Department of History

Turrini, an assistant professor of history at Auburn, will use the fellowship to work on a project titled "The Dash for Cash: American Track Athletes and the Creation of Professional Track and Field." He is the author of several scholarly articles on labor history and the history of track and field. His works include a brief biography of Ken Doherty, published in Michigan History Magazine. Turrini earned his doctorate at Wayne State University. His dissertation was a social and economic history of American track and field from 1820 to 2000.

The Doherty Fellowship will help defray the fellow's travel costs to and from Los Angeles to use the National Track & Field Research Collection at the Amateur Athletic Foundation Sports Library. The fellowship includes workspace at the foundation, reference assistance, access to commercial databases and the Internet, and full use of the National Track & Field Research Collection and related library collections.

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November 15, 2005:

DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR DAVID LEWIS PUBLISHES NEW BIOGRAPHY OF EDDIE RICKENBACKER

W. David Lewis's new biography, Eddie Rickenbacker: An American Hero in the Twentieth Century, appeared today from Johns Hopkins University Press. Lewis, Distinguished University Professor, will read from the book on Wednesday, December 7 at 4 p.m. in the Special Collections and Archives Department, located on the ground floor of the Draughon Library. To read a December 5 Auburn press release on the biography, click here.

W. David Lewis, author of a new biography of Eddie Rickenbacker

The following description and review blurbs appear on the Press's web page for the book:

Eddie Rickenbacker epitomized the American spirit in the twentieth century. Daring, skilled, and rugged—moving fast and defying death—he drove race cars in the early days of the automobile, then flew canvas-over-wooden-frame aeroplanes over France in the Great War, downing twenty-six enemy flyers and emerging at war's end as the nation's ace of aces. Only Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing and the much-decorated Sgt. Alvin York emerged from that struggle equally applauded as American heroes.

Failing as an automobile maker after the war, Rickenbacker returned to aviation, joined Eastern Airlines in 1934, and quickly reached the top of the corporate ladder. With the start of World War II, he took on special missions to theaters of combat, surviving twenty-one days adrift on a small rubber raft after his plane became lost at sea. But the seemingly indestructible Eddie did not thrive well under the new competitive conditions in the postwar airline industry. Despite having built Eastern into a major carrier, he departed the company under pressure in 1963.

W. David Lewis's biography of Rickenbacker reveals both the achievements and the vulnerability of this quintessential American hero. Rickenbacker embodied what was new, exciting, and romantic about the country in the postwar years. His poignant story also sheds light on the ephemerality of American success and the fragility of celebrity.

Capturing Rickenbacker's life in rich and vivid detail, W. David Lewis has written the definitive biography of America's ace of aces.

Review Blurbs

"Chapter 17 takes you to the Pacific Ocean and sits you right next to Eddie Rickenbacker in a yellow raft. For the next twenty-four days without food or water, Eddie and a B-17 crew of seven will fight for their lives. This harrowing story of survival is the heart and sole of this masterpiece surely to place it on every best sellers list."
— Dan Clemons, Rickenbacker Collector and Historian

"A superb achievement by a master historian. Professor Lewis strips away the many myths that have grown up around Rickenbacker to reveal an even more fascinating flawed American hero."
— William M. Leary, E. Merton Coulter Professor of History, Emeritus, University of Georgia

"This long overdue and vitally needed biography of one of America's greatest heroes is brilliantly done. Only the superb research of author W. David Lewis, combined with his intricate knowledge of aviation history, could produce so superb a work. With equal and compassionate skill, he details both Rickenbacker's heroic qualities and his all too human flaws. This monumental work sets new standards for military biographies, and every library, every scholar, and most particularly, every aviation buff, should have a copy."
— Colonel Walter J. Boyne, former director of National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution

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November 2-5, 2005:

AUBURN SENDS LARGE DELEGATION TO 71ST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOUTHERN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION IN ATLANTA

Among the numerous Auburn History Department members, family, and friends attending the 2005 Southern Historical Association meeting in Atlanta, Georgia were Susan Abram, Stephen Barber, Donna Bohanan, Kathryn Braund, Tony Carey, Ruth Crocker, Anthony Donaldson, Wayne Flynt, Javan Frazier, Sara Frear, John Hardin, Ed Harrell, Christopher Haveman, Keith Hébert, Laura Hill, Tricia Hoskins, Mike Hultquist, Charles Israel, Katherine Israel, Jeff Jakeman, Angela Lakwete, David McRae, Sam McRae, Jen Murray, Steve Murray, Jennifer Newman, Ken Noe, Nancy Noe, Tim Pitts, and Rod Steward.

