
The Upshaws of County Line
An American Family
Richard Orton(Author)
University of North Texas Press,U.S.
Will be published approx. on 30. November 2014
Book
Hardback
144 pages
978-1-57441-571-1 (ISBN)
Description
Guss, Felix, and Jim Upshaw founded the community of County Line in the 1870s in northwest Nacogdoches County, in deep East Texas. As with hundreds of other relatively autonomous black communities created at that time, the Upshaws sought a safe place to raise their children and create a livelihood during Reconstruction and Jim Crow Texas.
In the late 1980s photographer Richard Orton visited County Line for the first time and became aware of a world he did not know existed as a white man. He went down the rabbit hole, so to speak, and met some remarkable people there who changed his life.
The more than 50 duotone photographs and text convey the contemporary experience of growing up in a ""freedom colony."" Covering a period of twenty-five years, photographer Richard Orton juxtaposes his images with text from people who grew up in and have remained connected to their birthplace. Thad Sitton's foreword sets the community in historical context and Roy Flukinger points out the beauty of the documentary photographs.
This book should appeal to anyone interested in American or Texas history, particularly the history of African Americans in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. The book should also be of interest to anyone with an appreciation for documentary photography, including students and teachers of photography.
In the late 1980s photographer Richard Orton visited County Line for the first time and became aware of a world he did not know existed as a white man. He went down the rabbit hole, so to speak, and met some remarkable people there who changed his life.
The more than 50 duotone photographs and text convey the contemporary experience of growing up in a ""freedom colony."" Covering a period of twenty-five years, photographer Richard Orton juxtaposes his images with text from people who grew up in and have remained connected to their birthplace. Thad Sitton's foreword sets the community in historical context and Roy Flukinger points out the beauty of the documentary photographs.
This book should appeal to anyone interested in American or Texas history, particularly the history of African Americans in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. The book should also be of interest to anyone with an appreciation for documentary photography, including students and teachers of photography.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Denton
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
59 duotones
Dimensions
Height: 217 mm
Width: 261 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
649 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-57441-571-1 (9781574415711)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Richard Orton was born in Nacogdoches and raised in Midland. He became mesmerized by photography after seeing an image materializing in a development tray. After two years in the Peace Corps, he settled in Austin, Texas, where he worked with nonprofits before becoming a photographer for the Texas House of Representatives. He moved back to Nacogdoches in 2007.