200 pages, 8.5 in x 8.5 in
Publication Date: Nov-2005
More than 1,400 neighborhoods in the United States, most of them African-American, were leveled in the name of urban renewal during the mid-twentieth century. South of Main recreates the culture and history of just one of those, the Southside of Spartanburg, South Carolina, founded in the 1860s by a group of ex-slaves who lived together at the end of a dusty road called Liberty Street.
This poignant and painful history examines the experiences of the people who called the Southside home and whose lives were affected by the bulldozers of urban renewal. Their story is an American story, a complex chronicle of a people powerless against the whims of progress. This book received an IPPY award in 2006 from Independent Publisher magazine as the best multicultural nonfiction title by an independent press in North America.
Between 1970 and 1978 urban renewal razed 50 blocks of their neighborhood, scattered 90 businesses and displaced an estimated 2,000 people. Through oral histories, photographs, and maps, their memories survive in this rich collection of stories called South of Main.
About the Editors
Beatrice Hill
Born in Tobe Hartwell Apartments, Bea Hill has had a lifelong interest in the history of her neighborhood. She attended school at Carrier Street Elementary, Highland Elementary, and Mary H. Wright, and graduated from Carver High School. In 1979 she coordinated the first Tobe Hartwell neighborhood reunion, which drew 300 people to her backyard.
Brenda Lee
Born on South Liberty Street, Brenda Lee Pryce served as a member of the S.C. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2005 and currently is a member of the regulatory staff and outreach manager of the S.C. Lifeline and Link-up Programs. She is a 1966 graduate of Carver High School and attended the University of South Carolina. She was the 1998 recipient of the E. Lewis Miller Award for leadership in Spartanburg.
Accolades are pouring in for Hub City Press. In 2012, our books won four IPPY Awards: Philip Gerard received a Gold IPPY as the top essay collection by an indie publisher for The Patron Saint of Dreams; Michel Stone's The Iguana Tree received a Bronze IPPY in literary fiction; Matt Matthews' Mercy Creek won Bronze for best regional fiction of the Southeast; and Ron Rash's Waking received a Silver IPPY in poetry. Waking, an Okra Pick, also has been nominated for the Weatherford Award, the top prize in Appalachian fiction. Hub City Press won 6 previous IPPY Awards, including a Gold IPPY for Brian Ray's Through the Pale Door as the top novel in the Southeast. Lou Dischler's My Only Sunshine received a Silver in the same category, as well as an Okra Pick from the Southern Independent Booksellers. Expecting Goodness & Other Stories, edited by C. Michael Curtis, received a Silver IPPY as the top short story collection in North America. Out Loud, edited by Ed Madden and Candace Chellew-Hodge, received a Bronze in the GLBT nonfiction category. Kirk Neely's A Good Mule is Hard to Find was nominated for the SIBA Book Award in nonfiction, and Tim Peeler's Checking Out in poetry.
