Spring 2008

’Cile Turner
by Bryan S. Wright
“As a white ‘Virginia lady’ championing the music of African Americans,” Miss Lucile Turner forged an unconventional career path. Today, reissues of recordings like Turner’s “Crap Shootin’ Sinner” have led some “to speculate that she was an obscure African American singer of ‘gritty blues’ who lived hard and died young.”

Lynchburg’s New Deal Tragedy: The Transient Bureau Fire of 1934
by Jeffrey S. Cole
Lynchburg’s enviable position as a prosperous transportation hub proved problematic early in 1929 when jobless drifters began riding the rails and hitting the highways in search of opportunity. The influx of transients tested the mettle of the city’s “better angels,” and sometimes even the best of intentions brought tragic results.

Douglas Southall Freeman: Renowned Man of Letters
by James A. Huston
Drawing on a combination of personal memories, glowing reviews, and biographical details, Huston revisits and renews his admiration for one of Lynchburg’s favorite sons. The process may inspire a new generation of Freeman readers.

Abram Frederick Biggers
by Miss Mary L. Percy, with an introduction and notes by Gene Tomlin
Superintendent E.C. Glass never failed to mention him. And Miss Percy, too, tried to keep his accomplishments in the forefront of Lynchburg’s collective memory. Now, Gene Tomlin has taken up the cause in this excerpt from his new book, Abram Frederick Biggers and Biggers School.

Lewis Hine in Lynchburg
with an introduction by John d’Entremont
Lewis Hine’s haunting images are brought home in this collection of photographs. John d’Entremont, Theodore H. Jack professor of History at Randolph College, explains why taking a picture involved taking a risk.

From the Editors

History in Brief

Books of Interest


^ Top
Previous page: From the Editor
Next page: 'Cile Turner
Site Map