O. N. Pruitt's Possum Town: Photographing Trouble and Resilience in the American South

O.N. Pruitt's Possum Town captures the soul-and soullessness-of a Mississippi town in the first half of the 20th century. . . . With ethnographic rigor and the intimacy of a local, Pruitt's eye roves matter-of-factly between scenes of gilded refinement-the crafted splendor of privilege-and the gruesome violence that makes that privilege possible."-New York Times Book Review

On their own, Pruitt's evocative and deeply disturbing photographs make this a remarkable book, but it's Hudson's poignant writing and his personal connections to Pruitt, Columbus, and its people that make the book especially valuable."-Southern Spaces

"The images and texts cast a spell so potent that readers might be forgiven for feeling as if they had experienced 20th century Columbus, Mississippi for themselves."-photo-eye

Will appeal to historians of both the American South and of photography itself, to students of race relations, and to libraries and educational establishments interested in Southern studies."-Analog Forever

Three decades in the making . . . with nearly two hundred images that comprise the everyday, the frivolous, and the horrific . . . [O.N. Pruitt's Possum Town] includes Hudson's extensive research and interviews with Pruitt's subjects."-Garden & Gun

Although it could be referred to as a proverbial photo book, one thing should be definitively acknowledged: This is not a folksy coffee-table decoration with some cool snaps in it. Instead, it is a meticulously researched undertaking revealing answers, and even more questions, about the first half of 20th-century Americana in the second state to secede from the Union."-Visual Communication Quarterly

While this particular 'photographic enterprise' shows but a small piece of the
world, it is an important piece for US citizens, letting them know that, even at a difficult and dangerous time for many of their fellow citizens, grace and happiness was also within their reach."-Literary Journalism Studies

Offers a stunning and sometimes heart-wrenching photographic perspective."-North Carolina Historical Review

A tribute to the importance of photographic archives and the visual storytellers who create the images within them."-Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly