Rituals, Runaways and the Haitian Revolution by Crystal Nicole Eddins

profiles embraced and courted representatives of Borden, Kraft, and Pet Milk. Marcus’ history would benefit from explaining how and why Mississippi’s dairy boosterism conflicted or intersected with the broader histories of political oppression and economic exclusion in the interwar period. Were Black tenant farmers who enjoyed greater economic prosperity by selling milk to Borden more likely to challenge political exclusion? Did dairy-rich Oktibbeha County send more or fewer migrants to northern cities during this period? Did the perspective of Black civic leaders, including African-American county agents, use the same language as white civic leaders to describe the promise of a rural Mississippi dotted with small-town dairies? Moreover, by positioning his history relative to social histories of the state, Marcus might have offered a better explanation of the power, and limits, of the shifting dairy economy on the states’ economic and political life. The book’s conclusion suggests that focusing on small-town southern boosters might help to recast northern-centric narratives of corporate relocation and deindustrialization. Further consideration about whether Starkville’s story inspired both southern small-town leaders and northern capitalists seeking to match Borden’s success in the subsequent decades would have helped Marcus to underscore the broader significance of this intriguing and understudied chapter in southern economic history.