Olivia Paschal

Archives Editor

Olivia Paschal is the archives editor with Facing South and a doctoral student in history at the University of Virginia. She was a staff reporter with Facing South for two years and spearheaded Poultry and Pandemic, Facing South's year-long investigation into conditions for Southern poultry workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her reporting has appeared in The Atlantic, the Huffington Post, Southerly, Scalawag, the Arkansas Times, and Civil Eats, among other publications. Olivia holds a bachelor's degree in history from Yale University.

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Articles by Olivia

Politics

Election re-do in Georgia county shows voting challenges in rural communities

By Olivia Paschal

November 8, 2019 - Mildred Russell, an 89-year-old African-American woman, wasn't allowed to vote in a special election held earlier this year in Webster County, Georgia. It ended in a tie that her vote would have broken — so officials had to do the election over again this week.

An Appalachian hospital merger exposes tension over rural health care access

By Olivia Paschal

October 23, 2019 - Officials in Tennessee and Virginia allowed a hospital monopoly to form on the borders of their states, promising that any negative effects would be counteracted by state regulation. But is that realistic?

State preemption laws complicate Southern cities' affordable housing efforts

By Olivia Paschal

October 17, 2019 - At a recent affordable housing summit in North Carolina, local officials discussed how to prevent displacement and gentrification despite being hamstrung by conservative state governments.

Arkansas' Phillips County remembers the racial massacre America forgot

By Olivia Paschal

October 4, 2019 - The recent commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the bloody Elaine Massacre sought to correct the historical record and start hard conversations, while the community wrestles with the ongoing legacies of racial trauma and injustice.

Politics

Black Southern mayors issue endorsement 'roadmap' to presidential hopefuls

By Olivia Paschal

September 20, 2019 - Big-city leaders in the early primary states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina have told presidential candidates that it will take the promise of funding focused on racial justice and equitable housing, climate, and infrastructure policies to win their support.

Politics

Meet the Southern donors who have already maxed out for Trump in 2020

By Olivia Paschal

September 16, 2019 - A Facing South analysis of federal election data shows that nearly 500 residents of Southern states have already contributed as much as they're legally allowed to Trump's re-election campaign. Among them are major players in the oil and gas and private prison industries.

The NOAA officials defending Trump's bogus Hurricane Dorian Alabama claim

By Olivia Paschal

September 9, 2019 - Neil Jacobs, the federal agency's acting head, was reportedly one of the people behind its controversial statement that attempted to lend credibility to the president's incorrect claim that the storm would impact Alabama. He was assisted by Julie Kay Roberts, the NOAA chief of staff and communications director who previously worked for the Trump campaign.

Olivia Paschal

Archives Editor

Articles by Olivia

Election re-do in Georgia county shows voting challenges in rural communities

An Appalachian hospital merger exposes tension over rural health care access

State preemption laws complicate Southern cities' affordable housing efforts

Arkansas' Phillips County remembers the racial massacre America forgot

Black Southern mayors issue endorsement 'roadmap' to presidential hopefuls

Meet the Southern donors who have already maxed out for Trump in 2020

The NOAA officials defending Trump's bogus Hurricane Dorian Alabama claim

We are building a better South.