Farmland enclosure subject of April 25 Usher Lecture Series event

TIFTON – The enclosure movement and its effect on Mississippi’s farmers will be the topic for the next installment of the Jess Usher Lecture Series at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College on April 25.

Dr. John Cable, an assistant professor of History in ABAC’s School of Arts & Sciences, will be giving the lecture.

In the mid-20th century, mechanization and consolidation of cotton farming left no place for sharecroppers, tenants, and small landowners. To understand how and why southern elites and farm leaders displaced so many people in such a short time, the presentation will look at how settler invasion and Indian removal should inform today’s view of the so-called “southern enclosure movement.”

Cable recently launched a book on the subject, “Southern Enclosure: Settler Colonialism and the Postwar Transformation of Mississippi.” His book examines the mechanization and consolidation of cotton farming between World War II and the 1960s.

The lecture is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at ABAC’s Howard Auditorium. Each Usher Lecture Series event is free and open to the public.

The Jess Usher Lecture Series features a carefully curated slate of dynamic presentations, drawn from a wide range of disciplines and delivered by distinguished members of the ABAC faculty as well as distinguished guest lecturers. Formerly known as the ABAC Lecture Series, this special collection has been renamed in memory of Dr. Jess Usher, an ABAC professor and former lecturer in the series, who passed away in June 2021.