Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
The Salem Museum will host author Phillip Gibbs on Saturday, May 2, at 2 p.m. for a discussion of his latest book, “Sex, Liquor, and Lawlessness in Early Roanoke.”
The event is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the museum.
Gibbs, author of “Murder and Mountain Justice in the Moonshine Capital of the World,” explores the darker side of Roanoke’s late 19th-century history in his new work. As a rapidly growing railroad hub of the New South, the city attracted a diverse workforce, as well as merchants and investors. It also developed a reputation for vice, including brothels, saloons and gambling establishments that persisted during its early decades.
The book examines the city’s criminal underworld and the efforts of civic leaders and law enforcement to reshape its image.
Gibbs is professor emeritus of history at Middle Georgia State University. A Virginia native, he has lived and taught in Georgia and the United Kingdom since 1987. In addition to his regional history works, he is the author of “Wicked Macon: Sinners & Saints in the Heart of Georgia.” His next book, “One Deadly Time in the Old Dominion: The Murder Investigations of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency,” is scheduled for release this fall. He lives in Perry.
The Salem Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission and parking are free, and donations are accepted. The museum is located in the historic Williams-Brown House at 801 E. Main St. The entrance is at the Oakey Field Complex sign across Main Street from the Berglund Ford service entrance.
For more information, call 540-389-6760 or visit SalemMuseum.org.
