In 1982, sisters Ruth Finley and Margaret Finley Shackelford made wills bequeathing 2,500 acres and two antebellum houses in Marshall County, Mississippi, to the National Audubon Society. Early in 1998, the surviving sister Margaret Shackelford invited the society to open its state headquarters at the family home in Holly Springs and to begin working at Strawberry Plains, the plantation where she lived four miles north of town. At her death late that year, the society took full possession of the sisters' bequest, and Strawberry Plains Audubon Center was established. Strawberry Plains Audubon Center: Four Centuries of a Mississippi Landscape documents the unique and complex history of the land encompassed by the center. 
With a large cast of characters from many generations, this book richly delineates life on a tract of land in north Mississippi. It tells a fascinating story involving famous historical figures like Hernando de Soto and William Tecumseh Sherman, but concentrates on those who owned and worked this land and their changing fortunes. Through their individual stories, the author conveys the larger sweep of history in the South and tells an uplifting saga of stewards of the land, conservators whose vision led to the creation of a lasting legacy for people and wildlife. 
Hubert H. McAlexander is Josiah Meigs Professor of English at the University of Georgia. His previous books include Peter Taylor: A Writer's Life and Conversations with Peter Taylor (published by University Press of Mississippi), and his work has appeared in numerous periodicals.

Strawberry Plains Audubon Center: Four Centuries of a Mississippi Landscape

History

McAlexander, Hubert H.

Americas

UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI

This work offers glimpses of North Mississippi from the time the Chickasaws (led by powerful mixed-blood families) were forced by give up the last of their Mississippi lands and move west. We see settlers flocking to our homeland ( billed as cotton’s last empire), buying land, building, and establishing institutions. The 1850’s issued in a golden age of great prosperity. This ended with a destructive war. After the war, a culture reformed itself. Throughout the decades, a literary strain was developing. Under the influence of this peculiar history and the problems of race emerged a great genius and his creation–Yoknapatawpha.

From the Chickasaw Cession to Yoknapatawpha: Historical and Literary Essays on North Mississippi

Nautilus Publishing Company, The

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McAlexander, Hubert H.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McAlexander, Hubert H.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McAlexander, Hubert H.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Strawberry Plains Audubon Center: Four Centuries of a Mississippi Landscape

From the Chickasaw Cession to Yoknapatawpha: Historical and Literary Essays on North Mississippi