Several new titles just added to “What’s New in the North Carolina Collection?” To see the full list simply click on the link in this entry or click on the “What’s New in the North Carolina Collection?” link under the heading “Pages” in the right column. As always, full citations for all the new titles can be found in the University Library Catalog and they are all available for use in the North Carolina Collection Reading Room.
Alison Barnett
Check Out What’s New to the Collection
Take a moment and get acquainted with over 300 of the newest additions to the North Carolina Collection now listed on our “What’s New in the North Carolina Collection?” page. From politics (Christensen, Rob. The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics: The Personalities, Elections, and Events That Shaped Modern North Carolina) to mystery (Lamb, Amanda. Deadly Dose: The Untold Story of a Homicide Investigator’s Crusade for Truth and Justice) to baking (McDermott, Nancie, and Becky Luigart-Stayner. Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations) and of course UNC basketball (Miller, Wes, and Adam Lucas. The Road to Blue Heaven: An Insider’s Diary of North Carolina’s 2007 Basketball Season), these titles cover it all. To see the full list simply click on the link in this entry or click on the “What’s New in the North Carolina Collection?” link under the heading “Pages” in the right column. As always, full citations for all the new titles can be found in the University Library Catalog and they are all available for use in the North Carolina Collection Reading Room.
Is A Yam Really A Yam?
During a time of much debating in our country, here is one that hits close to home: sweet potato vs. yam…what’s really on your Thanksgiving table?
“A yam is a yam is a yam. Unless it is a sweet potato” points out Andrea Weigl in her October 15th News and Observer article, “Sweet Potato Lie“.
So just what is the difference between these southern favorites? Hailing from the largest sweet potato producing state in the nation, most of us North Carolinians are familiar with both the pale yellow-skinned and the darker orange-skinned sweet potatoes. It is the orange-skinned sweet potato that we southerners traditionally and mistakenly call a yam. The true yam is found in tropical climates like those of the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. Unlike the sweet potato, a yam’s skin has a black or brown color resembling tree bark. The yam is also sweeter than the sweet potato.
So who can we thank for this mistaken identity? Weigl suggests that Americans picked up this habit from African slaves using the African word nyami when describing the sweet potato. Others place blame on the need for differentiation between the two sweet potato types once the orange-skinned sweet potato was introduced to America in the mid 20th century.
To find more information on North Carolina’s state vegetable, the sweet potato, try the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission, the Yambassador (see above), or the annual Yam Festival in Tabor City, which started on October 23rd (don’t worry…you haven’t missed the parade—it’s on October 25th). For sweet potato recipes check out the North Carolina Collection’s array of cook books including the Sweet potato recipe book: Sixth Annual Carolinas Yam Festival.
“Who Has Not Heard Of Shocco Jones?”
I am sure Joseph Seawell Jones, a.k.a. “Shocco,” would be astounded at the numerous negative answers to the question posed above. For those of us “so far behind in the spirit of the age-the march of mind-the progress of science…,” never fear. The author “through sheer compassion for [our] ignorance” provides us with a description of Shocco’s campaign through Mississippi in The Mammoth Humbug: Or, The Adventures of Shocco Jones In Mississippi, In The Summer of 1839. It is here that Jones recaps the story of this “historian of North Carolina-the chivalrous defender of southern honor” and his dealings in Mississippi after fleeing from the law for dueling with Mr. H. Wright Wilson of New York.
For a more unbiased look at this infamous hoaxer try Edwin Arthur Miles’s article “Joseph Seawell Jones of Shocco- historian and humbug” in the North Carolina Historical Review. There is also a chapter on Joseph Seawell Jones in Dr. H.G. Jones’s Scoundrels, Rogues and Heroes of the Old North State.
Check Out What’s New to the Collection
At long last over 200 titles of the newest additions to the North Carolina Collection are now listed on our “What’s New in the North Carolina Collection?” page. Make sure to peruse the list for 10 new titles of poetry, 23 new autobiographies and bibliographies, over 40 new works of fiction and much more. So if you are looking for a great recipe to wow your friends at your next barbecue (Dan Huntley, Lisa Grace Lednicer, and Layne Bailey: Extreme Barbeque: Smokin’ Rigs and Real Good Recipes), trying to decide where to take the family for the weekend (Jim Hoffman: Fun with the Family North Carolina: Hundreds of Ideas for Day Trips with the Kids) or the dog (Karen Chavez: Best Hikes with Dogs), or just looking to catch up on your North Carolina photographic history (Kevin Adams: North Carolina Then and Now), then this is one list you’ll want to check out. To see the full list simply click on the link in this entry or click on the “What’s New in the North Carolina Collection?” link under the heading “Pages” in the right column. As always, full citations for all the new titles can be found in the University Library Catalog and they are all available for use in the North Carolina Collection Reading Room.