This is a book of regional history, humor, and folklore, full of the picturesque color of everyday life as it was lived in a remote area of the country early in the 20th century. Hal Roth spent years in a country store, listening to and recording the tall tales and hard truths of a fast-fading rural culture on Maryland's Eastern Shore, which lies between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

From a former Maryland attorney comes the true crime story of accused murderer Orphan Jones—a case mired in the racism and politics of 1930s America.
 
Euel Lee, alias Orphan Jones, was an African American accused of murdering his white employer and family over a single dollar. The tumultuous events and cast of characters surrounding the racially charged crime garnered national media attention and changed the course of...

"African Americans, both enslaved and free, were vital to the economy of the Eastern Shore of Maryland before the Civil War. Maryland became a slave society in colonial days when tobacco ruled. Some enslaved people, like Anthony Johnson, earned their freedom and became successful farmers. After the Revolutionary War, others were freed by masters disturbed by the contradiction between liberty and slavery. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman ran from...

Presents a sound portrait of Maryland's Eastern Shore. Includes interviews with Eastern Shore personalities, with historical and live recordings of music.

"An account of the African American struggle for equality of political and civil rights from the end of the Civil War to World War I. Although that struggle failed by the early twentieth century, a number of individuals managed to prosper and determinedly lead the struggle."--Provided by publisher.