C. Vann Woodward facts for kids

Quick facts for kids C. Vann Woodward
Born	Comer Vann Woodward (1908-11-13)November 13, 1908 Vanndale, Arkansas, U.S.
Died	December 17, 1999(1999-12-17) (aged 91) Hamden, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma mater	Henderson State University Emory University (BA) Columbia University (MA) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (PhD)
Awards	Bancroft Prize (1952) Pulitzer Prize for History (1982)
Scientific career
Institutions	Yale University Johns Hopkins University
Doctoral advisor	Howard K. Beale
Doctoral students	John W. Blassingame
Other notable students	Barbara J. Fields Sheldon Hackney Steven Hahn Richard J. Jensen James M. McPherson Edward L. Ayers

Comer Vann Woodward (born November 13, 1908 – died December 17, 1999) was an American historian. He mostly studied the American South and how different races got along. He believed that hidden economic reasons often shaped politics. Woodward was known for his clever writing style.

In the 1930s, he was seen as a left-leaning historian. By the 1950s, he was a leading liberal and supported civil rights. His famous book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, showed that racial segregation laws were created later in the 1800s, not right after the Civil War. Martin Luther King Jr. even called this book "the historical Bible of the civil rights movement." Woodward later won a Pulitzer Prize for History for his edited version of Mary Chesnut's Civil War diaries.

Early Life and Education

C. Vann Woodward was born in Vanndale, Arkansas. This town was named after his mother's family. He went to high school in Morrilton, Arkansas. He then attended Henderson-Brown College for two years. In 1930, he moved to Emory University in Atlanta, where he earned his bachelor's degree. After college, he taught English for two years at Georgia Tech.

In 1931, Woodward started graduate school at Columbia University in New York. He earned his master's degree there in 1932. In New York, he met and was inspired by important figures like W. E. B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes. These people were part of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when Black artists and writers created amazing works.

Woodward continued his studies at the University of North Carolina. He earned his Ph.D. in history in 1937. His main project was a book about Thomas E. Watson, a politician. During World War II, Woodward served in the Navy. He wrote about major battles. His book, The Battle for Leyte Gulf (1947), became the main study of that huge naval battle.

Woodward's Career as a Historian

Woodward wanted to use history to understand disagreements and protests. He wrote about Tom Watson, a Georgia politician. Watson was a populist leader in the 1890s. He focused the anger of poor white people against banks and big businesses. Later, Watson became known for promoting hatred against Black people.

Understanding Jim Crow Laws

Woodward's most important book was The Strange Career of Jim Crow (1955). This book explained that racial segregation laws, known as Jim Crow laws, were not always around. They developed much later. After the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, Woodward gave talks that became this book.

In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. called the book "the historical bible of the Civil Rights Movement." The book was very popular and helped shape the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Woodward argued that Jim Crow laws did not appear right after the Reconstruction period. Instead, they came later. He showed that in the 1880s, there were some informal ways people were separated by race. But by the 1890s, white southerners created strict, statewide Jim Crow laws.

Studying the New South

Another important book by Woodward was Origins of the New South, 1877–1913 (1951). This book looked at the history of the South after the Civil War. It showed how economic forces shaped history. Woodward argued that this period was very different from what came before. He disagreed with romantic ideas about the past and overly positive views of the "New South."

Teaching and Awards

Woodward taught at Johns Hopkins University from 1946 to 1961. He then became a special professor of history at Yale from 1961 to 1977. He taught many students there. He also wrote many essays for magazines like the New York Review of Books. He guided many students who were getting their Ph.D.s. Some of his notable students include:

• James M. McPherson, a professor at Princeton University.
• Barbara Fields, a professor at Columbia University.
• Steven Hahn, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1974, a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives asked Woodward to study past problems in presidential administrations. He led a group of historians who wrote a 400-page report. In 1978, he received the Jefferson Lecture, a high honor for people who achieve great things in the humanities. Woodward won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for his edited version of Mary Chesnut's Civil War. He also won the Bancroft Prize for Origins of the New South.

Later Career and Views

Woodward was always thoughtful about how his own time influenced his historical work. In 1969, as president of the American Historical Association, he helped stop a plan by some historians to make the organization more political.

Later, he joined a group of scholars who disagreed with some academic trends. He also wrote a positive review of a book that discussed politics in universities. This led to some public disagreements with other historians.

Death and Legacy

C. Vann Woodward passed away on December 17, 1999, in Hamden, Connecticut. He was 91 years old.

To honor him, the Southern Historical Association created the C. Vann Woodward Dissertation Prize. This award is given each year for the best Ph.D. paper on Southern history. There is also a special teaching position at Yale University named after him and his son, called the Peter V. and C. Vann Woodward Chair of History.

Works

Books

• Tom Watson, Agrarian Rebel (1938)
• The Battle for Leyte Gulf (1947, new ed. 1965)
• Origins of the New South, 1877–1913 (1951)
• Reunion and Reaction: The Compromise of 1877 and the End of Reconstruction (1951, rev. ed. 1991)
• The Strange Career of Jim Crow. (1st ed. February 1955; 2nd ed. August 1965; 3rd ed. NY:Oxford University Press, 1974). ISBN: 978-0-19-501805-9.
• The Burden of Southern History (1955; 3rd ed. 1993)
• The Comparative Approach to American History (1968), editor
• American Counterpoint (1971). essays
• Mary Chesnut's Civil War (1981), editor. Pulitzer prize.
• Oxford History of the United States (1982–2018), series editor.
• Thinking Back: The Perils of Writing History (Louisiana State University Press, 1986). memoirs
• The Old World's New World (1991). lectures

Major Journal Articles

• "Tom Watson and the Negro in Agrarian Politics". Journal of Southern History, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Feb., 1938), pp. 14–33.
• "The Irony of Southern History". Journal of Southern History, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Feb., 1953), pp. 3–19.
• "The Political Legacy of Reconstruction". Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 26, No. 3, The Negro Voter in the South (Summer, 1957), pp. 231–240.
• "The Age of Reinterpretation". American Historical Review, Vol. 66, No. 1 (Oct., 1960), pp. 1–19.
• "History and the Third Culture". Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 3, No. 2, Reappraisals (Apr., 1968), pp. 23–35.
• "Clio With Soul". Journal of American History, Vol. 56, No. 1 (June, 1969), pp. 5–20.
• "The Future of the Past". American Historical Review, Vol. 75, No. 3 (Feb., 1970), pp. 711–726.
• "The Aging of America". American Historical Review, Vol. 82, No. 3 (Jun., 1977), pp. 583–594.
• "Strange Career Critics: Long May they Persevere". Journal of American History, Vol. 75, No. 3 (Dec., 1988), pp. 857–868.