David Gaffney Sansing (June 15, 1933 – July 6, 2019) was a history professor and author in Mississippi who wrote extensively about the state's complex history. He was a professor emeritus at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

at the time of his death. Sansing was born in Greenville, Mississippi and served in the Army during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Upon his return, he received his Bachelor and Masters degrees from Mississippi College and his PhD froom the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

. He was hired at Ole Miss in 1970. He wrote about various aspects of the state's history. Among his books is ''The University of Mississippi: A Sesquicentennial History'', considered to be the definitive history of the university. It was published for the school's sesquicentennial. Sansing died on July 6, 2019 at a hospital in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

following a fall at home.

Writings

*''Mississippi Governors: Soldiers, Statesmen, Scholars and Scoundrels'' *''The University of Mississippi: A Sesquicentennial History'' *'' Making Haste Slowly: The Troubled History of Higher Education in Mississippi'' *'' A History of the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion'' with Carroll Waller *''Mississippi: A Study of Your State'' with Ray Skates *''Mississippi: Its People and Culture'' *''Discovering Mississippi'' *''A Troubled History: The Governance of Higher Education in Mississippi'' The Nautilus Publishing Company *''What Was Freedom's Price'', editor University of Mississippi Press (1978) *''The Other Mississippi: A State in Conflict with Itself'' (2018) *"David Holmes, First and Fifth Governor of Mississippi: 1817-1820; 1826"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sansing, David 1933 births 2019 deaths University of Mississippi faculty Mississippi College alumni University of Southern Mississippi alumni Historians of Mississippi People from Greenville, Mississippi 20th-century American historians Historians from Mississippi 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American historians American male non-fiction writers