Winthrop Donaldson Jordan (November 11, 1931 – February 23, 2007) was an American historian and professor who specialized in the history of

slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sl ...

and

racism against Black Americans In the context of racism in the United States, racism against African Americans dates back to the colonial era, and it continues to be a persistent issue in American society in the 21st century. From the arrival of the first Africans in early ...

. His 1968 work ''White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812'' was awarded the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

in History and Biography."National Book Awards – 1969"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

. Retrieved 2012-03-17. The work has been described in a review as "one of the most important contributions yet made to the history of racial relationships in early America", and helped to inspire serious scholarly enquiry into

interracial relationships Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation. In 19 ...

in North America, specifically President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

's relationship with one of his female slaves,

Sally Hemings Sarah "Sally" Hemings ( 1773 – 1835) was an enslaved woman with one-quarter African ancestry owned by president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, one of many he inherited from his father-in-law, John Wayles. Hemings's mother Elizabet ...

. In 1993, Jordan won a second

Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...

for ''Tumult and Silence at Second Creek: An Inquiry into a Civil War Slave Conspiracy''. In this work, Jordan brought to light details of a previously unstudied

slave revolt A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freed ...

near Natchez, Mississippi.

Early life and education

Jordan was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

to a long line of scholars and liberal thinkers. He was the son of Henry Donaldson Jordan, a professor of 19th-century British and American politics at

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...

, and Lucretia Mott Churchill, great-great-granddaughter of the Quaker

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

advocates James and Lucretia Coffin Mott. One of Jordan's great uncles,

Edward Needles Hallowell Edward "Ned" Needles Hallowell (November 3, 1836 – July 26, 1871) was an officer in the Union Army in the duration of the American Civil War, commanding the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry following the death of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw a ...

, was a commanding officer of the celebrated Civil War 54th Massachusetts of the United States Colored Troops (USCT). As a young man, Jordan attended the prestigious Phillips Academy in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

before going on to receive an A.B. in social relations from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1953, an M.A. in history from Clark University in 1957, and a Ph.D. in history in 1960 from Brown University, which later recognized him as a distinguished alumnus. Jordan's doctoral dissertation formed the foundation of what became his master work ''White Over Black''.

Career

Jordan's teaching career began in 1955 as a history instructor at Phillips Exeter Academy. After completing graduate school, Jordan spent two years as a fellow at the College of William and Mary's

Institute of Early American History and Culture The Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture (OI) is an independent research organization located in Williamsburg, Virginia, sponsored by William & Mary and Colonial Williamsburg. Founded in 1943, the OI supports the scholars and s ...

. He was Professor of History at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, from 1963–82, and the school's Associate Dean for Minority Group Affairs Graduate Division, 1968-70. As early as 1962, when he published an article on the status of ' mulattoes' in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...

, Jordan's work helped to illuminate the so-called

one-drop rule The one-drop rule is a legal principle of racial classification that was prominent in the 20th-century United States. It asserted that any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry ("one drop" of "black blood")Davis, F. James. Frontlin" ...

, a uniquely American example of

hypodescent In societies that regard some races or ethnic groups of people as dominant or superior and others as subordinate or inferior, hypodescent refers to the automatic assignment of children of a mixed union to the subordinate group. The opposite pract ...

. It defined as "black" or African-American, persons with any amount of African ancestry, and was adopted into twentieth-century U.S. state laws, such as in 1924 in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. His synthesis, ''White Over Black'', looked at the history of race relations in the United States, and was influential for its assessment of issues of interracial sexuality. In assessing allegations about

and a liaison with his slave, Jordan was the first historian to use

Dumas Malone Dumas Malone (January 10, 1892 – December 27, 1986) was an American historian, biographer, and editor noted for his six-volume biography on Thomas Jefferson, '' Jefferson and His Time'', for which he received the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for history ...

's timeline of Jefferson's activities to demonstrate that he was at Monticello for the conception of each of Sally Hemings' children. In 1982, Jordan relocated to the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

, where he was the William F. Winter Professor of History and Afro-American Studies for more than 20 years. While there he influenced many graduate and undergraduate students.

Marriage and family

He married Phyllis Henry. They had three sons Joshua, Mott, and Eliot Jordan, and later divorced."Winthrop Jordan: UM Mourns Death of Renowned Historian"
History News Network, 24 February 2007, accessed 12 March 2011 With his second marriage in 1982 to attorney and author Cora Miner Reilly (d. January 10, 2011), Winthrop Jordan became the stepfather of Stephen, Michael, and Mary Beth Reilly. He and Cora Jordan helped to found the first official Quaker meeting in the state of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. A few years after his 2004 retirement, Jordan died in his

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Ox ...

home at the age of 75 after suffering from

Lou Gehrig's Disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...

and liver cancer for several years.

Legacy and honors

*In 2005, some of Jordan's former students published a collection of essays inspired by his influence, entitled ''Affect and Power: Essays on Sex, Slavery, Race, and Religion''. *2007, his former students established the Winthrop Jordan Memorial Research Fund "to further Professor Jordan's legacy of teaching, scholarship, and philanthropy by supporting graduate student research in slavery, race, religion, and sexuality.""Annual Giving"
The University of Mississippi

References

External links

"Winthrop Jordan Fund"
University of Mississippi

Columbia University * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Winthrop 1931 births 2007 deaths Harvard University alumni Clark University alumni Brown University alumni 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Historians of slavery Historians of the American Revolution Historians of the Southern United States History of the Thirteen Colonies National Book Award winners Phillips Exeter Academy faculty Deaths from motor neuron disease Neurological disease deaths in Mississippi Writers from Worcester, Massachusetts Deaths from liver cancer Deaths from cancer in Mississippi Historians from Massachusetts Bancroft Prize winners American male non-fiction writers