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C. Vann Woodward: Reinterpretation of Traditional Southern Historiographical Arguments
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Malone, G. Charmaine |
| Copyright Year | 2017 |
| Abstract | The writings of historian C. Vann Woodward (1908-1999) challenged the widely-held misconceptions regarding Southern civil rights issues that developed after the American Civil War Reconstruction period. During the 1930s through the 1960s, Woodward reexamined the assumption that Southern history was free of class and racial conflict between the Reconstruction and World War I (1877-1913). The intent of the customary rendition of Southern history was to overcome racism in contemporary society. As a white Southerner and an ardent supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr., Woodward argued that segregation did not develop as result of slavery but was driven by white supremacy political and social agendas. King referred to Woodward's book The Strange Career of Jim Crow, as the "historical bible of the Civil Rights Movement." This paper will demonstrate that Woodward's revolutionary historical interpretations significantly influenced Southern history ideology with respect to racial relations. Not only did Woodward illuminate misconceptions, misunderstandings and misinterpretations, he habitually highlighted possible logical solutions to the social issues that may have eased future racial maladies. To begin, this paper will outline the academic life of Woodward. It will then offer a comparison of his analysis of the South since Reconstruction as compared to more traditionalist Southern historians. To conclude, the article will offer a brief overview of other historians' opinions of Woodward's works, demonstrating his importance to Southern historiography. C. Vann Woodward was born in Vanndale, Arkansas on November 13, 1908 to Hugh and Bess Woodward. His father was an educator and school superintendent in Morrilton, Arkansas, where Woodward spent his childhood and initiated his lifelong love of academics. Woodward, like many white Southerners (including the author of this paper) was a descendant of Southern slave owners. His uncle, Comer Woodward, was a Methodist minister and a sociologist who was an adamant anti-racist, who passionately opposed segregation and the Ku Klux Klan, despite being a descendant of Southern slave owners. Comer introduced Woodward the younger to Southern social scientists Rupert B. Vance and Howard W. Odum, both of whom became role models for young Woodward. (1) During this time, Vance and Odum headed the most influential academic empires in the South, which included Henderson Brown College, Emory University and Chapel Hill, the "intellectual crossroads of the South." (2) In 1926 Woodward began at Henderson-Brown College in Arkadelphia, Arkansas then transferred to Emory University in Atlanta, where he received a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1930. While at Emory he found a circle of like-minded Southern liberals, including fellow future Pulitzer Prize winner in history David Morris Potter, and a group of young African Americans who were also strong proponents of racial equality and civil rights. Woodward became a professor of English Composition at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1933 he completed his Master's degree in political science at Columbia University, where he befriended Langston Hughes and W.E.B. Du Bois, both of whom had a great influence on his future Southern historical endeavors. (2) Coming of age in the 1930s Southern Progressive arena, Woodward decided to follow the career path of the historian rather than a social scientist like his Uncle Comer. In 1934 he received a grant for graduate studies at the University of North Carolina in American history. There he met Southern Progressives Robert Penn Warren and Howard K. Beale, who nurtured his views on racial and social issues, which prompted him to write his Ph.D. dissertation in 1937 titled Tom Watson: Agrarian Rebel. Southern Progressives argued that racism was a manifestation of legislated segregation and not a result of race relations during slavery. Woodward's dissertation was published as a book and launched his career as a prominent Southern historian. … |
| Starting Page | 4 |
| Ending Page | 4 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 92 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1202&context=issr |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