Susan Youngblood Ashmore, Scott Billingsley, Brooks Blevins, Jim Day, Glenn Feldman, Gordon Harvey, Michael Morris, Clif Stratton, Delane Tew, and Ben Wise were all spotted among the many Auburn alums in attendance at the meeting, as well as recent visiting professors Daryl Black and Matt Hild.

Two Auburn graduate students delivered papers on Thursday, November 3. In the morning session, Susan Abram spoke on the topic of "Revisiting the Horseshoe: A Reexamination of Cherokee Military Presence during the Creek War," part of the panel "New Perspectives on Southeastern Indians" which also featured 1993 Auburn Ph.D. Michael Morris. That afternoon, Sam McRae delivered a paper entitled "Fort Mims: Memory and Remembrance" at a Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society concurrent session.

Tricia Hoskins, Keith Hébert, Jennifer Newman, Ken Noe, and Nancy Noe attended the Society of Civil War Historians dinner early on Thursday evening.

Wayne Flynt, outgoing 2003-2004 president of the Southern Historical Association, presided over the general meeting of the Association on Thursday evening. Before turning the podium over to 2004-2005 president Charles Joyner, whose address examined "A Region in Harmony: Southern Music and the Soundtrack of Freedom," Distinguished University Professor Flynt offered eloquent eulogies for recently deceased southern historians Numan "Bud" Bartley, Tom Clark, LaWanda Cox, Dewey Grantham, and Frank Vandiver, all of whom either served the SHA as President or were asked to serve.

The staffs of several state encyclopedia projects met together for an informal breakfast meeting on Friday morning to discuss the status of their projects and compare notes. Those attending included representatives from Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina. The breakfast was hosted by Merrill-Hall New Media, technology developer for the New Georgia Encyclopedia and the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Alabama. Those involved with the Encyclopedia of Alabama project hope this meeting will be an important step in an ongoing process of collaboration between the various state projects.

Later that morning, Donna Bohanan presided over a European History Section of the SHA session entitled, "Pragmatism and Policy: Spain and the Problem of Spanish Louisiana." That afternoon, David Carter offered comment on three papers in a session entitled "Blackness, Whiteness and the Space Between: The Re-Ordering of Race in Turn-of-the-Century Louisiana."

Also during the Atlanta meeting, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company hosted a reception in honor of Ed Harrell and his co-authors for the new U.S. survey textbook Unto a Good Land: A History of the American People.

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November 4, 2005:

2002 AUBURN PH.D. RECIPIENT MARGARET SANKEY DISCUSSES "HOW TO SECURE A TENURE-TRACK POSITION UPON GRADUATION"

On November 4, while a number of members of the Department were in Atlanta for the meeting of the Southern Historical Association, 2002 Auburn History Ph.D. recipient Margaret Sankey visited the Department to discuss the job market and offer practical suggestions for success. Sankey, who completed her dissertation under the direction of Professor Daniel Szechi, has recently published her first book, Jacobite Prisoners of the 1715 Rebellion: Preventing and Punishing Insurrection in Early Hanoverian Britain (Ashgate, 2005). She is a professor in the History Department of Minnesota State University, Moorhead. Auburn graduate student Greg Markley compiled a detailed write-up of some of Sankey's suggestions for how to secure a tenure-track position in history. Click here to view Markley's write-up of Sankey's talk.

Margaret Sankey

October 22, 2005:

AUBURN HISTORY DEPARTMENT SENDS LARGE CONTINGENT OF VOLUNTEERS TO LEE COUNTY HISTORICAL FAIR ON DAY OF LOACHAPOKA SYRUP SOPPING

Auburn's History Department was well represented at the Lee County Historical Fair on Saturday, October 22. The event takes place in Loachapoka on the opposite side of Highway 14 from the Syrup Sopping Day, and both draw crowds numbering in the thousands. Professor Angela Lakwete is a regular participant in the Historical Fair, giving demonstrations with her spinning wheel, turning cotton fiber into thread. Other department faculty members and graduate students worked in the Museum and Taylor Whatley Building housing antique agricultural implements.

