Changes

In October, the Oxford University Press will be publishing ''[http://www.powells.com/book/great-new-orleans-kidnapping-case-race-law-justice-in-the-reconstruction-era-9780199778805?partnerid=&p_ti The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case: Race, Law, and Justice in the Reconstruction Era]'' by Michael A. Ross, an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland. Ross's first book, ''[http://www.powells.com/book/justice-of-shattered-dreams-samuel-freeman-miller-the-supreme-court-during-the-civil-war-era-9780807129241?partnerid=&p_ti Justice of Shattered Dreams: Samuel Freeman Miller and the Supreme Court During the Civil War Era]'', examined Justice Miller's career on the Supreme Court. Ross has changed pace and his next book follows the 1870 kidnapping of a white seventeen month old girl, Mollie Digby, by two African American women in New Orleans. While virtually unknown today, the case was a national sensation at the time. Everyday, newspapers around the country were publishing reports of the kidnapping and subsequent trial. Unsurprisingly, the story became intertwined with the racial politics of Reconstruction. Here's my interview with Michael Ross about his new book.

I am always looking for books to assign in class that tell a story that is compelling enough to pull student readers in, but that also illuminate the main themes of my course. I often assign books like Kevin Boyle’s ''[http://www.powells.com/book/arc-of-justice-a-saga-of-race-civil-rights-murder-in-the-jazz-age-9780805079333?partnerid=&p_ti Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age]'' and Jill Lepore’s ''[http://www.powells.com/book/new-york-burning-liberty-slavery-conspiracy-in-eighteenth-century-manhattan-9781400032266?partnerid=&p_ti New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan]'' that use a single trial or event to reveal a larger world. I hope ''The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case'' will be assigned (and read) for the same reasons.