By Tiffany Edwards, University Relations
Scholars, students and history buffs can learn more about the Piedmont’s rich history with ease thanks to a new online journal launched by the UNCG Department of History. The Journal of Backcountry Studies is a public resource on the colonial history of the Backcountry – the rural corridor that stretches from southern Pennsylvania to Augusta, Ga., and includes the North Carolina Piedmont.
The journal is edited by Dr. Robert Calhoon, a professor of history at UNCG since 1964. The journal’s inaugural issue, published in May, contains papers exploring German stone churches in Rowan County and examining Patriot and Tory loyalties during the 1779 battle at Kettle Creek, in addition to reviews of Warren Hofstra’s book “The Planting of a New Virginia: Settlement and Landscape in the Shenandoah Valley.”
“UNCG is the capital of Backcountry scholarship now. It’s located geographically in the middle [of the Backcountry region] and this area of research is something we’ve been studying here for a long time,” Calhoon said. “The Backcountry as a membrane between the Lost Cause and the Gilded Age, between global cultures and as a point of connection integral to the structure of the Atlantic world are just a few of the possibilities this journal promises to explore.”
More than one million people moved into the Backcountry during the period between the 1730s and the Revolutionary War. Moravians, Germans, Irish, English and Quakers flowed into the area from Philadelphia, lured by the promise of fertile, affordable land. Free and enslaved
African-Americans and the Catawba Indians, who were active traders, also lived here. The various ethnic groups shared a common, middle-class standard of living, a stark contrast to the consumerism and social climbing that was present at the time in the coastal cities.
The idea for launching the journal was formulated during the successful 2004 Backcountry conference, “Bringing the North Carolina Backcountry to the Public.” The event was held at Old Salem and cosponsored by UNCG and the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA).
“We hope the journal will be a bridge between museums on the one hand, and classrooms on the other,” Calhoon said.
The editorial board includes: Dr. Tyler Blethen (Western Carolina University), Dr. Ellen Eslinger (DePaul University), Dr. Warren Hofstra (Shenandoah University), John Larson (Old Salem), John Maass (Ohio State University), Dr. Ann McCleary (West Georgia State University) and Dr. Pete N. Moore (Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi).
The next edition will be published in December and will include scholarship on the Weberites and Religious Violence, The Material Culture of North Carolina Regulators and reviews of recent books. Eventually, Calhoon expects the journal to grow to quarterly publication.