History Department volunteers included Professor Cathleen Giustino (and partner Garth Stauffer), Professor David Carter, and graduate students Andrew Baird (Phi Alpha Theta President, joined by his son Davis), Tommy Brown (and wife Amy Brown), Michael Hultquist, Jen Murray, Jennifer Newman, Vassilios Pinopoulos, and Rochelle Ramga.

Graduate student Jim Campbell, his wife Kay Campbell, son Robert Campbell, and daughter-in-law Kelli Campbell were all heavily involved in planning the Historical Fair, and all worked long hours on the day of the event.

To read the Opelika-Auburn News October 23, 2005 article on this year's Syrup Sopping and Lee County Historical Fair, click here.

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October 17, 2005:

DESKSIDE RECYCLING PROGRAM COMES TO THACH HALL AND OTHER BUILDINGS, PART OF LARGER SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE UNDER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LINDY BIGGS

Auburn University has expanded its deskside recycling program to 12 new buildings, including Thach Hall, the home of the history department. Recycling Coordinator Donnie Addison has worked closely with Lindy Biggs, Associate Professor of History, Executive Director of the Auburn University Sustainability Initiative, and chair of the AU Sustainability Task Force. Items that can be recycled in the deskside program include paper, magazines, newspapers, file folders (with metal removed), phone books, small cardboard items, aluminum or steel cans, and plastic bottles. To view an article on the deskside recycling campaign in the October 17, 2005 issue of the University's AU Report, click here.

Lindy Biggs, Executive Director of the University's Sustainability Initiative

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October 13, 2005:

WAYNE FLYNT INDUCTED INTO THE 2005 COMMUNICATION HALL OF FAME AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, CAPPING OFF A YEAR OF AWARDS AND ACCOLADES

Wayne Flynt, Professor Emeritus of History, was inducted into the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences' Hall of Fame on October 13, 2005. The Hall of Fame, which inducted its eighth class this year, is intended "to honor, preserve and perpetuate the names and accomplishments of civic and communication personalities who have brought lasting fame to the state of Alabama." Inducted along with Flynt were former Alabama governor Albert P. Brewer, Thomas E. Corts, Jack Edwards, and two recently deceased Alabamians, Ronald B. Casey and H. Bailey Thomson.

Wayne Flynt, 2005 inductee into the Alabama Communication Hall of Fame

The following is an excerpt from a September 12, 2005 University of Alabama press release announcing Flynt's induction into the Hall of Fame:

Wayne Flynt, a self-proclaimed hell-raising, bible-preaching, history teacher, grows roses and plays with his grandkids. Known for speaking his mind and challenging those in positions of power to use theirs, he not only serves as Alabama's unofficial conscience, he also has contributed 11 painstakingly researched books that help tell the story of our state. Flynt's integrity requires him to tell this story honestly, even when it is not popular to do so.

His sense of integrity comes from a long line of people who do not seem to care what others think and a set of parents whose work ethic could stretch the workday to 16 hours and move a family 36 times. Despite constantly being the new kid and an intense dislike of school, a high school teacher sensed something about his intelligence. She placed him on the debate team, where his gift for argument, based on facts, took root. It also took him to Howard College, now Samford University, on a scholarship where he got his first taste of government – he served as president of the Student Government Association.

After graduation, his boyhood dream of attending seminary and becoming a preacher collided with the racism of the Southern Baptists. Frustrated, he left the state seeking higher ground. But Florida's ground was not all that high after all, and after his dissertation at Florida State University, he returned home. The podium, he had decided, could be just as powerful as the pulpit.

Throughout much of his career, time was Flynt's main constraint. He became one of the most sought-after speakers, a veritable itinerant evangelist of all things Alabama: religion, politics and the historical context in which they had been set. During some periods he had to turn down 10 invitations for every one he accepted. His popularity as a prophet soared. But like the prophets of old, not everybody liked him. Some downright despised him. Wife Dorothy worried more than once about his well being; The threats came, but Flynt ignored them and went right on about his business, that of bettering Alabama.

