Lawrence John Nelson
103 Willingham Hall, Box 5245 Home:
University of North Alabama 115 Willow Road
Florence, AL 35632 Florence, AL 35633
(256) 765-4528 (256) 766-9561
Fax: (256) 765-4536 ljnelson@una.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D. History, University of Missouri-Columbia, August 1972
A.M. History, University of Missouri-Columbia, June 1967
B.A. History, Evangel College, Springfield, MO, May 1966
Diploma, Joliet (Illinois) Junior College, June 1964
classes, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA,
attended 1970s
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
Professor of History, University of North Alabama, August 1985-present
(present rank since 1995)
Assistant Professor, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, 1984-85,
both summers (non-tenure track)
Consultant, Pearl River County Library System (MS), June-Dec 1983
(scholar-in-residence type position)
Associate Professor, Evangel College, Springfield, MO, 1978-83
Coordinator of Long Range Planning, Southern California College
(now Vanguard University of Southern California), Costa Mesa, CA,
October 1976-July 1978 (reported to college president)
Part-time positions include Southern California College, 1970s, Pasadena
City College (CA), 1974-76; University of Missouri-Columbia, several,
including Visiting Assistant Professor, summer 1973, and teaching
assistant or other title for 7 semesters, 1968-71; led discussion section
church history at Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, CA)
for 2 quarters, 1974
HONORS
Teaching/Faculty Honors
Outstanding Teacher of the Year, 1995-96 (Alpha Lambda Delta-sponsored
student body election), University of North Alabama
Certificate of Merit for the Outstanding Professor in the Department of History
For Excellence in Teaching (election sponsored by Rho Theta Chapter of Phi
Alpha Theta), University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, presented May 1985
Outstanding Faculty Award (student election sponsored by student government),
Evangel College, awarded April 1983
Panhellenic Teacher of the Month, February 2002, University of North Alabama
Teacher of the Month, Jan-Feb 1998, Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, University of North
Alabama
Teacher of the Week, October 1998, Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority, University of
North Alabama
nominee, Professor of the Year (nominated by UNA), Council for the Advancement
and Support of Education, June 1999
Publishing/Research Honors
Bottimore Outstanding Academic Achievement Award 2004, April King
Cotton's Advocate: Oscar G. Johnston and the New Deal. Knoxville: University
of Tennessee Press, 1999; and Rumors of Indiscretion: The University of Missouri
"Sex Questionnaire Scandal in the Jazz Age. Columbia and London: University
of Missouri Press, 2003 (Award included a $5000 grant for further academic
research, acquisition of resources, etc.)
2000 McLemore Prize for best book on Mississippi history or biography, by the Mississippi
Historical Society, April 2000, for King Cotton's Advocate
Honorable Mention, Bottimore Outstanding Achievement Award, University of North
Alabama, Dec 2000, for King Cotton's Advocate
Moore Memorial Award for best article in Tennessee Historical Quarterly during 1981, for
"New Deal and Free Market: The Memphis Meeting of the Southern
Commissioners of Agriculture, 1937," Fall 1981
research grants, several (Arts & Science, University), University of North Alabama, and
others, over many years
Service Honors
2002 Outstanding Service Award (highest such faculty/staff award given by the
University of North Alabama), awarded April 2002
Educational Service Award (by Picayune, MS, Association of Educators), awarded
May 1984
Miscellaneous Honors
Sammy O. Cranford Memorial Lecture in History, Delta State University, Cleveland,
MS, April 2002
Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, honorary alumni, University of North Alabama,
initiated 2003
Omicron Delta Kappa (leadership), University of North Alabama, initiated 1996
Alpha Lambda Delta (academic), honorary member, University of North Alabama,
initiated 1994
Phi Kappa Phi (academic), University of North Alabama, initiated 1989
"Spring Fling King,” University of North Alabama, awarded at Step-Sing 2002
Alpha Theta Chi (service and honor society), honorary member, 2005
PUBLICATIONS/CONFERENCES
Books
Rumors of Indiscretion: The University of Missouri "Sex Questionnaire" Scandal in the
Jazz Age. Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press, 2003
King Cotton's Advocate: Oscar G. Johnston and the New Deal. Knoxville: University of
Tennessee Press, 1999
further research/writing on a potential new book is in progress (Cold War)
Conferences and Published Articles
"Oscar Johnston, the New Deal, and the Cotton Subsidy Payments Controversy, 1936-
1937," Journal of Southern History, 40 (August 1974), 399-416.
"New Deal and Free Market: The Memphis Meeting of the Southern Commissioners
of Agriculture, 1937," Tennessee Historical Quarterly, 40 (Fall 1981), 225-38. An
earlier draft of this paper was presented in a session of the Twenty-Third
Missouri Valley Conference on History, Omaha, NE, March 7, 1980.
