An Introduction to the Institute
Since our founding in 1970 by veterans of the civil rights movement, the Institute for Southern Studies has established a national reputation as an essential resource for grassroots activists, community leaders, scholars, policy makers and others working to bring lasting social and economic change to the region.
The Institute draws attention to the national importance of the South and offers an exciting vision of the region-a place brimming with a capacity for progressive change that challenges its reputation as a monolithic, conservative stronghold.
Throughout our history, the Institute has maintained a strong commitment to developing research and publication projects that directly support grassroots organizing, especially efforts for corporate and government accountability. It has also led the Institute to be involved in the launching of such organizations as the Brown Lung Association, Southerners for Economic justice, the Georgia Power Project, and the Gulf Tenants Leadership Development Project. The Institute has also examined the southern contribution to culture and social change, from gospel music and the blues to the civil rights movement and community organizing.
Since 1973, the Institute's journal, Southern Exposure, has gained critical praise for its thorough investigations, unsentimental portraits of Southern life, and resources for change. From our first issue on the military in the South through our special book-length issue on the Klan, economic development, the nuclear industry, and regional theater, the magazine has remained in high demand among organizers and trainers. Many back issues are now considered standard resource for classrooms and workshops, and issues on the civil rights movement, Native Americans, prisons, folk life, schools, and the poultry industry are out of print.
Over 30 years later, the Institute retains our unique place in the movement to build a better South. The Institute now hosts several research and education programs; is home to several sponsored projects; and continues to publish Southern Exposure.
Combining information power with people power, another South is possible!