"Mind Your Own Business," by fellow Alabamian Hank Williams, may be Flynt's favorite song, but Alabama's business became his. And for that, it is impossible to calculate how lucky Alabama is.

Flynt, Distinguished University Professor of History at Auburn University has won numerous teaching awards during his 38-year career including the Mortar Board National Honor Society Favorite Educator. He has won the Lillian Smith Award for nonfiction, the Clarence Cason Nonfiction Writing Award and twice won both the James Sulzby Jr. Book Award and the Alabama Library Association Award for nonfiction.

"I was called to fight, not win," he says. But fighting for the rights of others, especially the dispossessed, is winning, and for the courage of his convictions, The University of Alabama and its College of Communication and Information Sciences is honored to welcome Flynt into its Communication Hall of Fame.

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October 10, 2005:

LARRY GERBER'S NEW BOOK ON AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS POLICY IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE PUBLISHED

Larry Gerber's new study, The Irony of State Intervention: American Industrial Relations Policy in Comparative Perspective, 1914-1939, has been published by Northern Illinois University Press. Gerber is the recipient of the 2005 Humanities Faculty Achievement Award, and is in his second term as First Vice President of the national organization the American Association of University Professors. In August of 2005 he was elected to serve as the Faculty Grievance Committee Representative for the College of Liberal Arts. The following description and review blurbs appear on the Press's web page for The Irony of State Intervention:

Larry Gerber, author of The Irony of State Intervention

Embracing individualism and antistatism, the United States traditionally has favored a limited role for government. Yet state intervention both against and on behalf of labor has a long history, culminating in the labor law reforms of the New Deal. How do we account for this irony? And how do we explain why, between World War I and the Great Depression, another leading industrial nation with similar ideological commitments, Great Britain, developed a different model?

By comparing the United States and Britain, Larry G. Gerber makes clear that, in the development of industrial relations policies, ideology was secondary to economic realities—the structure of business, the market system, and the configuration of unions. Nonetheless, industrial policy developed within the broader context of the transition from the individualistic laissez-faire capitalism of the nineteenth century to a collectivist political economy in which the state and organized groups played increasingly important roles while pluralist and corporatist models contended for influence.

In Britain, where most business enterprises remained comparatively small, collective bargaining between workers and management became the norm. In the United States, however, large-scale corporations quickly rose to dominance. Eager to retain control of the production process, corporate elites resisted negotiating with workers and occasionally called upon the state to resolve labor crises. American workers, who initially opposed state involvement, eventually turned to the state for assistance as well. The New Deal administration responded with a series of new labor policies designed to balance the interests of employers and employees alike.

Since state intervention did nothing to permanently change employers’ hostility toward unions, the New Deal legislation was short-lived. Gerber’s broad study of this momentous period in labor history helps explain the conundrum of a nation with a typically limited government whose intense intervention in labor relations caused long-lasting effects.

Review Blurbs

"Fascinating … this book makes an important and unduplicated contribution to the historical literature on U.S. industrial relations."
— Joseph A. McCartin, Georgetown University

"Well researched and well written. Gerber’s command of the literature is absolutely first-rate."
— David B. Robertson, University of Missouri, St. Louis

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October 7, 2005:

HISTORY DEPARTMENT GATHERS FOR ANNUAL PHI ALPHA THETA-SPONSORED "FALL FROLIC" AT LEE COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM IN LOACHAPOKA

On Friday, October 7, the History Department gathered for the annual Fall Frolic organized by the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society. This year the gathering took place at the Lee County Historical Society Museum in Loachapoka. Many thanks to Jim, Kay, Kelli, and Robert Campbell, who helped arrange for the Department's access to the Museum, to the Phi Alpha Theta officers (Andrew Baird, Dave Schepp, Jennifer Newman, and Carrie Reif), to Tommy Brown, who helped with photography at the event, and to all those who attended and helped setting up and cleaning up after a delightful evening. To view photos from Fall Frolic, click here.

