.S. government, available in paperback: Liberty, Order and Justice: An Introduction to the Constitutional Principles of American Government by James McClellan. The American history textbooks used in Southern public high schools until the 1950s are often quite good, with solid and unbiased presentations. Two good examples are History of the People of the United States by Waddy Thompson (D.C. Heath, 1920, 1929) and History of the United States by John Holladay Latané (Allyn and Beacon, 1921). Both of these went through a number of editions. Though they don't show up too readily on the market, there are still plenty of copies around in attics and used bookstores and through the internet. For lower grades, Thompson also wrote The First Book of United States History (D.C. Heath, 1921). Also good is the recently published America: The First 350 Years by the Rev. Steve Wilkins. This is a series of lecture cassette tapes plus study guide, notes, index and bibliography. For more information or to order, go to this address: Apologia Book Shoppe

The Colonial and Revolutionary South The late Texan M. E. Bradford wrote a number of excellent books, among them his examination of the Revolutionary generation, Founding Fathers: Brief Lives of the Framers of the Constitution (also published as Worthy Company).

The War Between the States, General One wonderful place to start is to read (or read aloud) Shelby Foote’s masterpiece, "The Civil War: A Narrative. It is in three long volumes, and so is a large undertaking for any student or family. This is not a history per se but an accurate historical retelling of the war, illuminating on both North and South, well worth the time spent to read it. For capable high schoolers, try Robert Selph Henry's Story of the Confederacy, in print. See also Ludwell Johnson's "North Against South and Is Jefferson Davis a Traitor? by Albert Taylor Bledsoe. For readings from the period, see The Illustrated Confederate Reader, edited by Rod Gragg, or Dover Press’s The Confederate Reader: How the South Saw the War, edited By Richard B. Harwell. Also good is The War the Women Lived: Female Voices from the Confederate South edited by Walter Sullivan, a collection of memoirs from the period. For black history, see the excellent book by Eugene D. Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (823 pp.). It is chock-full of information and sympathetic to both blacks and whites. See also Black Confederates (formerly titled Forgotten Confederates) as well as Black Southerners in Confederate Armies, both edited by Charles K. Barrows, J.H. Segards and E. B. Rosenberg. We also must recommend Bobby Horton’s 6 volumes of Songs of the C.S.A., a wonderful collection sung by Horton and played on period instruments.

Reconstruction In addition to the overview given in the U.S. history books listed above, we would recommend a combination of memoirs and fiction here: Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery, Destruction and Reconstruction by Gen. Richard Taylor, Elizabeth Alston Pringle’s A Woman Rice Planter, Owen Wister’s novel Lady Baltimore, Charles Henry Smith’s “Bill Arp” Stories and Sketches, and Joel Chandler Harris’s Tales of Uncle Remus. Advanced high schoolers can also read Robert S. Henry’s The Story of Reconstruction.

State Reading Lists If your own state is not covered here, it is because the list is not yet complete. We will add to it as we can. Please note that the reading levels vary by list; some are advanced, some include elementary books. Where we can include suggestions for literature, we do. Again, we look forward to expanding these lists to cover books for all age groups and all Southern states.

Arkansas For a good general history see Arkansas by John Gould Fletcher (reprinted 1999).

Delaware

General History Reading level high school+. For good overviews, see J. Thomas Scharf’s History of Delaware, 1609-1888, 2 vols., published 1888, or Henry C. Conrad’s History of Delaware, published 1907, 3 vols. Volume 3 is particularly good and Conrad gives a useful biographical rundown of important figures in Delaware’s history. Both books are old and may only be available in libraries. Other good books are listed below, suitable for mature students. Most of these are likewise old, hence hard to find for sale, but will be available in libraries, or in some cases through bookstore or internet out-of-print book services.

