Philip Dray,"Noose: The True History of a Resurgent Symbol of Hate," Boston Globe, 2 December, reviews the history of lynching in the United States. Dray is the author of At The Hands Of Persons Unknown. Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.

At Liberty & Power, David Beito links to a rare recording of Zora Neale Hurston's voice. You can hear her talk about Haitian zombies and her book, Tell My Horse (1936). The Florida Memory Project has 18 recordings online that were made by Hurston when she worked for the WPA in the 1930s.

Peter Applebome,"Following a Kindly Light, and Casting One," NYT, 2 December, features 91-year-old George M. Houser, one of only two survivors from the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation that tested racial segregation in interstate transportation in the Jim Crow South. Later, he was a founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Still later, at Antioch College, I sponsored the award of honorary degrees to George Houser and CORE's James Farmer. Thanks to Paul Harvey at Religion and American History for the tip.

Jerry Mitchell,"Buried Secrets: Confessions, but no change," Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 2 December, is the first in a three-part series on the murders of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman at Philadelphia, Mississippi, in June 1964. The series is based on 40,000 pages of sealed state and federal records obtained by the Clarion-Ledger. In 2005, a grand jury came within one vote of indicting one of the murders. A relative of his was on the grand jury [!] and cast a deciding vote[!]. Thanks to David Garrow for the tip.

Mary Dudziak - 12/4/2007

George Houser went on to lead the American Committee on Africa, and was heavily involved in visits to the U.S. by Tom Mboya in 1956 and 59, when Mboya was a very young labor leader in Kenya and established himself as an African leader that Americans and progressive Brits placed much hope in. I recently interviewed Houser for my new book. He is wonderful to talk to, and is a great source for exploring US/Africa and transnational history in the 50s and 60s. The ACOA papers, with material on Houser's work and also a great source, are at the Amistad Center in New Orleans.