Francis Butler Simkins: A Life (New Perspectives on the History of the South)

In this biography, James Humphreys takes a close look at Simkins as a man, to better understand him as a historian. He engages with Simkins's physical and mental eccentricities--his troubled health and career stresses--and explores the extent to which the historian was shaped by the values he learned during his childhood in segregationist South Carolina. "A staunch activist for the study of southern history as a significant part of American history, Francis Butler Simkins (1897-1966) is today recognized as one of the twentieth century's great thinkers writing on southern history. This detailed biography examines the factors in Simkins's life that contributed to his being a radical liberal in his youth and maturing into what some termed a "reactionary conservative." Through it all, there can be little question that Simkins was a complex and eccentric man whose writing is often compared to the works of his more famous contemporaries C. Vann Woodward and Stanley Elkins." "This biography of one of the South's leading scholars illuminates the inner workings of an eccentric and even inscrutable man. As he orders Simkins's powerful intellect and personal demons, James Humphreys strives to determine the impact of Simkins's work on southern historiography and the larger public issues - especially those associated with race - that dominated his world."--Jacket Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Introduction 13 1 Growing Up in History 16 2 “A Radical in the South Carolinian Sense” 34 3 A Provincial Confronts Modernity 50 4 “A Seeker after the Broadening Truth” 63 5 “Life Is Adamant” 84 6 “A Remarkable Interpretive Study” 106 7 “Return to the Beaten Path” 119 Images 141 8 Challenging the Dunning Orthodoxy 149 9 Professional Success, Personal Turmoil 168 10 The Contrarian 188 11 The LSU Years 204 12 Challenging the Simkins Orthodoxy 231 13 “An Exalted Life” Ends 248 Conclusion 271 Notes 279 Bibliography 325 Francis B. Simkins Bibliography 341 Index 347 Few men make their mark in their profession as indelibly as historian Francis Butler Simkins (1897-1966). Known as an eccentric, Simkins is almost as famous for falling asleep while performing his ceremonial duties as president-elect of the Southern Historical Association as he is for his influential and radical scholarship