The Life and Times of John Dickinson, 1732-1808 by Charles J. Stille, published 1969.
Federalist Delaware, 1775-1815 by John Munroe, 1954.
Federalism of James A. Bayard by Morton Borden, 1955. A Gentleman as Well as a Whig: Caesar Rodney and the American Revolution by Jane Harrington Scott, 2000. One of the few books on this great man (in print). The pamphlet "Delaware in the Civil War," by W. Emerson Wilson, 1964. This is hard to find but good. Delaware Poems by Gilbert Byron, 1945. The poems give a good perspective on the state. Taylor's Gut: In the Delaware State by Dudley Lunt, 1969, is a good piece of history/natural history of the state.

Florida

General History We can recommend a college text called History of Florida by Charlton W. Tebeau and William Marina. It is available.

Georgia

General and Confederate History Good high school students should be able to use the following.
Georgia: A Short History by E. Merton Coulter, 1960.
College Life in the Old South by E. Merton Coulter, 1929 (reprinted by the University of Georgia Press).
The Children of Pride: A True Story of Georgia and the Civil War edited by Robert Manson Myers, 1972. Georgia and States Rights: A Study of the Political History of Georgia from the Revolution to the Civil War by Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, 1902 (reprinted by Antioch Press, 1968). Black Boss: Political Revolution in a Georgia County by John Rozier, 1982. Reconstruction in Georgia: Economic, Social, Political, 1865-1872 by C. Mildred Thompson, 1915. Republished by Books for Libraries Press, 1971 and The Beehive Press, 1972.

Literature and Culture Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, with an introduction by Thomas Nelson Page by Joel Chandler Harris; 1920, various reprintings. Georgia Scenes by Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, 1835. A good modern edition is Nashville: J.S. Sanders, 1992. Gone With The Wind by Margret Mitchell, 1936. Collected Works by Flannery O’Connor, 1988 (violence). Georgia: The WPA Guide to its Towns and Countryside by Phinizy Spalding, 1940. Reprinted by the Univeristy of South Carolina Press, 1990.

Kentucky

Confederate Period All of these books are in print. Most are adult length and some may be challenging for even good high school students. The most accessible for students are Jackman’s Diary and Davis’ Orphan Brigade. Rebel Raider: The Life of Gen. John Hunt Morgan by James Ramage; paper edition 1995, 336 pages. The Civil War in Kentucky by Kent Masterston Brown, 2000; 312 pages. Orphan Brigade: The Kentucky Confederates Who Couldn’t Go Home by William C. Davis, 1983; 318 pages. John C. Breckinridge by William C. Davis; 688 pages. Diary of a Confederate Soldier: John S. Jackman of the Orphan Brigade, edited by William C. Davis; paper edition 1997, 174 pages. Kentucky Cavaliers in Dixie: Reminiscences of a Confederate Cavalryman by George Mosgrove, 1999; 320 pages.

Literature

For high schoolers: For a novel of early Kentucky, see Elizabeth Madox Roberts’ The Great Meadow. Her great book is The Time of Man, about a sharecropper’s daughter in the early years of the 20th century. A wrenching but beautiful book of an Appalachian woman’s triumph through grit and faith is Harriet Arnow’s The Dollmaker (some violence). The River of Earth by James Still is another fine Appalachian novel, and see his poems and short stories as well. Those families interested in simple living should read Harlan Hubbard’s Payne Hollow, a nonfiction account of his life with his wife, Anna, living on the banks of the Ohio. Wendell Berry has written many fine books but we would particularly recommend for high schoolers: the novel The Memory of Old Jack and his Collected Poems (be sure to see the “Mad Farmer” poems). He is a fine essayist as well; try What Are People For?

Louisiana

General These books are recommended for elementary students (a few as noted veer towards secondary). Ten Flags in the Wind: The Story of Louisiana by Charles Dufour (elem./secondary-limited availability). Gone Are the Days: An Illustrated History of the Old South by Harnett Kane. The Civil War Diary of Sarah Morgan, edited by Charles East (upper elem./secondary). Stars in Their Eyes: Dreamers and Builders in Louisiana by Clayton Rand (elem./secondary).

