John Wesley Blassingame (March 23, 1940 – February 13, 2000) was an American historian and pioneer in the study of

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

. He was the former chairman of the

African-American studies Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...

program at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. The achievements for which he is best remembered include his editorship of the papers of

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

, abolitionist and author.

Biography

Blassingame was born on March 23, 1940, in Covington,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, to Grady and Odessa Blassingame. He received a bachelor's degree at Fort Valley State College (1960), a master's degree at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

(1961), and a master's degree (1968) and a doctorate (1971) at

. His doctoral dissertation, written under the supervision of C. Vann Woodward, was titled ''A Social and Economic Study of the Negro in New Orleans, 1860–1880''. Blassingame taught at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

, and the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

. He joined the faculty at Yale University in 1970 and became a history professor in 1974. He remained at Yale University as a professor of history, African-American studies, and

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, History of the United States, history, Society of the United States, society, and Culture of the Unit ...

for 29 years. Blassingame wrote and edited several books, including ''New Perspectives on Black Studies'' (1971), '' The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South'' (1972), ''Black New Orleans, 1860–1880'' (1973), and ''Frederick Douglass, the Clarion Voice'' (1976). In addition, Blassingame collected slave letters, interviews, and other materials in his ''Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews, and Autobiographies'' (1977), which include a large selection of annotated and authenticated accounts of slaves speaking for themselves during the slavery period of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...

, and others. From 1979 to 1999, Blassingame worked on editing the papers of

and published six volumes of Douglass's papers and manuscripts. He also joined several writers in his work of editing and writing. He was a co-author with Mary F. Berry of ''Long Memory: The Black Experience in America'' (1982), and a co-editor with Louis Harlan of ''The Autobiographical Writings of Booker T. Washington'' (1972). Blassingame was a lifelong member of many history preservation, heritage, and educational organizations such as 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, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

, Southern History Association, the

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1914. The fraternity's founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to ...

fraternity, and the Phi Alpha Theta honor society. The John W. Blassingame award is named for him. Blassingame died on February 13, 2000. According to his son, the cause of death was not known.

Works

* ''New Perspectives on Black Studies,'' (1971) * ''The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South'' (1972) * ''Black New Orleans, 1860-1880'' (1977) * ''New Perspectives on Black Studies'' * ''Long Memory: The Black Experience in America'', (1981)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blassingame, John Wesley 1940 births 2000 deaths 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Academics from Georgia (U.S. state) African-American historians African-American male writers American male non-fiction writers Fort Valley State University alumni Historians from Georgia (U.S. state) Historians of African Americans Historians of the Southern United States Howard University alumni People from Covington, Georgia American social historians Yale University alumni Yale University faculty