Reavis Lee Mitchell Jr. (July 12, 1947 – June 16, 2020) was an American historian and academic administrator. He was the dean of the School of Humanities and Behavioral Social Sciences and professor of history at

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

, a historically black university in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the chairman of the Tennessee Historical Commission from 2015 to 2020.

Early life and education

Mitchell was born on July 12, 1947, in Nashville, Tennessee. He attended St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School and Pearl High school, and he earned a Bachelor of Arts from

, Master of Science from Tennessee State University, and PhD from Middle Tennessee State University.

Career

Mitchell began his career as a member of the history faculty at Fisk University in 1980. He also worked as an adjunct professor at the

University of St. Francis The University of St. Francis is a private Franciscan university with its main campus in Joliet, Illinois. It enrolls more than 3,900 students at locations throughout the country with about 1,300 students at its main campus. History The Unive ...

and Vanderbilt University. Mitchell held several administrative posts at Fisk, including Director of Institutional Advancement, Executive Assistant to the President, and Dean of Academic Affairs. Mitchell served on the Tennessee Historical Commission from 2009 to his death, including as its chairman from 2015. He was also the executive vice president of the Tennessee Historical Society.

Death

Mitchell died on June 16, 2020, in Brentwood, at the age of 72. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Dr. Mitchell's life was honored at the 2021 Nashville Conference on African American History and Culture in Nashville, Tennessee. The conference produced
profile
on him as part of the 2021 conference proceedings.

Personal life

Mitchell had a wife, Dr. Patricia W. Mitchell, and four sons, Reavis L. Mitchell III, Roland W. Mitchell, Reagan P. Mitchell, and Roman B.W. Mitchell He resided in

Brentwood, Tennessee Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census.Catholic church in North Nashville.

Works

References

1947 births 2020 deaths People from Brentwood, Tennessee Fisk University alumni Tennessee State University alumni Middle Tennessee State University alumni Fisk University faculty Place of birth missing Place of death missing African-American historians American university and college faculty deans Historians from Tennessee 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers African-American Catholics 20th-century American male writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American writers African-American male writers {{US-academic-administrator-1940s-stub