And for secondary students:
The Louisiana Governors by Joseph Dawson. So Vast, So Beautiful a Land: Louisiana and the Purchase by Marshall Sprague. The Civil War in Louisiana by John D. Winters. Bernardo de Galvez in Louisiana, 1776-1783 by John Caughey.

For a photographic overview of the state, see Philip Gould’s Louisiana: A Land Apart (limited availability).

Literature

For young children, the illustrated fables and stories written by Morris Raphael of New Iberia, Louisiana are excellent. For older students, see the works of
George Washington Cable (Old Creole Days), Grace King (available as Grace King of New Orleans: A Selection of Her Writings), Robert Penn Warren (All the King’s Men is one the great American novels; it does have some mature content), and Lyle Saxon (Gumbo Ya-Ya: A Collection of Louisiana Folk Tales; Lafitte the Pirate). See also John James Audubon’s Birds of America and his journals, John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings.

Mississippi

General History A History of Mississippi, edited by Richard Aubrey McLemore. A Mississippi Reader: Selected Articles from The Journal of Mississippi History, edited by John E. Gonzales (not all are sympathetic). Mike Fink, King of Mississippi Keelboatmen by Walter Blair and Franklin J. Meine. Mississippi : Storm Center of Secession, 1856-1861 by Percy Lee Rainwater. Mississippi as a Province, Territory and State by John F. H. Claiborne.

Natchez Trace A Way Through the Wilderness: The Natchez Trace and the Civilization of the Southern Frontier by William C. Davis. The Old Southwest, 1795-1830: Frontiers in Conflict by Thomas D. Clark and John D. W. Guice.

Antebellum Mississippi Antebellum Natchez by D. Clayton James. Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi by J. G. Baldwin. Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour by William C. Davis. Recollections of Mississippi and Mississippians by Reuben Davis.

Confederate Period The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government by Jefferson Davis.

Postbellum Mississippi Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter's Son by William Alexander Percy.

Early Twentieth Century Redneck Liberal: Theodore G. Bilbo and the New Deal by Chester M. Morgan.

Economic Development The Selling of the South: The Southern Crusade for Industrial Development, 1936-1990 by James C. Cobb.

The Delta The Most Southern Place on Earth: the Mississippi Delta and the Roots of Regional Identity by James C. Cobb (not written by someone known to be sympathetic).

Literature and Criticism Go Down, Moses, The Hamlet and The Unvanquished by William Faulkner. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. On the Prejudices, Predilections, and Firm Beliefs of William Faulkner and William Faulkner : Toward Yoknapatawpha and Beyond, by Cleanth Brooks.

North Carolina

General History Two good titles in North Carolina history are Builders of the Old North State by Marshall DeLancey Haywood (Raleigh: Litho Industries, 1968), and Grandfather’s Tales of North Carolina History by Richard Benbury Creecy, originally published in 1901 and reprinted in 1965 by The Reprint Co., Spartanburg, SC. Both books may be hard to find for sale.

Confederate Period These are suitable for high school students. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War, 1861-65 by Walter Clark. These are histories of all units, written by the participants. This is an expensive book to purchase. Rebel Boast by Manley Wade Wellman. The true story of six North Carolina soldiers. Black Confederates (formerly titled Forgotten Confederates), edited by Charles K. Barrows, J.H. Segards and E. B. Rosenberg. Stephen Dodson Ramseur: Lee’s Gallant General by Gary W. Gallagher. Carolina Cavalier: The Life and Mind of James Johnston Pettigrew by Clyde N. Wilson. Boy Colonel of the Confederacy: The Life and Times of Henry King Burgwyn, Jr. by Archie K. Davis. Zebulon Vance: Champion of Personal Freedom by Glenn Tucker. (May be hard to find.)

South Carolina

General History See The History of South Carolina by Mary C. Simms Oliphant (Columbia, S.C.: State Co., beginning in 1918 and going through many revised editions up till the 1950s). Mrs Oliphant was the granddaughter of William Gilmore Simms (limited availability). See also The Sack and Destruction of the City of Columbia, South Carolina by William Gilmore Simms--an eyewitness account by one of the South’s great writers.