Kelli, Robert, Jim, and Kay Campbell, who generously arranged access to the Lee County Historical Society Museum in Loachapoka for the Fall Frolic. Jim Campbell is a graduate student in the Department of History.

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October 5, 2005:

JAMES HANSEN, AUTHOR OF NEW NEIL ARMSTRONG BIOGRAPHY, IN COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS "SPOTLIGHT," SIGNING BOOKS AT LOCAL EVENTS

The research of James Hansen, Professor of History, is illuminated in this month's College of Liberal Arts "Spotlight." Hansen will sign copies of his new book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong on Friday, October 21 at 4pm at the Jule Collins Smith Museum. The book is the authorized biography of Neil Armstrong and traces Armstrong's life from his boyhood to his time as a Korean War fighter pilot through his experiences in the American space program and his historic place as the first astronaut to set foot on the moon in 1969 and up to the current day. Armstrong has never before spoken out at such length about his unparalleled experience and has long remained a mystery to the public. Hansen, who specializes in the history of science and technology, commented: "It's been nearly 34 years since the first Moon landing. It's an honor, but also a serious responsibility, to be the person Neil Armstrong has sanctioned to put his whole story together finally and explain to the world who this man really is." To view the College of Liberal Arts "Spotlight" piece on Professor Hansen, click here.

James Hansen, biographer of astronaut Neil Armstrong

To view the University's November, 2005 e-Commons story on Hansen's biography, click here.

To view the University's October 18, 2005 press release with details of the release of First Man, click here.

To view an article in the October 17, 2005 issue of the University's AU Report, click here.

NOTE: In addition to the Jule Collins Smith Museum reading on October 21, Jim Hansen will also be signing books at the Auburn Books-a-Million (Market Square location) on Tuesday, October 18 at 7pm, and again on Wednesday, October 19 at 4pm in the Special Collections Department of RBD Library. Please consult the Departmental Calendar for details of all three events.

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October 3, 2005:

CHARLES ISRAEL FEATURED IN AU REPORT LINKING DEBATE OVER "INTELLIGENT DESIGN" TO SCOPES TRIAL

Charles Israel, Associate Professor of History, is featured in the October 3, 2005 issue of the AU Report, discussing the historical links between contemporary proponents of "intelligent design" and those who have opposed the teaching of evolution in public schools from the late nineteenth century to the present. To view the piece in its entirety, click here.

Charles Israel, expert on the historical struggle over the teaching of evolution

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September 21, 2005:

DAVID LEWIS FEATURED INTERVIEW IN DELTA AIRLINES BANKRUPTCY STORY IN OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS

Source: Opelika-Auburn News, September 21, 2005

AU Prof Who Helped Write Book on Delta Reflects on Airline's Heritage, Ponders Its Future

BEVERLY HARVEY, STAFF WRITER

The current state of Delta Air Lines almost brings tears to the eyes an Auburn University professor who co-wrote a book on the company's history. Delta, along with Northwest Airlines, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sept. 14 to help the companies reorganize without having to halt operations or liquidate assets. Delta's bankruptcy status is upsetting to Dr. W. David Lewis, distinguished professor of history, who co-wrote "Delta: The History of an Airline" with Dr. Wesley P. Newton, also a history professor at Auburn at the time.

W. David Lewis, historian of Delta Airlines

The book was published in 1979, one year after the airline industry was deregulated.

"I do get sentimental, because I know what Delta was like," said Lewis, who spent years researching the company's history for the book.

Delta began as a crop dusting company out of Monroe, La., during the late 1920s and expanded into the international passenger airline service based out of Atlanta, Ga., by 1940.

Beginning in 1938, a federal agency, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), ran the airline industry, setting air fares, awarding routes, inspecting companies' books and authorizing mergers.

"This was a federal agency that really had teeth in it. It was powerful," Lewis said.

By the late 1970s, however, the general consensus was that the CAB based its decisions on favoritism and was holding up the airline industry's progress rather than facilitating it, Lewis said.

In 1978, the airline industry was deregulated, and the CAB was phased out over a five-year period.

"Delta, at that point, was one of the most powerful, best managed airlines in the world," said Lewis. "It was a harmonious airline and very proud of how a former crop dusting company had transformed itself into a major international airline."

