Overview

"This rare find--a journal of a young backwoods woman--provides a unique picture of rural life in southwestern Alabama early in the 20th century. ""I am a little Alabama girl living on the frontier where the wild animals is plentiful,"" wrote May Jordan in 1912. During the hunting season her father traveled Washington County buying furs, and May--already 23--accompanied him on two of these trips, cooking meals, helping out with the business, and recording their experiences. May's diary of these trips from December 1912 to March 1914 describes the routine of the fur trade and provides a vivid portrait of wilderness travel and social customs. Through May's eyes, readers can experience the sights and sounds of pine forests and swamps, the difficulty of wading through waist-deep mud, and the neighborliness of the people living in this isolated area. May also shares both the solace of religious faith and her love of laughter as reflected in the jokes she records. Elisa Moore Baldwin provides an introduction that traces Jordan family history and describes economic, social, and political conditions during the period. Baldwin also includes annotations based on court records, census rolls, and other primary sources and photographs of many of the characters in May's narrative to provide a vivid picture of the times. Because few first-person accounts exist of the life of poor whites, this diary will be invaluable to students of southern and women's history; no comparable work exists for this part of Alabama during this era. May's journal takes us to another world and teaches us about the lively human spirit in the face of hardship and loneliness."

Full Product Details

Author:   May Jordan ,  Elisa Moore Baldwin
Publisher:   The University of Alabama Press
Imprint:   The University of Alabama Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.460kg
ISBN:  

9780817353377

ISBN 10:   0817353372
Pages:   276
Publication Date:   30 September 2006
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock  
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Reviews

I am a little Alabama girl living on the frontier where the wild animals is plentiful, wrote May Jordan in 1912. This rare journal of a twenty-three-year-old backwoods woman who accompanied her father on two trips to Washington County, Alabama, to buy furs, provides a unique picture of rural life in southwestern Alabama in the early twentieth century. Jordan cooked meals, helped out with the business, and recorded their experiences, providing a vivid portrait of wilderness travel, social customs, and the routine of the fur trade, and describing the flora and fauna, religion, economy, women, folkways, roads, and neighborliness of the frontier region. - Documentary Editing May had little formal education, but displayed a natural writing talent.... [She] emerges from these pages as a happy and likable woman. Her style is arresting and her humor homespun and playful. - Mobile Register

Author Information

Elisa Moore Baldwin is Associate Librarian and Archivist at the University of South Alabama Archives.

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