Author Archives: sternjc

Hushpuppies!!!- Jenna Stern

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(Photo Credits: https://realhousemoms.com/hush-puppies/)

The crunchy, fried exterior, mixed with the soft bread-like interior is a perfect combination. One bite and you cannot stop. If it’s your first time eating it, it’s hard to tell what it is. Is it cornbread or corn muffin? But no, it’s better; it is a hushpuppy. For many people, hushpuppies are reminders of their southern roots and are a source of extreme nostalgia. That first bite into a warm hushpuppy, along with some butter, will make anyone fall in love with this delectable food. 

Hushpuppies are a unique food that is commonly found in the south. It is a deep fried ball of cornbread which is served with all sorts of condiments, like butter or even barbeque sauce. Depending on where you go, hushpuppies could be shaped like an oval or spherical; either way, they still taste the same. One of the most interesting variations of hushpuppies I’ve had was a conch hushpuppy at a restaurant in Richmond. It had conch, a type of seafood, inside of it, so it was a lot chewier than other hushpuppies I have eaten. It was not my favorite just because the texture was off, and I couldn’t enjoy the softness it normally is like. My personal favorite was a jalapeno hushpuppy at a seafood restaurant at Kiawah Island. The jalapenos add a nice tang to it, and I had never tried something like it. For me, hushpuppies scream southern food because it is a mix of two popular dishes: cornbread and fried food. It is something that when you bite into it, whether it be at a seafood or barbeque restaurant, it just makes you feel good. That is what southern cooking, and comfort food, is all about. 

Hushpuppies have a fascinating history. Like a lot of popular southern food, it is difficult to trace its origins back to one specific place. Most foods like this, like pralines, were influenced by a lot of cultures. An interesting story about the derivation of the name hushpuppy is that soldiers and fishermen would feed these to their dogs to quiet them. Hence the name hushpuppy. 

 

https://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/Hushpuppies.htm; Accessed 10/24/2020

https://www.southernliving.com/side-dishes/what-is-a-hushpuppy; Accessed 10/24/2020

Southern Spaces (Cody and Jenna)

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https://southernspaces.org/

 

Southern Spaces is a user friendly, online-only journal, with a variety of interesting articles. When you first go to the website, it can look overwhelming at first; all of the recent articles are put on the homepage and there are so many pictures. However, there are a few buttons that make the journal easier to use. Underneath the title section, there are nine broad categories, like interviews, blogs, or articles, you can click on and visit. These are pages more generally categorized based on type of writing and not subject . Under the browse section, there are almost sixty specific topics, like foodways, African American Art, and religious studies, to choose from. By clicking on one of these, you are taken to a page dedicated to all types of writing on one of those topics. 

The articles on this journal are different in their own unique way and utilise new technologies to enhance them. Many of the articles have videos, pictures, or helpful links embedded in them, which makes the journal more engaging. You definitely don’t get bored reading the lengthy articles. Not only are these articles full of these technological resources, but they are interesting and pertinent to current events. One recent blog was about a new Supreme Court Case which went back on Brown vs. Board of Education. The blog was clearly written and provided necessary background information to understand how the case is currently affecting schools. Other articles have focused on music in the twentieth century and help people compare and contrast music from two time periods. Overall, the articles are very interesting to read.

Southern Spaces is a unique journal for everyone. The content is not so scholarly that it turns everyday readers away, but it is not too basic that you don’t feel challenged. Southern Spaces aims at reaching people of all educational backgrounds, whether teachers or even high school students, they want everyone to learn. In addition, there are so many topics that you are bound to find something you think is interesting. It is also unique that anyone can contribute to it, without having to give up rights to their work. But first, scholars have to go through and review the essays before publication. I think this provides so many people the chance to contribute to this journal.

Southern Spaces is a digital publication, and as a group endorses their utilization of the internet since it allows them to share their magazine’s material through multimedia (audio, video, images, and articles.) The Emory Center for Digital Scholarship funds the operation of Southern Spaces. So, because the funding source for Southern Spaces is Emory University, their base of operation is in Atlanta, Georgia, on the Emory University Campus. 

Everyone on the magazine editing staff is an employee of Emory University. Many of them function either out of the Robert W. Woodruff Library or the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship. Most, if not all, the staff are published scholars on various subjects in Southern Studies. The diversified background of the editorial staff allows for the magazine to include a wide array of topics and media. 

Southern Spaces started as an online publication in 2004, with the same mission statement that drives its content today. The placement of the U.S. South in the greater context of the world through the use of; articles, interviews, monographs, presentations, and more. In their first year as an online publication, Southern Spaces had mainly articles composed by university professors.

Southern Spaces self identifies as a magazine that caters to the educational and non-educational communities alike. Their materials come from published doctoral professors as well as journalists, artists, and geographers. They claim to gear much of their material towards serving marginalized groups in the South, often focused on shedding light on the falsehoods of a monolithic South. 

 

 

 

Jenna Stern and Cody McLellan

Dr. Dale Rosengarten (Library and Jewish Studies)

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 Dr. Dale Rosengarten is a library specialist and Jewish Studies professor here at College of Charleston. Born and raised in New York City, she did not have a “legacy,” in the South as she put it; however that didn’t stop Dr. Rosengarten and her friends from having an interest in Southern politics. They were passionate about fighting the injustices during the Civil Rights Movement, so they created,  “a youth committee,” and were “very focused on the south.” From there, her involvement in the south grew tremendously. As an undergraduate and doctoral student at Harvard University, she and her boyfriend, who’s now her husband, travelled to Alabama to help people in a sharecroppers union fight for equality and receive better treatment. Together they were intellectually and politically driven to make a change. Even now, Dr. Rosengarten says that her husband is still one of her biggest influences.

   Now, at the College, she studies quite a few topics. One of her biggest research projects was on the history of the Lowcountry Basket. She gathered information on the history of the baskets and how they have impacted the South Carolina economy and such. Her work was shown in the Gibbes Museum of Art and eventually was moved to the Smithsonian. Along with this, she is a big advocate for protecting the Lowcountry Basket community. Currently, she is trying to stop the town of Mt. Pleasant from expanding Highway 41 and taking over the area where these baskets are made. One of Dr. Rosengarten’s mentors, Peter Wood, influenced her work immensely. His writings helped her narrow what she studied.

      In addition to the Lowcountry Basket History, she has completed lots of research on Southern Jewish History. In 1995, she began collecting oral histories and manuscripts on Southern Jewish History and South Carolina Jewish History. Also she has created numerous maps on American Jewish History. One of them, for example, mapped 300 years of Southern Jewish History in America. Her current map was supposed to be a walking tour of Jewish Sites in Charleston; however, now it is online and you read about the different sites and their significance. She is working on another map which won’t be ready until next year. This one maps out southern synagogues using resources at the Addlestone Library.