The Body in the Reservoir: Murder and Sensationalism in the South / Edition 1

by Michael Ayers Trotti

Overview

Centered on a series of dramatic murders in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Richmond, Virginia, The Body in the Reservoir uses these gripping stories of crime to explore the evolution of sensationalism in southern culture.

In Richmond, as across the nation, the embrace of modernity was accompanied by the prodigious growth of mass culture and its accelerating interest in lurid stories of crime and bloodshed. But while others have emphasized the importance of the penny press and yellow journalism on the shifting nature of the media and cultural responses to violence, Michael Trotti reveals a more gradual and nuanced story of change. In addition, Richmond's racial makeup (one-third to one-half of the population was African American) allows Trotti to challenge assumptions about how black and white media reported the sensational; the surprising discrepancies offer insight into just how differently these two communities experienced American justice.

An engaging look at the connections between culture and violence, this book gets to the heart—or perhaps the shadowy underbelly—of the sensational as the South became modern.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807858424
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	04/14/2008
Edition description:	1
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Michael Ayers Trotti is associate professor of history at Ithaca College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     vii
Introduction - Discovering the Body     1
The Origins of Virginia Crime Sensationalism     13
Sensational Crime Comes of Age: The Cluverius Case of 1885     43
The Disenchantment of Sensational Murder     79
African American Sensations: Jim Crow Justice and the Richmond Planet     111
Images of Murder: The Visual Revolution of the Halftone     145
The Public Suspense Is Over     181
Epilogue - Mass Culture's Search for Disorder     207
Notes     217
Index     295

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A cultural history of sensationalized murder coverage in Richmond, Virginia, from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era, Michael Trotti's judicious study refines our understanding of American crime journalism and reveals some fascinating southern variations on national trends. The Body in the Reservoir also challenges a number of facile assumptions about violence, race, gender, and popular culture in the New South. Don't think you know 'who dunnit'—or who covered it—or why—until you've read this book.—Daniel A. Cohen, Case Western Reserve University



Accessibly and often compellingly written and will appeal to academic and popular audiences. . . . Will be required reading for students of the history of southern journalism, crime, and American print culture.—American Historical Review



Contributes original insights.—Journal of American History

Editorial Reviews

Fascinating. . . . An engaging, rich, and imaginative work and a valuable contribution to the study of American history.—Journal of Southern History

From the Publisher