The Path to a Modern South

by Buenger, Walter L.

• ISBN13: 9780292708884
• ISBN10: 0292708882
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

"This work is a bold step for Texas history. Not only does it advance a fascinating and convincing new argument concerning the forces that shaped Texas history during this era, it also delves into economic and social questions that have remained untouched by past studies. . . . This book has the potential for a wide general readership among those interested in Texas history." --Carl H. Moneyhon, author of Arkansas and the New South, 1874-1929 Federal New Deal programs of the 1930s and World War II are often credited for transforming the South, including Texas, from a poverty-stricken region mired in Confederate mythology into a more modern and economically prosperous part of the United States. By contrast, this history of Northeast Texas, one of the most culturally southern areas of the state, offers persuasive evidence that political, economic, and social modernization began long before the 1930s and prepared Texans to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the New Deal and World War II. Walter L. Buenger draws on extensive primary research to tell the story of change in Northeast Texas from 1887 to 1930. Moving beyond previous, more narrowly focused studies of the South, he traces and interconnects the significant changes that occurred in politics, race relations, business and the economy, and women's roles. He also reveals how altered memories of the past and the emergence of a stronger identification with Texas history affected all facets of life in Northeast Texas.

Author Biography

Walter L. Buenger is Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction Seeing the Whole by Spotting a Part	xv
PART ONE FOUNDATIONS	1	(72)
The Fluid and the Constant
Persistent Factionalism, Lynching, and Reform, 1887-1896	3	(36)
Competition, Innovation, and a Changing Economy, 1897-1914	39	(34)
PART TWO TRANSFORMATIONS	73	(150)
A New Political Order, 1897-1912	75	(57)
``Old Ideas'' and ``Improved Conditions''
Law, Custom, and Memory, 1902-1914	104	(28)
An Economic Roller Coaster, 1914-1930	132	(32)
World War I and a Shifting Culture	164	(31)
Women, The Ku Klux Klan, and Factional Identity, 1920-1927	195	(28)
PART THREE MODERNITY	223	(38)
Politics and Culture, 1928	225	(36)
EPILOGUE STARS AND BARS AND THE LONE STAR
Memory, Texas, and the South	253	(8)
Notes	261	(68)
A Comment on Primary Sources	329	(6)
Index	335