Closed Seasons - by Julia Brock

About the Book

"In a unique and personal exploration of the game and fish laws in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi from the Progressive Era to the 1930s, Julia Brock offers an innovative history of hunting in the New South. The implementation of conservation laws made significant strides in protecting endangered wildlife species, but it also disrupted traditional hunting practices and livelihoods, particularly among African Americans and poor whites. Closed Seasons highlights how hunting and fishing regulations were relatively rare in the nineteenth century, but the emerging conservation movement and the rise of a regional 'sportsman' identity at the turn of the twentieth century eventually led to the adoption of state-level laws. Once passed, however, these laws, were plagued by obstacles, including insufficient funding and enforcement. Brock traces the dizzying array of factors--propaganda, racial tensions, organizational activism, and federal involvement--that led to effective game and fish laws in the South"--

Book Synopsis

In a unique and personal exploration of the game and fish laws in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi from the Progressive Era to the 1930s, Julia Brock offers an innovative history of hunting in the New South. The implementation of conservation laws made significant strides in protecting endangered wildlife species, but it also disrupted traditional hunting practices and livelihoods, particularly among African Americans and poor whites.

Closed Seasons highlights how hunting and fishing regulations were relatively rare in the nineteenth century, but the emerging conservation movement and the rise of a regional "sportsman" identity at the turn of the twentieth century eventually led to the adoption of state-level laws. Once passed, however, these laws, were plagued by obstacles, including insufficient funding and enforcement. Brock traces the dizzying array of factors--propaganda, racial tensions, organizational activism, and federal involvement--that led to effective game and fish laws in the South.

Review Quotes

"Through her innovative use of case studies . . . Brock provides a nuanced account of state-level policies and their impacts on local communities, including women and landless African Americans. A valuable contribution to the field, Closed Seasons showcases the correlation between Progressive and New Deal Era ideology and their lasting influence on conservation policy and land use in the Deep South."--H-Environment

"Game laws, like environmental laws, have served as tethers between the natural world and the political arena, and as with all matters political, power and access have held sway. Only by understanding the history of hunting and the politics that shaped it, Brock suggests, can we come to 'an open season to reimagine the field.'"--Garden & Gun

"This book will be the go-to history on the rise of modern hunting in the South and the laws that shaped it."--Albert Way, Kennesaw State University

About the Author

Julia Brock is assistant professor of history at the University of Alabama.