Submitted to the Daily Reflector, May 2006
New History Brings North Carolina’s Past to Life
Special to the Daily Reflector by Maurice C. York
The Verona Joyner Langford North Carolina Collection at East Carolina University’s J. Y. Joyner Library has received a well-written new history of North Carolina that brings the state’s past to life. The Tar Heel State: A History of North Carolina (University of South Carolina Press, 2005), by Milton Ready, professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, is not a typical textbook. The author employs a lively narrative, spiced with bold interpretations, to add interest to the facts he presents.
The first major history of the state in nearly twenty years, Ready’s book covers the period of prehistory to the present. The author sets the stage by describing the state’s geography and geology, and their impact on North Carolina’s development is a thread that Ready weaves throughout his book. He devotes considerable attention to native Americans, including chapters on the “Clash of Cultures” occasioned by early European settlement and the remarkable history of the Cherokee. The author does a good job, too, of explaining the contributions of minorities and women. Western North Carolina’s past receives far more attention than is usual in a book of this kind.
The book’s many illustrations contribute to its appeal. Some of them depict average North Carolinians at work and at play. Dr. Ready made an effort to include images that are not commonly seen in print, thus adding value to his text. Here one can find a photograph of Running the Blockade, a board game reflecting an important aspect of North Carolina’s Civil War history, as well as images of workmen at lumber camps in the mountains, an African American baptism at New Bern, and a group of students at the New Bethel School for Croatan Indians in Sampson County.
Some readers might find fault with a few of the book’s interpretations and the omission of information about the arts and music, but most will enjoy this readable and useful contribution to North Carolina history.
Area residents are encouraged to visit the North Carolina Collection, where many additional histories of the state can be found. Hours and additional information are available at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/ncc/index.cfm.
Maurice C. York is head of the North Carolina Collection
