Stewards of History: Land and Time in the Story of a Southern Family

STEWARDS OF HISTORY DESCRIBES the impact of race, slavery, civil rights, and religion in one Southern family over five generations. The core figure of the book is General John Hartwell Cocke (1780-1866) a Virginia planter, antislavery advocate, and younger friend and contemporary of Thomas Jefferson. The book tells the story of the General’s life and family, his conversion to Christianity and his moral objections to slavery. On a solid business and practical foundation the General carried out an emancipation project that lasted for twenty years before the onset of the Civil War. With General Cocke’s story in the background, the second portion of the book examines civil-rights era Birmingham and the nonviolent movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King. It ponders the symbolism of Vulcan and the significance of the events in this industrial steel-making city to our ongoing industry of history.

The last section of the book provides an overview of the preceding chapters from a more philosophical standpoint, and suggests a paradigm or framework in which a moral act can be understood and evaluated. Stewards of History makes a strong plea for stewardship-for taking care of our land, our families, and our traditions - but, above all, for the stewardship of the soul. For this is the essence of our life, and of history.