Delta is one of six airlines, known as "heritage carriers," that were in business prior to deregulation of the industry. Heritage carriers continue to be saddled with the high costs of operating that include higher wages and better benefits.

In addition, the heritage carriers - which include United Airlines, American Airlines and U.S. Air - are forced to compete with low-cost carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines, on top of the higher costs of fuel, Lewis said.

The result is that more airlines are filing bankruptcy, including Delta - which is the second largest airline in passenger numbers.

The short-term impacts of Delta filing bankruptcy last week will not immediately be apparent to passengers, Lewis said.

"If a person didn't know that Delta filed bankruptcy it might take a while to notice anything different," he said.

Chapter 11 allows Delta to continue honoring tickets and reservations, frequent flier miles and programs, and maintain all routes.

By December, however, Lewis predicts that the airline will begin to lay off employees from pilots to baggage handlers, cut its number of routes and reduce flights to certain destinations, especially domestic flights. He also predicts a possible merger with Northwest Airlines.

Lewis has already received e-mails from Delta employees, mainly retired pilots, who report that pensions have already been reduced after the company filed bankruptcy.

"Delta, if it comes through bankruptcy, it will be a much leaner and meaner company, because it will have to be," said Lewis. "Whatever happens, they're going to be different from what they were going in."

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September 16, 2005:

STEVE SUITTS SPEAKS IN DEPARTMENT ON "THE ALABAMA ORIGINS OF HUGO BLACK'S CONSTITUTION"

On September 16, Steve Suitts spoke in the History Department Commons Room in Thach Hall on "The Alabama Origins of Hugo Black's Constitution." Suitts, the author of Hugo Black of Alabama: How His Roots and Early Career Shaped the Great Shaped the Great Champion of the Constitution (Black Belt Press, 2005), the first installment in a two-volume biography, made his remarks as part of Auburn's observation of "Constitution Day." Suitts served as the executive director of the Southern Regional Council and played a central role in the development of Will the Circle Be Unbroken?, a multi-part radio documentary on the history and music of the civil rights era.

Steve Suitts, biographer of Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black of Alabama

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September 12, 2005:

AUBURN M.A. SARA PETERS TO WORK WITH WOMEN'S ADVOCACY GROUP IN CHATTANOOGA

Sara Peters (Auburn M.A., 2003), who served as the graduate assistant for the Women's Studies Program while at Auburn, is starting a new job in Chattanooga as the director of the Transformation Project, an advocacy and intervention program addressing issues of violence against women at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

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September 12, 2005:

AUBURN PH.D. MARGARET SANKEY PUBLISHES FIRST BOOK

Margaret Sankey (Auburn Ph.D., 2002) has just published her first book, Jacobite Prisoners of the 1715 Rebellion: Preventing and Punishing Insurrection in Early Hanoverian Britain (Ashgate, 2005). Dr. Sankey is a professor in the History Department of Minnesota State University, Moorhead. Sankey completed her Ph.D. in 2002 under the direction of Professor Daniel Szechi. The following description and review blurbs appear on the Press's web page for the book: The Jacobite rebellion of 1715 was a dramatic but ultimately unsuccessful challenge to the new Hanoverian regime in Great Britain. It did, however, reveal serious fault lines in the political foundations of the new regime which enormously restricted the government's freedom of action in the suppression of the rebellion, and effectively made the treatment of the rebels in its aftermath the true test of the new dynasty's legitimacy and stability.

Margaret Sankey

Whilst the rulers of England had traditionally dealt harshly with internal rebellion, monarchs and their ministers had to find a delicate balance between showing the power of the regime through the candid exercise of force while maintaining their own reputation for justice and clemency. As such George I and his government had to tailor their reaction to the 1715 rebellion in such a way that it effectively discouraged further participation in Jacobite insurgency, undercut the rebels' ability to challenge the state, and made clear the regime's intention to use a firm hand in preventing rebellion. At the same time it could not cross the line into tyranny with excessive or sadistic executions and had to avoid giving offence to powerful magnates and foreign powers likely to petition for the lives of the captured rebels.

