The Southern Historical Association is a professional academic organization of historians focusing on the

history of the Southern United States The history of the Southern United States spans back thousand of years to the first evidence of human occupation. The Paleo-Indians were the first peoples to inhabit the Americas and what would become the Southern United States. By the time Eu ...

. It was organized on November 2, 1934. Its objectives are the promotion of interest and research in Southern history, the collection and preservation of the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

's historical records, and the encouragement of state and local historical societies in the South. As a secondary purpose the organization fosters the teaching and study of all areas of history in the South.

History

The association was preceded by another, with a similar name--the

Southern History Association The Southern History Association was a short-lived professional American organization of historians who studied the American South. The organization was founded in 1896, at the time of the Southern Renaissance, when a need for professionalization a ...

, a short-lived organization with a very academic aspect to it; it folded in 1909 after a little over a decade. A new organization devoted to the same subject matter was conceived in the 1920s already by

Frederick Jackson Turner Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861 – March 14, 1932) was an American historian during the early 20th century, based at the University of Wisconsin until 1910, and then Harvard University. He was known primarily for his frontier thes ...

, who urged his doctoral student

Thomas Perkins Abernethy Thomas Perkins Abernethy (August 25, 1890 – November 12, 1975) was an American historian and academic. He served as a professor of early American history at a number of universities throughout the South and Southwest United States. He ma ...

to build a network that could sustain an organization similar to the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

. Two developments, according to historian and later SHA president Bethany Johnson, led to the association's founding: the growing desire since the late 19th century among Southern historians to professionalize, and the

Southern Renaissance The Southern Renaissance (also known as Southern Renascence) was the reinvigoration of American Southern literature in the 1920s and 1930s with the appearance of writers such as William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, Caroline Gordon, Margaret Mitchell, ...

, which saw the formation of many professional academic societies in the South. Among the association founders were

, W. Darrell Overdyke of

Centenary College of Louisiana Centenary College of Louisiana is a private liberal arts college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi R ...

, and Philip M. Hamer of the National Archives.Virginia History Series: Thomas Perkins Abernethy
/ref>

''Journal of Southern History''

The SHA publishes the ''Journal of Southern History''.

John B. Boles John B. Boles (born October 20, 1943) is an American historian.

was one of the editors. The SHA maintains two permanent offices: the editorial offices, located at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

, and the secretary-treasurer's office, located at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Presidents

Charles P. Roland Charles Pierce Roland (April 8, 1918 – April 12, 2022) was an American historian and professor emeritus of the University of Kentucky who was known for his research field of the American South and the U.S. Civil War. Roland was a Captain in th ...

(1981) *

Carl Degler Carl Neumann Degler (February 6, 1921 – December 27, 2014) was an American historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He was the Margaret Byrne Professor of American History Emeritus at Stanford University. Early life and education Degler was ...

(1986) *

Anne Firor Scott Anne Firor Scott (April 24, 1921 – February 5, 2019) was an American historian, specializing in the history of women and of the South. Early life and education Scott was born April 24, 1921, in Montezuma, Georgia. In 1941 she graduated summa c ...

(1989) *

Jack Temple Kirby Jack Temple Kirby (August 22, 1938 – August 6, 2009) was an American historian who wrote about the Southern United States and the persistent stereotyping of Southerners. He was awarded the Bancroft Prize for his 2006 book ''Mockingbird Son ...

(d. 2009) * William J. Cooper (2009-)

References

External links

Southern Historical Association website

''Journal of Southern History'' web page
Organizations established in 1934 Historical societies of the United States History of the Southern United States American historians {{US-historian-stub

History

''Journal of Southern History''

Presidents

References

Further reading

External links