Resource Guide
Multnomah County Library My Discovery Pass Reading List: FAT HAM
Enjoy a thoughtfully curated list of readings to complement your Fat Ham experience!
Learn MorePortland Center Stage and Portland Playhouse Team up To Serve FAT HAM
Portland Mercury's Joe Streckert discusses the co-production between Portland Center Stage and Portland Playhouse with PCS's Marissa Wolf and PPH's Producing Director (and Fat Ham Director) Charles Grant. Artwork by Harrison Freeman.
Learn MoreBehind the Curtain: Straight Up Shakespeare
PCS's Literary Manager, and Fat Ham Dramaturg, Kamilah Bush shares her insights into James Ijames' Fat Ham and how it relates to Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Learn MoreShakespeare Unlimited: Episode 207
James Ijames on Fat Ham
Learn MoreFat Ham(let): What to know about Hamlet (1599-1601) to understand Fat Ham (2021)
Dramaturg Amy Thone (Seattle Rep) discusses the similarities and differences between Shakespeare's Hamlet and Ijames' adaption, Fat Ham.
Learn MoreLaughing as an Act of Resistance: An Interview with James Ijames
Barbora Příhodová interviews James Ijames about his play, Youth, that premiered at Villanova Theatre, and his vision of theater in the contemporary political climate.
Learn MoreCast & Creative Team
Meet the cast and creative team for Fat Ham.
Learn MoreSources & Further Reading
James Ijames & Ham4Ham
- https://www.jamesijames.com/about-margot
- https://www.pewcenterarts.org/fellow/james-ijames
- https://www.headlands.org/artist/james-ijames/
- https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/james-ijames
- https://theatrephiladelphia.org/theatre-news/laughing-as-an-act-of-resistance-an-interview-with-james-ijames
- https://www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/fat-ham-james-ijames/
- https://www.seattlerep.org/about-us/inside-seattle-rep/fat-hamlet-what-to-know
Gaston County, NC
- https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/multnomahcountyoregon,gastoncountynorthcarolina/RHI325224
- https://www.gastonianc.gov/images/files/transportation_planning/documents/RCP/Highland_Neighborhood_Map.pdf
- https://history.textiles.ncsu.edu/textile-companies/loray-mills/
- https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2025/demo/p60-286.pdf
- https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NC#
- https://www.neilsberg.com/insights/north-carolina-median-household-income-by-race/
- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MHINC37071A052NCEN
- https://www.neilsberg.com/insights/gaston-county-nc-median-household-income-by-race/
- https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/multnomahcountyoregon/PST045224
- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS
- https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/
- https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/nc/gastonia/
- https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/or/portland/
- https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-unemployment-rate.htm
- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NCURN
- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ORMULT1URN
- https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/historic-preservation-office/survey-and-national-register/surveyreports/GastonCountyAfricanAmericanResourcesSurvey-2000.pdf
- https://highlandrising.wordpress.com/page/5/
- https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/census/congregational-membership?y=2020&y2=0&t=0&c=37071
- https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/state/north-carolina/
- https://www.churchadvise.com/directory/NC/Gastonia
- https://www.gastongazette.com/story/opinion/2023/03/15/gastonia-has-plenty-of-churches-but-lack-heart-for-the-homeless/70000517007/
Crime & Punishment
- https://www.ncpedia.org/central-prison
- https://www.ncdps.gov/death-custody-reporting
- https://www.governing.com/management-and-administration/deaths-decline-in-n-c-jails-but-remain-historically-high
- https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/central-prison/
- https://www.dac.nc.gov/central-prison
- https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/12/22/central-prison-h-66
- https://www.dac.nc.gov/fy-2021-2022-annual-statistical-reports/open
- https://www.sentencingproject.org/research/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=11369514860&gbraid=0AAAAACMYpodDquGg5c0LDa0dQsfQzwMnp&gclid=CjwKCAjwg_nNBhAGEiwAiYPYA0NEkWrnysK08GS0iYT89aXcvaxicZVLJkspmxbu8xV0wA_Fgr0g4BoClR4QAvD_BwE
- https://csgsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/North-Carolina-Criminal-Justice-Data-Snapshot.pdf
- https://www.prisonpro.com/content/gaston-correctional-center
- https://www.dac.nc.gov/divisions-and-sections/institutions/prison-facilities/gaston-correctional-center
- https://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/data/prisons2020/NC/
- https://www.nconemap.gov/datasets/nconemap::correctional-institutions/about
- https://ncsecondchance.org/about/
- https://ncsecondchance.org/about/
- https://www.dac.nc.gov/divisions-and-sections/division-institutions
- https://trends.vera.org/state/NC
- https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-people-are-in-prisons-in-the-us/state/north-carolina/
- https://vera-institute.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/pdfdownloads/state-incarceration-trends-north-carolina.pdf
- https://www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/NC.html
Marine Service
- https://www.marines.com/life-as-a-marine/life-in-the-marine-corps/preparing-for-operating-forces.html
- https://www.federalpay.org/military/marine-corps/ranks
- https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/pay-salary/marine-active-duty-pay
- https://download.militaryonesource.mil/12038/MOS/Infographic/2023-demographics-active-duty-marine-corps-members.pdf
BBQ
- https://www.wxii12.com/article/north-carolina-barbecue-bbq-war-eastern-western-style/41736559
- https://southinblackandwhite.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/holy_smoke_the_big_book_of_north_carolina_barbecue_-_the_lore.pdf
- https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/6037-Which-Side-of-the-North-Carolina-Barbecue-Battle-Are-You-On
- https://www.ourstate.com/nc-barbecue-styles/
- https://woodys.com/heavenly-heritage-the-rich-and-smoky-history-of-north-carolina-bbq/
- https://www.beasleyssmokehouserub.com/post/the-evolution-of-carolina-style-bbq-exploring-the-origins-regional-variations-and-signature-sauce?srsltid=AfmBOoqC8XCbjhv7-KQ0n2U3BJIwEu7slQmqb3xfThntft_WW5se672B
- https://www.elonnewsnetwork.com/article/2013/11/the-bbq-state-unique-origins-of-barbecue-define-north-carolina-history-culture
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/travel/north-carolina-barbecue.html
- https://www.thepauperedchef.com/article/north-carolina-barbecue-a-tale-of-vinegar-hush-puppies-and-the-whole-hog
- https://medium.com/@Ameera.Henry/roots-culture-the-black-history-of-barbeque-fb451404f0df
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/dining/black-smoke-book.html
- https://www.southernfoodways.org/
- https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/how-black-people-shaped-barbecue#
- https://barbecuebible.com/2021/06/08/black-smoke-african-americans-and-the-history-of-the-united-states-of-barbecue/
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/23412910?read-now=1&seq=4#page_scan_tab_contents
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/dining/high-on-the-hog-netflix.html
- https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/from-barbycu-to-barbecue-book/
- https://www.cindersbarbecues.co.uk/cinders/who-invented-the-bbq-the-history-of-barbecues/
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-evolution-of-american-barbecue-13770775/
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