(University Press of Kentucky) Wertheimer analyzes eight North Carolina court cases from the 1830s through the 1980s to explore the complex interweaving of law and social life in the South. Moving from the Old South Jim Crow era through both world wars to the Civil Rights movement and its aftermath, the author discusses controversial cases on issues ranging from marriage rights and racial injustice to the prohibition of alcohol. Wertheimer is professor of history at Davidson College.