Texas For a state overview see Lone Star: A History of Texas and Texans by T.R. Fehrenbacher. See also J. Evetts Haley’s books Charles Goodnight: Cowman and Plainsman, and Jeff Milton: A Good Man With A Gun. We would also recommend two histories by Walter Prescott Webb, both published originally in the 1930s: The Great Plains and The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense. Another great release worth using, is Jeffrrey D. Murrah's None But Texians: A History of Terry's Texas Rangers

A Southern Literature Reading List for High Schoolers INFORMATION TO COME

Great Men and Women of the South Here is a list of great men and women of the South who are well worth learning more about. Where we can suggest books, we do, and we intend to add books to list as time goes on. See our remarks about the Landmark biography series under “Other Resources.”

John James Audubon - A Frenchman who spent much of his life in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and then especially Louisiana. For middle schoolers there is a good Landmark biography John James Audubon by Margaret and John Kieran, out of print. See his own Birds of America and his journals, John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings.
John Bachman, naturalist.
Father John Bannon, Confederate chaplain.
William Bartram, naturalist. Daniel Boone - Middle schoolers can read the excellent Landmark bio (out of print) Daniel Boone, by John Mason Brown. High schoolers truly interested in this man can read the adult biography Daniel Boone: Life and Legend of an American Pioneer by John Mack Faragher. John C. Calhoun - For mature high schoolers, see Margaret Coit’s John C. Calhoun: American Portrait. See also The Essential Calhoun, ed. By Clyde N. Wilson, which gives selections of Calhoun’s writings on all subjects. George Rogers Clark, Revolutionary war hero of the frontier. Henry Clay, Kentucky senator and one of the most important American statesmen of the 19th century. Thomas Cooper, pioneer economist and great advocate of free trade. Davy Crockett (see also Sam Houston) There is an out of print Landmark bio for middle schoolers, Davy Crockett by Stewart H. Holbrook. Robert Lewis Dabney, theologian. Jefferson Davis and Varina Howell Davis Bishop John England, Catholic bishop. Nathan Bedford Forrest Oliver P. Fitzgerald, pioneer clergyman and author in California. Richard Furman, Baptist. Joel Chandler Harris, author. Patrick Henry Sam Houston Charles Goodyear, Texas cattle industry. William Crawford Gorgas Made the Panama Canal possible by epidemic control. D.W. Griffith Central figure in the development of the America movie art. Andrew Jackson Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jefferson Middle schoolers can read the Landmark biography Thomas Jefferson by Vincent Sheehan (out of print). Andrew Johnson Grace King, New Orleans writer. Sgt. Kirkland, an ordinary Confederate known as the angel of Fredericksburg. Sidney Lanier, poet. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, architect. Robert E. Lee - Highly recommended but hard to find is the Boy’s Book of Robert E. Lee, by Stanley F. Horn. For middle schoolers see also the Landmark bio Robert E. Lee and the Road of Honor by Hodding Carter. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark For middle schoolers see the Landmark book by Richard L. Neuberger, The Lewis and Clark Expedition. Mathew Fontaine Maury, scientist who revolutionized ocean navigation. Francis Marion Johnny Mercer, composer. Robert Mills, architect. James Monroe John Hunt Morgan Thomas Nelson Page, author. Phoebe Yates Pender - A Jewish Confederate heroine for her hospital work. See her own A Southern Woman’s Story, 1879, or the selections from it in The War the Women Lived: Female Voices from the Confederate South, edited by Walter Sullivan, 1995. Eliza Lucas Pinckney - Pinckney developed the colonial indigo industry in South Carolina and was the mother of the two signers of the Declaration of Independence. James K. Polk Will Rogers, beloved radio and movie humorist. Father Abram J. Ryan, poet. William Gilmore Simms Captain John Smith and Pocahontas - Middle schoolers can read Marie Lawson’s Pocahontas and Capt. John Smith (an out of print Landmark bio). For middle to younger high schoolers try The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster. Sweeney, banjo pioneer and virtuoso. Zachary Taylor Henry Timrod, poet. John Tyler Booker T. Washington George Washington - For middle/lower high schoolers, see Genevieve Foster’s excellent George Washington’s World, which tells much about the man and the history of the world at the time he lived. Out of print (but available used) is the Landmark book for middle schoolers, The Winter at Valley Forge, by Van Wyck Mason. Stand Watie, Cherokee chief and Confederate general. Jenny Wiley, Indian captive in frontier Kentucky. Hank Williams, country music great. See also these Confederate generals: P.G.T. Beauregard, Matthew C. Butler, Patrick R. Cleburne, John B. Gordon, Thomas Green, Wade Hampton, Robert F. Hoke, Albert Sidney Johnston, Joseph E. Johnston, Joseph B. Kershaw, Benjamin McCullough, William D. Pender, Leonidas Polk, Sterling Price, Robert E. Rodes, L. Sullivan Ross, J.E.B. Stuart, and Richard Taylor. And see these other Confederate officers: John S. Mosby and Meriwether "Jeff" Thompson; and for the Navy: Stephen R. Mallory, Raphael Semmes, John Taylor Wood.

