Sequoyah in the Southern Quote
He was born somewhere around 1776 in an Indian village in Tennessee. His mother was the daughter of a Cherokee Chief, his father a Virginia fur trader who abandoned them before he was born. He grew up, married a Cherokee woman, and started a family, working as a silversmith to support them before becoming one of a number of Cherokees to fight under General Andrew
Jerry Rice in the Southern Quote
He was born on October 13, 1962 in Starkville, Mississippi. They say he developed his hands while working for his father, who was a brick mason. He became a standout receiver at Mississippi Valley State University from 1980-1984. He acquired the nickname “World” because they said there wasn’t a ball in the world he couldn’t catch. His college career featured many record-setting performances and his small
Governor Michael Dale Huckabee in the Southern Quote
He was born August 24, 1955 in Hope, Arkansas to conservative Southern Democratic parents. He cites his working-class upbringing as the reason for his own populist conservative political views. He began playing guitar at age 11, preached his first sermon as a teenager and got his first job at a radio station when he was 14. In what would become an omen of sorts, his chapter
Lady Bird Johnson in the Southern Quote
She was born Claudia Alta Taylor on December 22, 1912 in Karnack, Texas. She died at the ripe old age of 94 on July 11, 2007 and is buried in the family cemetery in Stonewall, Texas. Her father was a sharecropper’s son who became a wealthy businessman and owner of 15,000 acres of cotton and two general stores. Her mother was an opera lover who
Willard Herman Scott in the Southern Quote
He was born on March 7, 1934 in Alexandria, Virginia. Among his many jobs were actor, author, media personality, clown and comedian. Although best-known for his work on “The Today Show,” many people are surprised to discover that he was also the creator and original portrayer of Ronald McDonald. After showing an interest in broadcast as a 16-year-old he worked in 1950 in Washington, D.C. He
Ferrol Aubrey Sams, Jr. in the Southern Quote
He was born September 26, 1922 in Fayette County, Georgia. He graduated from Mercer University in Macon in 1942 and attended Emory University School of Medicine for two quarters before joining the U.S. Army Medical Corps. After seeing action in France he returned home to complete his medical studies, receiving his M.D. in 1949. In addition to practicing medicine with his physician wife Helen, our featured
The Joke’s on Who?
Scarcely a day goes by that I don’t run across an article by someone with an ax to grind against southerners and that’s no exaggeration. Due to the nature of my work here I feel a certain responsibility to keep to top of these sorts of stories for y’all so I have set up some Google alerts to bring them to my attention. Frankly, it
Loretta Lynn in the Southern Quote
She was born in Kentucky April 14, 1935, the second of Clara and Ted Webb’s eight children. This child of the depression was fourteen years old when a handsome 21 year old came home from serving his country and stole her heart. Ten years and four children later, the young Kentucky mother who had always loved to sing had taught herself to play the guitar
The Grand Old Opry and Mark Chestnutt
I’ll always remember going to the Grand Old Opry as a child. It was the highlight of one of our family vacations and the focus of today’s Southern Quote. The GRAND OLD OPRY was born in 1925 when one of radio's pioneer announcers, George D. Hay, who proclaimed himself "The Solemn Old Judge" at the ripe age of 30, launched the WSM Barn Dance in
Marques Haynes
He was born into a poor family living in Sand Springs, Oklahoma in 1926, or 1923. Not even Marques knows his true age. He’ll say only that he put himself on hold and he’s been on hold for a long time. Marques fell in love with the game of basketball at a young age, learning to dribble in the dirt and by bouncing tennis ball