An award-winning scholar of white supremacy tackles her toughest research assignment yet: the unsolved murder of a Black man in rural Mississippi while her grandfather was the local sheriff—a cold case that sheds new light on the hidden legacy of racial terror in America. A story of obsession, injustice, and the ties that bind, In the Pines casts an unsparing eye over this intimate terrain, driven by a deep desire to set straight the historical record and to understand and subvert white racism, along with its structures, costs, and consequences—and the lies that sustain it.

Grace Elizabeth Hale is the Commonwealth Professor of American Studies and History at the University of Virginia and an internationally recognized expert on modern American culture and the regional culture of the U.S. South. Her previous books include A Nation of Outsiders: How the White Middle Class Fell in Love with Rebellion in Postwar America, Making Whiteness: The Culture of Segregation in the South, 1890–1940, and Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture.

This event is cosponsored by Square Books.

SouthTalks is a series of events (including lectures, performances, film screenings, and panel discussions) that explores the interdisciplinary nature of Southern Studies. This series is free and open to the public, and typically takes place in the Tupelo Room of Barnard Observatory unless otherwise noted. Visit thttps://southernstudies.olemiss.edu for current information about all Center events. During the 2023–24 academic year, the programming theme is “Creativity in the South.”