To accomplish this feat, the Hanoverian Whig regime used a programme far more subtle and calculated than has generally been appreciated. The scheme it put into effect had three components, to put fear into the rank-and-file of the rebels through a limited programme of execution and transportation, to cripple the Catholic community through imprisonment and property confiscation, and, most crucially, to entertain petitions from members of the elite on behalf of imprisoned rebels. By following such a strategy of retribution tempered with clemency, this book argues that the Hanoverian regime was able to quell the immediate dangers posed by the rebellion, and bring its leaders back into the orbit of the government, beginning the process of reintegrating them back into political mainstream.

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August 26, 2005 [from the AU Daily]:

RUTH CROCKER NAMED DIRECTOR OF WOMEN'S STUDIES

Ruth Crocker, Alumni Professor of History in the College of Liberal Arts, has been named AU's new director of Women's Studies. Crocker was awarded an Alumni Professorship in 2001. She received bachelor's and master's degrees from St. Anne's College in Oxford in the United Kingdom and a master's and doctorate from Purdue. Crocker's areas of specialization include gender, class and ethnicity in Progressive-era history and historiography and a critical history of social work and social welfare, She has written essays and reviews on volunteerism, charity and philanthropy, and the cultural history of the gift, as well as on historiography and theory.

Ruth Crocker, new director of the University's Women's Studies Program

Since its inception in 1984, AU's Women's Studies Program has had as its central role the teaching and the promotion of research and scholarship about women and gender across the disciplines. The program maintains and develops a curriculum, coordinates a speakers series in cooperation with faculty and administrators from all colleges and schools at Auburn, communicates with the Auburn community through publication of an annual newsletter, identifies new faculty for membership, and builds alliances with other regional and national programs.

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August 15, 2005:

HISTORY DEPARTMENT WELCOMES TWO NEW PROFESSORS, CHARLES ISRAEL AND JOSEPH TURRINI

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May 15, 2005:

HISTORY DEPARTMENT HONORS RETIRING PROFESSORS DAVID EDWIN HARRELL, JR. AND J. WAYNE FLYNT

The History Department honors and offers its thanks to retiring Distinguished University Professor J. Wayne Flynt and Breeden Eminent Scholar in the Humanities David Edwin Harrell, Jr. for years of service and dedication to the Auburn History Department, its students, and the larger profession.

Wayne Flynt

Ed Harrell

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May, 2005:

ALABAMA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION HONORS WAYNE FLYNT FOR HIS HISTORY OF ALABAMA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Wayne Flynt, Distinguished University Professor of History at Auburn, recently received two awards from the Alabama Historical Association for his latest book, Alabama in the Twentieth Century. Flynt received the James F. Sulzby Award and the Virginia Van der Veer Hamilton Award for his 624-page history, which was published in October 2004 by the University of Alabama Press. Both awards recognize writers for outstanding contributions to the field of Alabama history. AHA President Hardy H. Jackson III said Flynt may be the first person to have won both awards in the same year. Flynt previously won the Anne B. and James B. McMillan Prize from the UA Press for the best book published by that press in 2004. An AU faculty member since 1977, he has won several awards for his earlier books, which include Poor But Proud: Alabama's Poor Whites and Dixie's Forgotten People: The South's Poor Whites. Two books by the Auburn professor have been nominated for Pulitzer Prizes.

Wayne Flynt, author of the award-winning history Alabama in the Twentieth Century

In 2005, Flynt was also the co-recipient of the History Department's Phi Alpha Theta Robert Reid Outstanding Graduate Professor Award (with Professor Ruth Crocker) and the recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Member Award from the University's chapter of the Cardinal Key National Honor Society.

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August 24, 2004:

ANGELA LAKWETE WINS EDELSTEIN PRIZE FROM THE SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY

Professor Angela Lakwete has won the Edelstein Prize from the Society for the History of Technology for the best scholarly book published about the history of technology in the past three years for her book Inventing the Cotton Gin: Machine and Myth in Antebellum America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003). The Society for the History of Technology represents 1,500 scholars at 1,000 institutions worldwide. Lakwete will receive the Edelstein Prize, an international award that is one of the most coveted honors in the field, in the Netherlands at the Society's annual meeting. Inventing the Cotton Gin tracks the machine from its Asian roots to the Americas, follows its development to about 1865, then explores the myth - that Eli Whitney invented the gin - and its implications. In her next book project Professor Lakwete will examine machine makers of Alabama from 1819 and how they "manufactured modernity" within a slave society. An AU faculty member since 1999, Lakwete teaches undergraduate courses in U.S. history and in technology and civilization and a graduate seminar in Southern industrialization. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Delaware.

