A Review of Some Recent Studies of Southern Culture

Excerpts: In this review of five monographs an attempt has been made to summarize findings and methods briefly and to offer some suggestions and appraisals. The authors have been quoted freely, but the brevity of the descriptions do not do justice to the monographs. Since these monographs fall in the fields of history, anthropology, psychology, and geography, and since I certainly cannot aspire to be an expert in all of these disciplines, even these brief treatments may be considered superficial. But if this paper indicates a new trend in research and if it inspires people to read these monographs and to pursue further the intriguing problems with which they grapple, it will have served a useful purpose. --- I. Shryock's Studies of British and German Heritages in Southern Agriculture --- II. Kollmorgen’s Studies of Cultural Islands --- III. Shea's Study of the Cultural and Psychological "Roots of Man-Caused Forest Fires". All of the writings reviewed emphasize the cultural aspects of the agricultural problems of the South. Those of Shryock and Kollmorgen compare ethnic groups—Germans and nonGermans. Shea describes nonGermans in the forests without comparing them with Germans. That German silviculture and agriculture is very different from that practiced by nonGerman groups in this country cannot be doubted. Why these differences exist has not been adequately explained. The extent to which these differences are perpetuated in America needs further study.