Shapers of Southern History: Autobiographical Reflections

by John B. Boles (Editor)

This volume gathers personal recollections by fifteen eminent historians of the American South. Coming from distinctive backgrounds, traveling diverse career paths, and practicing different kinds of history, the contributors exemplify the field's richness on many levels. As they reflect on why they joined the profession and chose their particular research specialties, these historians write eloquently of family and upbringing, teachers and mentors, defining events and serendipitous opportunities.

The struggle for civil rights was the defining experience for several contributors. Peter H. Wood remembers how black fans of the St. Louis Cardinals erupted in applause for the Dodgers' Jackie Robinson. "I realized for the first time," writes Wood, "that there must be something even bigger than hometown loyalties dividing Americans." Gender equality is another frequent concern in the essays. Anne Firor Scott tells of her advisor's ridicule when childbirth twice delayed Scott's "With great effort I managed to write two chapters, but Professor Handlin was moved to inquire whether I planned to have a baby every chapter." Yet another prominent theme is the reconciliation of the professional and the personal, as when Bill C. Malone traces his scholarly interests back to "the memories of growing up poor on an East Texas cotton farm and finding escape and diversion in the sounds of hillbilly music."

Always candid and often witty, each essay is a road map through the intellectual terrain of southern history as practiced during the last half of the twentieth century.

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

John B. Boles is an American historian who retired as the William P. Hobby Professor of American History at Rice University in 2019. Born in Houston, Texas, he grew up in a rural, racially segregated Bible Belt town where his family farmed cotton and later raised chickens. Raised in a staunchly Baptist household, Boles’ early experiences shaped his later research in Southern social history. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Rice University in 1965 and a PhD from the University of Virginia in 1969. Boles began his academic career at Towson State University, later teaching at Tulane University before joining Rice University in 1981, where he held prominent chairs and contributed extensively to scholarship. He authored numerous books on the social history of the Southern United States, including religious, black, and women’s history, and edited multiple volumes. Boles served as editor of the Journal of Southern History for over 30 years and was president of the Southern Historical Association in 2017-18. His 2017 biography Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty is widely regarded as a definitive one-volume study of Thomas Jefferson.