You have heard of the Montgomery Boycott, the bombing in Birmingham, the sit ins at Greensboro, North Carolina, the students in Prince Edward County, Virginia and the Freedom Riders during the Civil Rights Era. This is the story of the integration of the school systems in Prince William County, Virginia. It is the story of the Russell Family — Reverend James P. Russell, President of the NAACP, who selected his daughter Joyce to integrate Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, her sister Deborah and brother Cameron to integrate Occoquan Elementary School, and brother Jimmy to integrate Fred Lynn Middle School. It tells of the danger of their house being shot up on a hot July night, and how Bobby Kennedy sent the Federal Marshals the next morning to get Joyce out of the area. It describes the true feelings of fear, courage, and endurance as well as ostracism and harassment that led to a phone call from A. Philip Randolph encouraging Joyce to stay in school at her lowest moment.
As an author I don’t have a set type of material that I write about. I like science fiction, and I have a science fiction book published. I was working on three other different types of books when my wife, Diane, suggested that I write a book of short stories, some of which would be suitable reading for young people and for reading to children. Later that day I was doing a photo shoot and an interview for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and during the interview was asked what made me decide to become an author. I told them that living in this area I had become interested in the Civil War. Also being in the military I always analyzed what both sides did in the battles, and made a mental exercise of determining what could have changed the outcomes. Over the years I had come up with a strategy that the South could have used to win the war, and wanted to write about it. Further I stated that I liked telling stories to my children and grandchildren.
Then, there is the tragic account of the death of his young son Willey, a boy who was unable to adjust to the heat and unsanitary conditions of Mississippi and Memphis.Shortly after this personal loss, General Sherman was ordered east to deal with the problems at Chattanooga.The rest of the book is his account of how this was accomplished, and the subsequent mission to the relief of General Burnside at Knoxville.
The photographs used to illustrate this volume were taken by myself, my photographer Bruce Wilkey, and various period photographers. In fact many of the photos were taken by General Sherman's Photographer and this is the first account with both the pictures and the text in the same volume.
We found the diary of Miss Josephine H. Hooke while searching for reference material relating to the members of the Lookout Artillery, which is better known as Barry’s Battery.Ms. Hooks’ father, Judge Robert M. Hooke, was a strong supporter of the Battery, and another young man named James H. Hooke, a relative of Judge Hook was a member of the unit.After reading the diary, however, we felt that the document is so interesting and unique that it should have a separate treatment.The account of how a young woman with her family and friends spent months living on the railroad in train cars as refugees from the Federal Army gives a perspective of the war that can not be found in official military documents.
This account of some of the historic African American places in the Chattanooga area was made possible through the earlier work of numerous researchers and the assistance of many individuals, and I would like to take this time to acknowledge their help and express my thanks for all that they did.
In the early morning hours of December 2, 1983, a man lay dying on the floor of the infamous Chattanooga Jail. This is the story of that man, his life, his death, his family, and how the struggle for justice has led to a series of victories and defeats in Chattanooga. Few people know the true story behind this struggle, because the story is at once intensely private and publicly misinterpreted. This is my attempt to tell the real story from my perspective and from the perspective of those closest to me who contributed to the fight. What has been accomplished? Where do we go from here? Who defines that direction? And what is lost or won in that definition?
Once storyteller’s tales were repeated for generations. Folks called her Granny Mac. Mildred MacMahon was her name. Could she tell a story! Granny; had one for every occasion. They were usually about the William Bean family, who moved into Tennessee in 1768. You see, Granny Mac was a Bean Sprout. That expression describes that this person is kin to the Bean family of Tennessee. The Beans here are descendants of folks who came to the United States from Scotland by way of Ireland. They are called Scotch-Irish in Appalachia.
This volume begins with his move against the Confederate Army at Dalton, Georgia in the spring of 1864.Then, in a brilliant series of flanking movements, he slowly pushed the Confederates further south, with much less loss of life than Grant suffered in his head on attack policies in Virginia.Due to his failure to stop Sherman, General Joseph E. Johnston was replaced by John B. Hood, who did no better against Cump Sherman.The Confederates were forced out of Atlanta and Sherman occupied the city in time to swing the presidential election in Lincoln’s favor.When Hood attempted to relieve the pressure on Georgia by turning back to invade Tennessee, Sherman followed him back into Alabama, and then left his destruction to General George Thomas at Nashville, while he turned south for his famous march to the sea.
The photographs used to illustrate this volume were taken by George N. Barnard, who was the official photographer for Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign.
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