the the newsletter of the
Center for the Study of Southern Culture • Winter 2013
the university of mississippi
The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture Nearly Complete Final Volumes to Be Published This Spring The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture series, a decade-long project that began in earnest in early 2003, is nearing completion. The final two volumes in the 24-volume series, Folk Art and Race, are scheduled for publication by the University of North Carolina Press (UNC Press) this May. Volumes 21 and 22, Art and Architecture and Science and Medicine, are now in print. “The twenty-four volumes of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture stand as an extraordinary achievement and a tribute to the long and productive relationship UNC Press has enjoyed with the Center for the Study of Southern Culture,” said UNC Press editorial director Mark Simpson-Vos. “Seeing the now almost-complete set of books on my shelf is one of the daily joys of coming into my office, especially when I think of the ways readers will benefit for years to come from the hard work and thoughtful contributions of the series’ many volume editors and contributors.” The final countdown to the realization of the entire series began with volume 21, Science and Medicine. Coedited by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture associate director for publications James G. Thomas Jr. and former Center director Charles Reagan Wilson, the book appeared in print this past November. Thomas and Wilson have also worked as the series’ managing editor and general editor, respectively. Ann Abadie, the Center’s associate director emerita worked closely with Wilson and Thomas as the series associate editor. “Once we received the first copies of the Science and Medicine volume, we began to feel a sense of conclusion,” said Thomas. “The manuscripts for the last three books had just recently been sent to the Press, and much of the work on the series was complete. I wasn’t receiving contributions anymore, and continued on page 34