Angela Lakwete, receiving the Edelstein Prize in the Netherlands

Of related interest:

Press release from the University of Delaware [Professor Lakwete's Ph.D.-granting institution]

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May, 2004:

HISTORY FACULTY, OTHERS ASSEMBLE ONLINE ENCYLOPEDIA OF ALABAMA

source: History News from The College of Liberal Arts

In a few years, people all over the world will have a single source for everything they may ever want to know about Alabama. That source will be the online Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Still in an early stage of development, the Encyclopedia of Alabama is a major undertaking for scholars in virtually all subjects that describe Alabama, its history, politics, culture, literature, natural environment, and unique characteristics, says Jeff Jakeman, the encyclopedia's managing editor.

The online encyclopedia is scheduled for launch in 2007 or 2008, depending on financing and logistics, Jakeman said.

A partnership of the Department of History in Auburn's College of Liberal Arts and the Alabama Humanities Foundation, the project will eventually involve dozens of scholars from public and private agencies, foundations and universities.

The editorial staff from the History Department includes Jakeman, Editor-in-Chief J. Wayne Flynt and Associate Editor Steve Murray. They are coordinating technology and content plans with faculty and staff in several other offices across campus, including Information Technology, AU Libraries and the Truman Pierce Institute in the College of Education. Eight other government and private agencies and foundations are participating in the project.

Bob Stewart, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Foundation, is coordinating efforts to raise funds during the development stage and for long-term maintenance. "The Alabama Humanities Foundation is very excited to be working in partnership with Auburn University to develop an online encyclopedia for the citizens and students of Alabama -- not to mention people from across the United States and around the world who are interested in our history and culture," said Stewart.

Historians at Auburn and other universities are contributing material, but the encyclopedia is not limited to historical topics, Jakeman said. "We are looking at literature, popular culture, sports, entertainment and other areas that help define Alabama," he said. "This will be an authoritative reference work that will be very helpful to scholars, government, businesses and anyone who has an interest in the history and culture of Alabama."

The encyclopedia will be a source of information for everyone, not just school teachers, students and university professors, he added. Journalists, business leaders, tourism promoters and even vacation planners will have the information at their fingertips, Jakeman said. "This will be a very powerful tool for teachers," he added. "It will serve the academic needs of K-12 and the universities. Beyond that, it will offer the people of this state the opportunity to understand and more fully appreciate the rich culture that we share as Alabamians."

Stewart of the Alabama Humanities Foundation added, "The Encyclopedia of Alabama represents an unprecedented collaborative opportunity for scholars, citizens, and educational institutions from across the state to make this resource a reality. The humanities belong to all Alabamians, and the encyclopedia will tell all our stories for generations to come."

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August 28, 2002:

KENNETH NOE WINS SEABORG AWARD FOR PERRYVILLE

Source: History News from The College of Liberal Arts

Kenneth W. Noe, Draughon Professor of History at Auburn, has received the 2002 Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Scholarship from the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War at Shepherd University in West Virginia. The Auburn historian won the award for his book Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, which details a significant yet historically neglected Civil War battle. The selection for the 2002 prize came from nominations covering the publishing years 1999-2001.

Noe received a $5,000 award at the Perryville, Ky., battlefield during a reenactment commemorating the 140th anniversary of the battle.

An AU faculty member since 2000, Noe taught previously at West Georgia College, and he was an archivist at the Illinois Historical Survey while earning his doctorate at the University of Illinois.

The Seaborg Award is an annual prize that recognizes an outstanding nonfiction book that advances knowledge about the Civil War era of American history. The Seaborg Award is designed to encourage the publication of Civil War history of unique perspective and superior quality.

The George Tyler Moore Center is part of the History Department at Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, W.V., and administers the prize for the Seaborg family.

To view a press release announcing the award from Shepherd University, click here.

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