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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT
Prologue is WHQR's monthly book discussion, hosted by Ben Steelman of the Star News. Takes place on the second Monday of the month, at 7pm. Prologue is currently hosted via Zoom Webinar.

Prologue: "The Rise and Fall of the Branchhead Boys" by Rob Christensen, December 9th

PROLOGUE STARTS AT NOON

Monday, December 9th

The MC Erny Gallery

On Monday, December 9th, at noon in the MC Erny Gallery, host Ben Steelman of The Star News will sit down with author Rob Christensen to discuss his latest book, "The Rise and Fall of the Branchhead Boys." 

ABOUT THE BOOK: 

Louisiana had the Longs, Virginia had the Byrds, Georgia had the Talmadges, and North Carolina had the Scotts. In this history of North Carolina's most influential political family, Rob Christensen tells the story of the Scotts and how they dominated Tar Heel politics. Three generations of Scotts--W. Kerr Scott, Robert Scott, and Meg Scott Phipps--held statewide office. Despite stereotypes about rural white southerners, the Scotts led a populist and progressive movement strongly supported by rural North Carolinians--the so-called Branchhead Boys, the rural grassroots voters who lived at the heads of tributaries throughout the heart of North Carolina. Though the Scotts held power in various government positions in North Carolina for generations, they were instrumental in their own downfall. From Kerr Scott's regression into reactionary race politics to Meg Scott Phipps's corruption trial and subsequent prison sentence, the Scott family lost favor in their home state, their influence dimmed and their legacy in question.

Weaving together interviews from dozens of political luminaries and deep archival research, Christensen offers an engaging and definitive historical account of not only the Scott family's legacy but also how race and populism informed North Carolina politics during the twentieth century.

Mary Bradley moved to Wilmington from Los Angeles, CA in May 2007 with her husband Frank and twin baby daughters, Maggie and Kate. In California, Mary had been Drive Director and the producer of Elvis Mitchell's nationally syndicated public radio interview program "The Treatment" for public radio station KCRW for ten years. Mary was raised in Rhode Island and graduated from Boston University. Mary recently served as President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Cape Fear Chapter.