Abandoned photography captures the beauty in urban ruins left behind, giving the viewer an exhilarating look at our past. With over 200 years of history, there is no shortage of fascinating abandoned places across Alabama. In Abandoned Alabama: Exploring the Heart of Dixie, photographer and historian Leland Kent showcases eleven of his favorite abandoned locations from across the state. Among the locations are several forgotten historic homes, plus a one-of-a-kind mid-century masterpiece built by a famous architect. Discover the incredible history behind one of Alabama's oldest and most historic abandoned sites, Searcy Hospital, which has been closed since 2012. Each chapter gives a detailed narrative about these breathtaking places accompanied by stunning imagery. You can find more of Leland's work at www.abandonedsoutheast.com.

Nearly two decades after it closed, the South Carolina State Hospital continues to hold a palpable mystique in Columbia and throughout the state. Founded in 1821 as the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, it housed, fed and treated thousands of patients incapable of surviving on their own. The patient population in 1961 eclipsed 6,600, well above its listed capacity of 4,823, despite an operating budget that ranked forty-fifth out of the forty-eight states with such large public hospitals. By the mid-1990s, the patient population had fallen under 700, and the hospital had become a symbol of captivity, horror and chaos. Author William Buchheit details this history through the words and interviews of those who worked on the iconic campus.

Beneath the many trees and leaves of South Carolina are places yet to be seen by passing visitors and locals. South Carolina was once home to pivotal battles, rebels, and textile mills. Thanks to cotton plantations and mills, South Carolina thrived. Buildings with histories that were once key to the health and function of the state are now lost to time and Earth's foliage. With growing cities and towns, South Carolina leaves its history ever so slowly. As people turn a blind eye to these homes, hospitals, and factories, they build new ones that stand by the old. Remnants of time await their end. In Abandoned South Carolina: Forgotten Upstate, explore the state sanitarium that served as a tuberculosis hospital, textile mills that stand to rot, rich family homes now filled with spirits of a sad past, and even a missile plant now home to local wildlife. As the people of this state move forward, we must look to the past and learn from it to better our future.

The first history of the efforts and fates of white Republicans during Reconstruction South Carolina Scalawags tells the familiar story of Reconstruction from a mostly unfamiliar vantage point, that of white southerners who broke ranks and supported the newly recognized rights and freedoms of their black neighbors. The end of the Civil War turned South Carolina's political hierarchy upside down by calling into existence what had not existed before, a South Carolina Republican Party, and putting its members at the helm of state government from 1868 to 1876. Composed primarily of former slaves, the burgeoning party also attracted the membership of newly arrived northern "carpetbaggers" and of white South Carolinians who had lived in the state prior to secession. Known as "scalawags," these South Carolinians numbered as many as ten thousand—fifteen percent of the state's white population—but have remained a maligned and largely misunderstood component of post-Civil War politics. In this first book-length exploration of their egalitarian objectives and short-lived ambitions, Hyman Rubin III resurrects the lives and careers of these individuals who took a leading role during Reconstruction. South Carolina Scalawags delves into the lives of representative white Republicans, exploring their backgrounds, political attitudes and actions, and post-Reconstruction fates. The Republicans succeeded in creating a much more representative and responsive government than the state had seen before or would see for generations. During its heyday the party began to attract wealthier white citizens, many of whom were moderates favoring cooperation between open-minded Democrats and responsible Republicans. In assessing the eventual Republican collapse, Rubin does not gloss over disturbing trends toward factionalism and corruption that increasingly characterized the party's governance. Rather he points to these failings in explaining the federal government's abandonment of the party in 1876 and the Democrats' reassertion of white supremacy.

Abbott's book deals with the Freedmen's Bureau, the agency that faced the main challenge of defining the meaning of freedom for four million slaves after the Civil War. He records the difficulties that resulted from the urgency of the needs the bureau sought to remedy and the issue of whether the bureau may have used its position to further the cause of Radical Republicanism. Originally published 1967. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

With nearly 2,000 entries and 520 illustrations, this comprehensive reference surveys the history and culture of the Palmetto State from A to Z, mountains to coast, and prehistory to the present.

Abandoned North Carolina: Mouth of the Holler takes you on an introspective look at North Carolina's past and abandoned architecture with angsty mystery, fulfilling fear and unbridled truth through the eyes and words of the author and photographer, Christina Cole. North Carolina is a state that has progressively worked to shake the old South mentality against a modern backdrop. Yet, the haunting and brash facts lie in a legacy of crumbling walls and barely standing skeletons. Hoodoo and Satanism alike writhe in its belly like Culebra masked only by superstition. Enslavement and suppression were its stronghold from 8,000 B.C. and now again in the present day. While attempts to thwart and rise above the past play out, the one thing that remains true is the bones of the structures that held them. Guiltless, blameless wood, frame, metal, brick, or stone tell the tales of long ago, with pictures for some being the only proof of their existence.

In "Abandoned America: Dismantling the Dream", internationally acclaimed photographer Matthew Christopher continues his examination of the ruins dotting American cities as quiet catastrophes that have affected not only the nation's past but also its present and future.--Matthew Christopher