Timothy Tyson facts for kids

Timothy B. Tyson (born in 1959) is an American writer and historian. He studies topics like culture, religion, and race, especially related to the Civil Rights Movement. He works as a senior research scholar at Duke University and is also a professor at the University of North Carolina.

His books have won several important awards, including the Frederick Jackson Turner Award and the James A. Rawley Prize (OAH). Two of his books, Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power (1998) and Blood Done Sign My Name (2004), have even been made into movies. The latter was also turned into a play.

In 2017, Tyson published The Blood of Emmett Till. This book won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.

Early Life and Education

Timothy Tyson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. His parents were Vernon Tyson, a Methodist minister, and Martha Tyson, a school teacher. When he was young, his family lived in Oxford, North Carolina. In 1970, a 23-year-old Black veteran named Henry Marrow was killed by three white men. An all-white jury later said the suspects were not guilty.

After this, Black residents organized a boycott of white businesses in the town. This led to the town becoming integrated after 18 months. Because Timothy's father supported the civil rights movement, he had to leave his church.

Tyson studied at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University in 1987. He then received his PhD in history from Duke University in 1994.

Career Highlights

Teaching History

Tyson started teaching at Duke University in 1994 while finishing his PhD. He was recognized for his work on a story from the "Second Reconstruction" in South Carolina. This work was later published in a collection called Jumpin' Jim Crow: The New Southern Political History.

In 1994, he became an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also spent time as a Senior Fellow at the National Humanities Center. In 2006, he received the Grawemeyer Award in Religion.

Today, Tyson is a Senior Research Scholar at Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies. He also teaches about race, religion, and civil rights in the South at the Duke Divinity School. He holds a position in the American Studies Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In 2007, Tyson taught a special course called "The South in Black and White." It was held at the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham and included students from Duke, North Carolina Central University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2008, he led another community course in Wilmington called "Wilmington in Black and White." This course explored how Southern history can help with racial understanding.

Tyson is also on the board of the North Carolina NAACP and the UNC Center for Civil Rights. These groups work to protect civil rights and promote equality.

Important Books

Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Uprising of 1898 and Its Legacy

Tyson's first book, Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Uprising of 1898 and Its Legacy (1998), was co-edited with David S. Cecelski. It was published to mark 100 years since the Wilmington insurrection of 1898. This book won an award for its study of prejudice and human rights.

In 2006, Tyson wrote an article about the events in Wilmington for two major newspapers. Soon after, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a law. This law required public schools to teach about the white supremacy campaigns and the Wilmington events of 1898. His article won an award for excellence.

Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power

In 1998, Tyson wrote an article about civil rights leader Robert F. Williams and his "Radio Free Dixie" program. The next year, he published the book Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power. This book won the Frederick Jackson Turner Prize for the best first book in U.S. history. It also won the James A. Rawley Prize (OAH) for the best book about race.

The book was later adapted into a documentary film called Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power. Tyson was a main consultant for the film, which premiered on PBS in 2007. The film won an award for best historical film.

Blood Done Sign My Name

Tyson wrote Blood Done Sign My Name, published in 2004. This book tells the story of the killing of Henry Marrow, a Black Army veteran, in Oxford, North Carolina, in 1970. It also explores how the African-American community reacted when the suspects were found not guilty by an all-white jury.

The book won the 2005 Southern Book Award. It was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2010, the book was made into a movie.

The Blood of Emmett Till

Published in 2017, The Blood of Emmett Till looks again at the tragic lynching of Emmett Till in 1955. The book became a New York Times bestseller. It won the 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and was considered for the National Book Award.

Wake County School Board Protest

On June 15, 2010, Timothy Tyson was arrested in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was protesting a decision by the Wake County school board. The board changed its policy on how students were assigned to schools. Before, students were bused to different schools to make sure schools had a mix of students from different backgrounds. The new policy allowed students to go to schools closer to their homes.

Tyson and others, including Rev. William Barber, who leads the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP, argued that this new policy would lead to schools being separated by race again. This is because people often live in neighborhoods that are mostly one race.