Art Books and Artists Jesse Poesch’s Art and Artists in the Old South (may be hard to find for sale). John James Audubon’s Birds of North America. See also John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings, which include journals, letters, diaries, essays and a brief memoir (published 1999). George Caleb Bingham, artist Benjamin Henry Latrobe, artist and architect of the U.S. Capitol

Guide to Latin instruction for Homeschoolers by Kathryn Boyer, Director, LSI Home Schooling and Secondary Education Program

Other Resources The League summer schools have been videotaped and there are numerous talks on history and literature from those sessions that might serve homeschoolers well. Apologia Book Shoppe carries many such tapes. See also the League’s published papers series.

Another Southern Book List For an extensive reading list on the many aspects of Southern history and culture, please see Clyde N. Wilson’s article on www.lewrockwell.com/orig/wilson5.html. This is a list intended for thoughtful adults, but many of the books can be read with profit by capable students, or read aloud and discussed, or serve as supplemental reading for parents. Dr. Wilson is a League board member, a professor of history at the University of South Carolina, and the author or editor of numerous books, among them 17 volumes of The Papers of John C. Calhoun.

History Books for Middle Schoolers Kathy Artner has written a “Reader’s Guide to American History” for her fellow homeschoolers who are teaching children in grades 3 to 8. While we cannot recommend her unit study outlines, which follow E.D. Hirsch’s series What Your 3rd (etc.) Grader Needs to Know, her supplemental book lists are excellent. She covers in print and out of print history books and historical novels for children at the middle school level, and includes some primary sources as well. The guide is available through Memoria Press’s website at http://www.memoriapress.com/.

Landmark Biographies Fifty years ago Random House produced a biography/history series called “Landmark” targeted at middle schoolers, with books written by established writers who were knowledgeable about the subjects they were assigned. Most of these books are now out of print, though some of available used (in bookstores or through internet services), some are being reissued, and many are available in libraries. They are well worth looking for as all we have read seem well done and highly appropriate for, say, 5th to 7th graders.

How to Find Out of Print Books The obvious place to start is your library. Interlibrary loan may also be helpful-in this case you are borrowing a book from another library. Ask your librarian for help, and be aware that there is generally a fee for this service. A good independent bookstore can help you make a search for an out of print book. Some stories charge a small fee for the search, others simply factor in their profit to the cost of the book. Or make the search yourself on the Web. Some helpful sites are two of the big ones: alibris.com and amazon.com. We were able to find copies of the Waddy Thompson and Latané textbooks on alibris, as well as several of the other relatively obscure books. A search under “out of print” will bring up a number of other potentially useful sites as well. You will generally find better prices (but can’t make directed searches) at used bookstores, library book sales, and yard sales. Your state homeschooling organizations may also have book sales/swaps, or offer ways to network with other parents who may be willing to share/sell books.

