Department of History

Robert J. (Jeff) Jakeman has played a central role in the development of the History Department's Archival Studies Program, which prepares graduate students for careers as professional archivists. Prior to joining the Auburn faculty in 1992 he worked as a professional archivist at the Auburn University Archives, the Air Force Historical Research Agency, and the Alabama Department of Archives and History. He has published articles on archival topics and is currently writing a biography of Thomas McAdory Owen, an archival pioneer and Alabama native who founded the nation's first state archives in 1901. His research interests also include military aviation, Alabama history, and southern history. His first book, The Divided Skies: Establishing Segregated Flight Training at Tuskegee, Alabama, 1934-1942 (University of Alabama Press, 1992) describes the origins and establishment of World War II flying training programs for the Tuskegee Airmen. Since 1996 he has served as editor of The Alabama Review, a quarterly journal of Alabama history published by the Alabama Historical Association. He also serves as editor of the Encyclopedia of Alabama, an on-line reference work currently in the early stages of development and sponsored by the Alabama Humanities Foundation in cooperation with Auburn. He received his B.A. from the University of South Florida, his M.A. from Valdosta State University, and his Ph.D. from Auburn University.

Born and raised in North Alabama, Gene A. Smith grew up on a small farm that grew cattle, corn, and soybeans. With such a background it was no surprise that he wanted to be a veterinarian. Fortunately a college course in chemistry put him on the path to becoming a historian. Gene completed both his undergraduate (B.A., 1984) and graduate training (M.A. 1987; Ph.D., 1991) in history at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. Studying early American history and specializing in Jeffersonian politics and military policy, he wrote his dissertation on "The Ruinous Folly of A Navy: A History of the Jeffersonian Gunboat Program," and his M.A. thesis on "The Propaganda Campaign of Thomas Oliver Larkin," both under the direction of Professor Frank L. Owsley, Jr. He then spent three years teaching at Montana State University-Billings before moving to Texas Christian University in the fall of 1994. There he has been teaching U.S. survey history and undergraduate and graduate level courses on early American history. He is currently serving as the Director of the Center for Texas Studies.

Gene's major publications include the following books: A British Eyewitness at the Battle of New Orleans: The Memoir of Royal Navy Admiral Robert Aitchison, 1808-1827 (Historic New Orleans Collection, 2004); Thomas ap Catesby Jones: Commodore of Manifest Destiny (Naval Institute Press, 2000); a revised and updated edition of Arsène Lacarrière Latour's, Historical Memoir of the War in West Florida and Louisiana, 1814-15: With an Atlas (The Historic New Orleans Collection and the University Press of Florida, 1999); Filibusters and Expansionists: Jeffersonian Manifest Destiny, 1800-1821, with Frank L. Owsley, Jr., (University of Alabama Press, 1997); Iron and Heavy Guns: Duel Between the "Monitor" and "Merrimac" (McWhiney Foundation Press, 1996); and, "For the Purposes of Defense": The Politics of the Jeffersonian Gunboat Program (University of Delaware Press, 1995).

He is presently working on several smaller projects dealing with the War of 1812, including a study of African American combatants, as well as co-authoring an American military history textbook. Additionally, Gene has received internal research awards from Montana State University-Billings and TCU, as well as fellowships from the Henry E. Huntington Library, the Virginia Historical Society, the U.S. Department of the Navy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Gene is an active member of several organizations, most notably the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (currently acting as the organization's Treasurer), the Gulf South Historical and Humanities Association, and the North American Society for Oceanic History. Since 1998 Gene has been co-editor of the University Press of Florida's book series New Perspective on Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology.

Married to Tracy, they have one son (Banning Allen Franklin), two adopted dogs (Anna and Mini); Tracy also has a one-eyed cat named Jake. Gene's hobbies include sports, especially basketball, cooking, traveling, and gardening.

Martha Graham Viator (Auburn History Ph.D., 1996) wrote her dissertation under the direction of Professor H. Hines Hall on "Edward Malet and the Egyptian Question in Anglo-German Relations, 1884-1890."

In 1988, she defended her thesis, "Edward Malet and the British Occupation of Egypt, 1879-1883."

After teaching European and World History courses at various colleges and universities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, she returned to school and obtained a secondary school teaching certificate and taught high school from 2001 to 2006. She then joined Rowan University 's Department of Teacher Education where she teaches social studies pedagogy and supervises teacher candidates during clinical practice.

She is married to Timothy J. Viator, Professor of English at Rowan University .