Samuel Proctor (March 29, 1919 – July 10, 2005) was an American history professor and author. He taught at the University of Florida (UF) and wrote about the school and the state's history.

Early life and education

Proctor was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. He was one of six sons of Jack Proctor, a

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

salesman who was born in Poland, and Celia Proctor (née Schneider), a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

. Proctor arrived 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 ...

as a freshman in 1937 and received his

Bachelor of Arts 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 1941. As an

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

, he was on the staff of the ''

Florida Alligator ''The Independent Florida Alligator'' is the daily student newspaper of the University of Florida. ''The Alligator'' is one of the largest student-run newspapers in the United States, with a daily circulation of 35,000 and readership of more th ...

''. He received his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from UF in 1942 after only two semesters, in which the wrote a 560-page thesis,
Napoleon Bonaparte Broward: The Portrait of a Progressive Democrat
'' on

Florida Governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the state of Florida and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Florida ...

Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Napoleon Bonaparte Broward (April 19, 1857 – October 1, 1910) was an American river pilot, captain, and politician. He was elected as the 19th governor of the U.S. state of Florida, serving from January 3, 1905, to January 5, 1909. He was mos ...

. In 1950 Proctor published
Napoleon Bonaparte Broward: Florida's Fighting Democrat
' with the

University Press of Florida The University Press of Florida (UPF) is the scholarly publishing arm of the State University System of Florida, representing Florida's twelve state universities. It is located in Gainesville near the University of Florida, one of the state's majo ...

. Proctor served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, where he taught reading and

arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...

to illiterate Army recruits at

Camp Blanding Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is the primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, both the Florida Army National Guard and certain nonflying activities of the Florida Air National Guard. The installation i ...

near Starke.

Career at the University of Florida

Discharged Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

from the service in 1946, he was offered scholarships to pursue an

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

degree at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. However, he instead decided to return to the University of Florida, originally to attend the

College of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

. One of his former professors, William Carleton (chairman of the freshman

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

program and later namesake of Carleton Hall) convinced him to help alleviate the post-war shortage of teachers. In 1953,

University President A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

J. Hillis Miller, Sr. named Proctor the first UF Historian and Archivist and commissioned for him a book on UF history in honor of the university's 100th anniversary. The resulting work was submitted by Proctor as his dissertation,
The University of Florida: its early years 1853-1906
''','' and he received 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 1958. Proctor remained the UF Historian and Archivist until his death, serving even in retirement. He published a history of the university, ''Gator History: A Pictorial History of the University of Florida'', in 1986 with Langley Press. Proctor became a professor of

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

at the UF and taught at the university for 50 years. Proctor was a leading figure in the development of

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

. He founded the Oral History Program in 1967 (which is now one of the largest oral history programs in the United States) and was its director. The program was later renamed the

Samuel Proctor Oral History Program The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) is the official oral history program at the University of Florida. With over 6,500 interviews and more than 150,000 pages of transcribed material, it is one of the premier oral history programs in ...

in his honor. He was also noted as an expert on Florida history, and edited the

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

Florida Historical Quarterly ''The Florida Historical Quarterly'' is an American academic journal, published four times a year by the Florida Historical Society. With editorial offices at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, the journal is a scholarly pub ...

'' for over 40 years. He held the titles of Julian C. Yonge Professor of Florida History and Distinguished Service Professor of History. Proctor also held the post of Curator of History at the

Florida Museum of Natural History The Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) is Florida's official state-sponsored and chartered natural-history museum. Its main facilities are located at 3215 Hull Road on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. The main pub ...

and was the director of the Center for Florida Studies. Proctor also served as the University of Florida Historian. He established the University Archives and wrote major works on the university's history. Proctor is also credited with helping to establish the Center for Jewish Studies at UF. Proctor was one of two

academics An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

to be on the 1998 Lakeland ''

Ledger A ledger is a book or collection of accounts in which account transactions are recorded. Each account has an opening or carry-forward balance, and would record each transaction as either a debit or credit in separate columns, and the ending or ...

'' list of the "50 Most Important Floridians of the 20th Century," selected by a panel of distinguished Floridians. Proctor retired from teaching in 1993 but remained involved with the university, maintaining an office in Turlington Hall and heading several

University of Florida Alumni Association 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 ...

and University of Florida Foundation committees. Proctor also served as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

in court and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Florida Historical Society The Florida Historical Society is an organization that promotes the study of the history of Florida. Incorporated in 1856, the Society collects, preserves and publishes materials relating to the history of Florida and its denizens. After being re ...

. The Samuel Proctor Endowment was established in his honor for history graduate students, known as Samuel Proctor Scholars. Proctor was a longtime friend of Bob Graham, the

Florida governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the state of Florida and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Florida ...

and

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

who was one of his students.

References

External links

Dr. Samuel Proctor Oral History Interview
conducted in August 2002 by Dr. Mark Greenberg. Audio file and written transcript.
Samuel Proctor Oral History Program
home page, retrieved 2019-06-17. {{DEFAULTSORT:Proctor, Samuel 1919 births 2005 deaths University of Florida alumni University of Florida faculty Historians of Florida

Early life and education

Career at the University of Florida

See also

References

External links