Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968

Bedrosian Bookclub Podcast

Another bonus episode!

Host Lisa discusses the book Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968 by Center Director, Jeffery Jenkins and Boris Heersink (Fordham).

Heersink and Jenkins examine how National Convention politics allowed the South to remain important to the Republican Party after Reconstruction. They trace how Republican organizations in the South changed from biracial coalitions to mostly all-white ones over time. They explore how the 'whitening' of the Republican Party affected its vote totals in the South. Once states passed Jim Crow laws essentially to disenfranchise black voters, the Republican Party in the South performed better electorally the whiter it became. These results are important for understanding how the GOP emerged as a competitive, and ultimately dominant, electoral party in the late-twentieth century South.

Read along with us! We’re reading The Murmur of Bees by by Sofía Segovia (Translated by Simon Bruni) for June.

For more information, see the showpage.

Let us know what you think of the book & our podcasts on Facebook or Twitter.

Join the conversation about each episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Or email us at [e-mail].