Two Dozen Southern Family Movies

The films suggested below all have been produced on video. All of them give an accurate view of some aspect of past Southern life and history. All can be watched with your children without shame. Most teach ethical lessons and many of the stories include young people. There are many other good Southern stories on film (as well as a multitude of bad ones) but which are suitable only for mature viewers.

THE GENERAL (1927). Buster Keaton produced one of the classic American silent films, which is also highly entertaining and gives a good picture of Southerners during The War.

GONE WITH THE WIND (1939). There is nothing wrong with this old classic. It still gives a pretty good picture of the hardships faced by Southerners in war and "Reconstruction."

JUDGE PRIEST (1934). The great Will Rogers, son of a Confederate officer, stars in a story of love and justice in a postwar Southern town.

COLONEL EFFINGHAM'S RAID (1945). Charles Coburn fights to save a town's Southern heritage, in the process showing that nobody at the time of World War II saw any incompatibility between Southern and American patriotism.

I'D CLIMB THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN (1951). William Lundigan and Susan Hayward are a young Methodist minister and his wife in rural Georgia. Based on the real life memoirs of Corra Harris that were once very popular.

GOODBYE, MY LADY (1956). A boy and his dog and lessons of honour in rural Mississippi, with Walter Brennan. (Though not Southern born, Brennan gave a good imitation of it.)

PROUD REBEL (1958). Ex-Confederate Allan Ladd battles "Reconstruction" to find a cure for his traumatized son, with the help of Olivia de Havilland.

DRUMS IN THE DEEP SOUTH (1951). A good adventure story which also portrays some of the evils inflicted on Southern civilians during The War.

Shirley Temple's THE LITTLE COLONEL and THE LITTLEST REBEL (both 1935).

THE HUNLEY (1999). Though marred by a silly portrayal of General Beauregard, this film does portray Charleston during the war and Southern heroism well.

Three by Faulkner. INTRUDER IN THE DUST (1949). An old lady and two boys, one white, one black, take extreme measures to save a black man from an unjust murder charge. TOMORROW (1972) with Robert Duvall, a moving story of love and hardship. OLD MAN, or WILLIAM FAULKNER'S OLD MAN (1997), danger, courage, and love during a Mississippi River flood. The latter two include scenes of childbirth. It is too bad that the film version of Faulkner's THE REIVERS cannot be recommended. It contains great moral lessons but a lot of it takes place in and around a brothel.

JEZEBEL (1938). Bette Davis in a magnificent protrayal of love and sacrifce in old New Orleans.

Three recent movies about Southern families that embody traditional teachings and values. THE RIVER (1984) - Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek (surprise?) as a Tennessee family trying to save their farm from "progress." STARS FELL ON HENRIETTA (1995) - A struggling Oklahoma family finds oil. A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL (1986) - Geraldine Page is a city-bound senior citizen who wants to return to her rural Texas home.

SONG OF THE SOUTH (1946). One time immensely popular Disney take on Joel Chandler's Harriis's Uncle Remus, which has been suppressed by the PC crowd. It is sometimes obtainable in bootleg copies or as far as a Japanese-made video with Japanese subtitles.

All the best Westerns are really "Southerns." It was the Southerner settlers of Texas who gave the West most of its heroism and all of its glamour and honour. Here are five examples.

SANTA FE TRAIL (1940). The Southerner Erroll Flynn gets the girl over the Yankee Ronald Reagan, while taking care of the evil John Brown. (Reagan got to play the Confederate in CAVALRY CHARGE.)

ESCORT WEST! (1959). Victor Mature and his motherless young daughter battle Indians and Bostonian arrogance.

John Wayne's classic THE SEARCHERS (1956), THE ALAMO (1960), and TRUE GRIT (1969) are really Southern stories, even if they don't come right out and say so. One portrays a great event in Southern history and the other two are based on Southern novels.