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Sharing the Soul of the South One Person at a Time
The stories in Our Southern Souls are all unique, just like the people who shared them. Some are humorous. Several are utterly gut-wrenching. Still more are inspiring, and many connect us with history. Each story is a reminder of the broken and better sides of all of us and what humans overcome on a daily basis—just to live their lives
About Lynn Oldshue
Lynn Oldshue is the creator of Our Southern Souls and tells the stories of the people she meets across the south over the last six years. She is also a journalist for The Lagniappe newspaper and Alabama Public Radio. Lynn grew up in Yazoo City, Mississippi and fell in love with the Mobile, Alabama area, where she currently resides. In 2019, her series about domestic violence, “From Hell to Hope”, won first place in feature writing from the Alabama Press Association. “Sexual Slavery in South Alabama”, Lynn’s series on sex trafficking, won the Medical Association for the State of Alabama’s 2020 William H. Johnson Print Journalism Award. The series also won second place in feature writing for the Green Eyeshade Awards, which recognize excellence in journalism in the southeast. She was part of the APR team that won a national Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists for a documentary on the long-term impact of the BP oil spill. She has two boys and enjoys wandering, photography, and riding her horse.
About the Pledge Project
All proceeds from the sales of Our Southern Souls will be donated to the Our Southern Souls Pledge Project with United Way of Southwest Alabama. We started the Pledge Project two years ago intending to get kids off waiting lists of programs with United Way Partner Agencies and into the programs the help they need. We have raised $40,000 so far to get kids into mentoring services, early childhood education, mental health counseling and weekend meals. The Pledge Project also helped some families with rent and utility assistance. After covering stories on sex trafficking, domestic violence, poverty and interviews for Souls, I wanted to do something more to help ease vulnerabilities and give kids and families get the support they need. There are programs already doing this work in Mobile, but they have waiting lists for kids and families who need their help. Donations from the Pledge Project make it possible to help even more.