Book ID: CBB001200642

Delta Empire: Lee Wilson and the Transformation of Agriculture in the New South (2011)

unapi

Whayne, Jeannie M. (Author)


Louisiana State University Press


Publication Date: 2011
Physical Details: xi + 298 pp.; ill.; maps; bibl.; index
Language: English

Whayne (history, U. of Arkansas), who has published and edited other books on Arkansas history, has written an in-depth account of the creation by Robert E. "Lee" Wilson of an enormous conglomeration of plantation operations in Arkansas. A lucid writer, Whayne has formed her account from a wealth of primary sources, including correspondence, newspaper accounts, court records, county and other land surveys, and other archives. Wilson's attitudes towards race are described deliberately and with insight, demonstrating the hardship and systemic inequity of life, pay, housing, and employment for blacks as well as the region's legacy of horrific intimidation and violence. Wilson logged and drained much of the area and this process, the environmental legacy of his activities, and the impact of the drought of 1930 are the subject of separate chapters. Carrying the account through Wilson's death and the new management of his empire by his son, and describing how farming practices were changed in efforts to accommodate flood and other environmental concerns, Whayne covers in fascinating detail the lives and effects on the land of over a century of agricultural activity in the lower Mississippi Delta.

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Reviewed By

Review Coclanis, Peter A. (2012) Review of "Delta Empire: Lee Wilson and the Transformation of Agriculture in the New South". Arkansas Historical Quarterly (p. 321). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001200642/

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Authors & Contributors
Metz, John D.
Mary Summers
Feeley, Lynne
Dvera I. Saxton
Warren, Carol
Van Lanen, Amanda
Journals
Agricultural History
Environmental History
Economic History Review
Australian Journal of Politics and History
Publishers
University of North Carolina Press
University of Georgia Press
University of Chicago Press
Rutgers University Press
Princeton University Press
Ohio University Press
Concepts
Farmers
Farms
Agriculture
Labor and laborers
Rural history
Agricultural technology
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
20th century, early
21st century
Places
United States
Canada
California (U.S.)
Western states (U.S.)
Southern states (U.S.)
Georgia (U.S.)
Institutions
New Deal (1933-1939)
Bureau of Plant Industry (United States)
United States. Office of Indian Affairs
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