Halls of Honor: College Men in the Old South

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments It is a pleasure to acknowledge the many people who helped bring this project to completion. The bulk of my initial archival research occurred through the generosity of two consecutive Summer Research Grants from Longwood University, Virginia. I want to express my appreciation to the wonderful professional staffs of the various archives and libraries I visited. I thank them for permission to quote from and reproduce materials from their collections. I am also indebted to Library Director Calvin Boyer and the interlibrary loan office at the Longwood University Library, and to the director of the Jay-Rollins Library at McMurry University, Joe Specht, and his interlibrary loan librarian, Terry Young. I will be forever thankful to a wide variety of scholars and colleagues who have read and commented on various drafts of this book over the years. Throughout this project, I had tremendous encouragement and advice from my mentor and friend Grady McWhiney, whose example as a scholar and teacher I hope to someday emulate. At Longwood University , James R. Munson and L. Marshall Hall read several drafts and always gave sage advice about thesis and direction. Bill Harbour, James Crowl, Maurice Sneller, and Gilbert “Jack” Millar also encouraged my further study of concepts of honor with a wide variety of contextual readings. Christopher A. Bjornsen, a developmental psychologist, helped me explore the vast literature about adolescent development. At McMurry University, I have had the great privilege of advice and friendship from some excellent colleagues. Robert Sledge and Robert Wettemann read the final manuscript and had several important suggestions . Gary Shanafelt, an expert on the Austro-Hungarian Empire, asxi sured me that he could only provide copyediting suggestions because this book is so far away from his field. Fortunately for me, he proved himself wrong when he made some of the most important contributions to my conclusions. Donald S. Frazier, whom I met in graduate school fifteen years ago, has become like a brother to me. His advice, friendship , and example have made this a better book, and me a better scholar. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the LSU Press in making this book. Sylvia Frank Rodrigue encouraged the project from the early stages through the finished product. I also want to thank the Press’s anonymous outside reader, whose questions and suggestions helped me to refine and strengthen my arguments. I owe a tremendous debt to my family. My parents, Rudy and Joyce, and my in-laws, George and Kaye, have always supported me in all that I do. My sister, Joy, and my brother, Dolph, have both inspired me with their energy and talents. I also want to thank my daughter, Catherine, who, at age eight, sat in my lap and typed at least two pages of this book so she could be a writer, too. She makes me proud every day. And finally , I want to thank my wife, Jill, whose intelligence, grace, and patience are matched only by her steadfast support through the years. acknowledgments xii alls of onor 1 Austin College, Texas Centenary College, Louisiana Oakland College, Mississippi University of Mississippi University of Alabama East Alabama Male College (Auburn University) University of Georgia South Carolina College Trinity College (later Duke University), N.C. University of North Carolina Maryville College, Tennessee Transylvania University, Kentucky Augusta College, Kentucky Emory and Henry College, Virginia Virginia Collegiate Institute (Roanoke College) Washington College, Virginia 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 2 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Virginia Military Institute Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia University of Virginia Randolph-Macon College, Virginia St. Mary’s College, Maryland antebellum southern colleges and universities mentioned 21 ...