Bertram Wyatt-Brown (March 19, 1932 – November 5, 2012) was a noted
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
of the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocea ...
. He was the Richard J. Milbauer Professor Emeritus at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, where he taught from 1983-2004; he also taught at
Case Western University
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...
for nearly two decades. He studied the role of honor in southern society, in all classes, and wrote a family study of the Percy Family, including its twentieth-century authors
William Alexander Percy
William Alexander Percy (May 14, 1885 – January 21, 1942), was a lawyer, planter, and poet from Greenville, Mississippi. His autobiography ''Lanterns on the Levee'' ( Knopf 1941) became a bestseller. His father LeRoy Percy was the last Unit ...
and
Walker Percy
Walker Percy, OSB (May 28, 1916 – May 10, 1990) was an American writer whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is noted for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans; his first, ''The Moviegoer'', won the Nati ...
.
Early life and education
Born in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in ...
, Wyatt-Brown was the son of Laura H. and
Hunter Wyatt-Brown, an Episcopal priest who became a bishop.
[ Wyatt-Brown was prepared at historic Saint James School in Maryland, then matriculated at the ]University of the South
The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of t ...
in Sewanee, Tennessee, earning his B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 1953.
He joined the Armed Services and served from 1953 to 1955, becoming a lieutenant junior grade in the Naval Reserve.[ After his military service, he received a second B.A. degree from ]King's College King's College or The King's College refers to two higher education institutions in the United Kingdom:
*King's College, Cambridge, a constituent of the University of Cambridge
*King's College London, a constituent of the University of London
It ca ...
at Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1957. Wyatt-Brown earned his Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in history at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
in 1963, having worked under the supervision of C. Vann Woodward
Comer Vann Woodward (November 13, 1908 – December 17, 1999) was an American historian who focused primarily on the American South and race relations. He was long a supporter of the approach of Charles A. Beard, stressing the influence of unse ...
, the noted historian of the South.
Career
Wyatt-Brown was the Richard J. Milbauer Professor ''Emeritus'' at the University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, where he taught from 1983-2004, and Visiting Scholar, Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
. He previously taught at Colorado State University
Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1 ...
, University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of C ...
, and Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location i ...
(1966-1983), with special appointments to University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
, University of Richmond
The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...
, and the College of William and Mary
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
.
During his career, Wyatt-Brown wrote ten books, and more than 90 articles, forewords, and essays, and nearly 150 book reviews and essay reviews. He served on the Editorial Advisory Board for ''Ohio History,'' the scholarly journal of the Ohio Historical Society, 1978-1986; and was Series editor of the Louisiana State Press' ''Southern Biography Series''. He is a past president of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (1994), the St. George Tucker
St. George Tucker (July 10, 1752 – November 10, 1827) was a Bermudian-born American lawyer, military officer and professor who taught law at the College of William & Mary. He strengthened the requirements for a law degree at the college, as he ...
Society (1998–99), and the Southern Historical Association
The Southern Historical Association is a professional academic organization of historians focusing on the history of the Southern United States. It was organized on November 2, 1934. Its objectives are the promotion of interest and research in Sout ...
(2000–01).
At the time of his death, he was writing ''Honor and America's Wars: From the Revolution to Iraq.'' In 1983 Wyatt-Brown was a history finalist for the American Book Award
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
and the Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had ma ...
for his best-known work, ''Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South'' (1982), described as a study of the "meaning and expression of the ancient code of honor as whites -- both slaveholders and non-slaveholders -- applied it to their lives."
Personal life and death
In 1962 he married Anne Jewett Marbury, whom he met at Johns Hopkins. They have two daughters, Laura and Natalie.[Alan Jalowitz, "Bertram Wyatt-Brown"]
, Pennsylvania State University, Spring 2006, accessed 5 September 2011
Wyatt-Brown died on November 5, 2012.
Works
* ''Lewis Tappan
Lewis Tappan (May 23, 1788 – June 21, 1873) was a New York abolitionist who worked to achieve freedom for the enslaved Africans aboard the '' Amistad''. Tappan was also among the founders of the American Missionary Association in 1846, which ...
and the Evangelical War against Slavery'', Cleveland: Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1969.
* ''The American People in the Antebellum South'', (editor) West Haven, CT: Pendulum Press, 1973.
* '' Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South,'' New York: Oxford U Press, 1982.
* ''Yankee Saints and Southern Sinners,'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State U Press, 1985.
* ''Honor and Violence in the Old South,'' New York: Oxford U Press, 1986.
* '' The House of Percy: Honor, Melancholy, and Imagination in a Southern Family,'' New York: Oxford U Press, 1994.
* ''The Literary Percys: Family History, Gender, and the Southern Imagination,'' Athens: U of Georgia Press, 1994.
* ''The Shaping of Southern Culture: Honor, Grace, and War, 1760s-1880s,'' Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2001.
* ''Hearts of Darkness: Wellsprings of a Southern Literary Tradition,'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State U Press, 2003.
* ''Virginia's Civil War,'' (editor with Peter Wallenstein) Charlottesville: U of Virginia Press, 2004.[
* "A Warring Nation: Honor, Race, and Humiliation in America's Wars." Under contract to the University of Virginia Press as of November, 2012
]
References
Further reading
* . Burton, Vernon Orville. "Bertram Wyatt-Brown: An Honorable Man and a Man of Grace." ''Georgia Historical Quarterly'' (2015, 99#3 pp 213–21
online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyatt-Brown
2012 deaths
1932 births
Saint James School (Maryland) alumni
Sewanee: The University of the South alumni
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
University of Florida faculty
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
Historians of the Southern United States
History of the Thirteen Colonies
Historians of the United States
Writers from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Historians from Pennsylvania
20th-century American male writers