J. brent morris, PhD
A South Carolina Chronology (USC Press, 2020)
This third edition of A South Carolina Chronology offers a year-by-year chronology of landmark dates and events in South Carolina's recorded history. Unique to this volume are nearly thirty additional years of notable events and important updates to material covered in earlier editions. Historians Walter Edgar, J. Brent Morris, and C. James Taylor expand previously chronicled periods using a more contemporary view of race, gender, and other social issues, adding measurably to South Carolina's history.
While the previous edition referenced precontact South Carolina in a brief introduction, this edition begins with the chapter "Peopling the Continent (17,200 BCE–1669)." It acknowledges the extent to which the lands where Europeans began arriving in the fifteenth century had long been inhabited by indigenous people who were members of complex societies and sociopolitical networks.
An easy-to-use inventory of the people, politics, laws, economics, wars, protests, storms, and cultural events that have had a major influence on South Carolina and its inhabitants, this latest edition reflects a more complete picture of the state's past. From the earliest-known migrants to the increasingly complex global society of the early twenty-first century, A South Carolina Chronology offers a solid foundation for understanding the Palmetto State's past.
"Yes, Lord, I Know the Road": A Documentary History of African Americans in South Carolina, 1526-2008 (USC Press, 2017)
"Morris provides a very nice synthesis of the history of African Americans in South Carolina."—Civil War News
"For everyone interested in South Carolina history Yes, Lord, I Know the Road is a book that has long been needed. Thanks to the judicious selection of documents and thoughtful introductory material, Brent Morris has produced a very readable book on a complex and often contentious topic. It is an invaluable addition to South Carolina historiography—and to my bookshelf."
—Walter Edgar, author of South Carolina: A History
"At last, we have a concise document book tracing one of the most troubled and inspiring paths in American history. Exploring this long, rutted road, we meet brave souls who stood tall—Boston King, Robert Smalls, Septima Clark. Morris's varied collection will spark readers to dig deeper and learn more."
—Peter H. Wood, Duke University, author of Black Majority and Strange New Land
"This thoughtfully curated documentary history of Afro-Carolinians spans five centuries with important, vivid, and compelling accounts of South Carolina's twisted, stony road of anguish and achievement, oppression and hope. An informative introduction and concise headnotes provide historical context and make the book accessible to all students of South Carolina history."
—Michael Johnson, Academy Professor of History Emeritus, Johns Hopkins University
Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism: College, Community, and the Fight for Freedom and Equality in Antebellum America (UNC Press, 2014)
"Provides a thorough overview of the significant role played by Oberlin in abolition and antislavery."--Journal of American History
“Morris provides an insightful analysis of a college and community at the vanguard of abolition...Scholars and students of American history, antebellum reform, and Ohio history will enjoy Morris’s energetic prose and engaging work.”--American Historical Review
“A necessary and refreshing departure from the standard story of abolitionism.”--The Journal of Southern History
“Will invariably interest those eager to understand the historical relationship between the liberal arts and social activism.”--History of Education Quarterly
“An engaging and well-written narrative. . . . Anyone with an interest in the history of Oberlin, higher education, the abolitionist movement, and researching these topics, should seriously consider adding Oberlin: Hotbed of Abolitionism to their library.”--Journal of African American History
“Beautifully and clearly written, and makes for an enjoyable read for readers of this journal who seek a focused history of the Midwest’s relevance to national politics and activism.”--Middle West Review