Southern Exposure was an award-winning print journal published by the Institute for Southern Studies, publisher of Facing South, from 1973 until 2011. Southern Exposure earned a national reputation for its writing on a broad range of political and cultural issues in the South, with a special emphasis on investigative journalism and oral history.

On the 50th anniversary of Southern Exposure’s birth, Facing South and the Institute will be publishing a full digital archive of the journal over the course of the year. The initial installment of the archives available in March 2023 includes issues from the magazine’s launch in 1973 through 1981.

Vol. 27 No. 3 - Fall 1999
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Magazine cover with black and white photo of male miner in hard hat with dirty face, text reads "Digging for the Truth"

Digging for the Truth

  • From the Editor

    2

  • Around the Institute

    4

  • Southern News Roundup

    5

  • Followup: Will SOA Rest in Peace?

    By Chris Kromm

    11

  • The Greek Divide

    Fraternities and sororities remain bastions of segregation. Will it end? Should it? By Diane Roberts

    12

  • Photo Essay: Forty-five Years after Brown

    A camera sees separation in the "yet to be United States of America." By Alan Wieder

    16

  • From Selma to Sorrow

    The unknown story of the only white woman honored on the Civil Rights Memorial. By Mary Stanton

    22

  • The Cry Was Unity

    The Klan's murder of five activists in Greensboro on November 3, 1979, marked a turning point in the struggle against racism. By Anne Braden

    27

  • Dust, Deception and Death

    Despite laws on the books, black lung still claims thousands of miners' lives. By Gardner Harris, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky)

    34

  • Mystery Illnesses

    Hundreds of people living near federal nuclear weapons facilities are suffering from health problems. Why didn't the government investigate? By Laura Frank, Susan Thomas & Robert Serborne, The Tennessean

    40

  • Mining the Mountains

    Strip mining and mountaintop removal are pitting communities against King Coal. By Ken Ward, Jr., Charleston Gazette/Sunday Gazette-Mail (West Virginia)

    45

  • At 11, Littlest Shooter had a Life of Guns

    One town's story in the tide of school violence. By Jim Adams, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky)

    50

  • Fiction: Stand by Your Man

    By James Ladd Thomas

    58

  • Reviews

    64

  • Still the South: Snake Handling

    By Pat Arnow

    70
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