"The Art of the Possible: Another Look at the 'Purge' of the AAA Liberals in 1935,"
Agricultural History, 57 (October 1983), 416-35. An earlier draft of this
paper was presented in a session of the Twenty-Fourth Missouri
Conference on History, Excelsior Springs, MO, April 9. 1982.
"Welfare Capitalism on a Mississippi Plantation in the Great Depression," Journal of
Southern History, 50 (May 1984), 225-50. An earlier draft of this paper was
presented in a session of the Twenty-Third Missouri Conference on
History, Columbia, Missouri, April 10, 1981.
"Gainesville and Its Advocate: A Year in the Life of a Mississippi Frontier Town," Gulf
Coast Historical Review, 1 (Fall 1985), 39-56. Earlier drafts appeared in
installments in two Mississippi newspapers; portions were presented to a
meeting of a genealogical society in Pearl River County, MS in 1983.
"The Historian as Scholar-in-Residence: Public History in a South Mississippi County,"
Reports: The Journal of the State Humanities Councils, 7 (Nov-Dec
1984 issue), 18-22. An earlier draft was presented to a session of state
humanities councils, Biloxi, MS, March 1984.
"The Demise of O'Reilly Hospital and the Beginning of Evangel College, 1946-1955,"
Missouri Historical Review, 81 (July 1987), 417-46.
"Memorializing the Lost Cause in Florence, Alabama, 1866-1903," The Alabama Review,
41 (July 1988), 179-92. Drafts presented in a session of the Alabama
Historical Association, Huntsville, AL, April 1987, and to the Tennessee
Valley Historical Society, Lauderdale County, AL, October 1987, and to
other groups.
"King Cotton Needs a Voice: The Organization of the National Cotton Council of
America, 1938-1939," Eightieth Anniversary Symposium of the Agricultural
History Society, Mississippi State University, Starkville, June 17, 1999.
Extracted from King Cotton's Advocate.
Encyclopedia Articles
"Commodity Credit Corporation;" "Davis, Chester;" "Frank, Jerome;" in Encyclopedia of
the Great Depression, Robert S. McElvaine (editor in chief), New York:
Macmillan Reference USA, 2004.
Newspapers
"Constitution came of age with peaceful transfer of power in 1801," Birmingham News,
September 13, 1987 (part of bicentennial series)
The remaining newspaper articles were completed in connection with the Mississippi
Committee for the Humanities grant to the Pearl River County (MS)
Library System; the titles and text in the various publications may vary
from newspaper to newspaper. Material from some of the articles is
found in other publications listed above.
"Bilbo enchanted crowd at 1926 rally: Segregationist's rhetoric recalled in McNeill
grove," Hattiesburg American, July 26, 1983; Poplarville Democrat, July 28,
1983; Picayune Item, July 31, 1983; Mississippi Gulf Coast Sun, October 13,
1983
"The lessons of Gainesville: Part I, One year in the life of a frontier town," Picayune
Item, August 14, 1983; Poplarville Democrat, August 18, 1983
"The lessons of Gainesville: Part II, Slavery was an integral part of culture," Picayune
Item, August 21, 1983; Poplarville Democrat, August 25, 1983
"The lessons of Gainesville: Part III, Railroad by-passed once-thriving town," Picayune
Item, August 28, 1983; Poplarville Democrat, September 2, 1983
"Orville Carver: Remembering one Pearl River County man's sacrifice during the Great
War," Picayune Item, September 4, 1983; Poplarville Democrat, September
15, 1983; Hattiesburg American, December 4, 1983 (shorter version)
"Methodist Centennial: Chapters from the first Quarter-Century--1883-1983," Picayune
Item, September 18, 1983; Poplarville Democrat, September 22, 1983 (some of this
material was utilized in a privately-printed history of the church, 1883-1983, by
members of that church)
"'Maroon Tide' or 'Thin Red Line,' it's all the same," Picayune Item, October 2, 1983
(editor) "'Poplar Jim' or 'Popular Jim': A controversy in 1905 over the origins of
Poplarville's name," Picayune Item, October 16, 1983; Poplarville Democrat,
October 20, 1983
"Railroad brought economic life to Picayune," Picayune Item, November 18, 1983
"Part I: Prelude, 1939-41, Pearl River County during World War II," Picayune Item,
October 30, 1983; Poplarville Democrat, December 1, 1983
"Part II: Blackout, Pearl River County during World War II," Picayune Item,
November 6, 1983; Poplarville Democrat, December 8, 1983
"Part III: Rationing, Pearl River County during World War II," Picayune Item,
November 13, 1983; Poplarville Democrat, December 15, 1983
"Part IV: Sacrifice, Pearl River County during World War II," Picayune Item,
November 20, 1983; Poplarville Democrat, December 22, 1983
"Symbols reflect area's economic culture," Picayune Item, November 27, 1983
"Broom sticks and bus bodies: Depression-era innovations," Picayune Item,
December 4, 1983
"Caesar to Bay St. Louis: a two-day odyssey," Picayune Item, December 11, 1983
"County's early movie houses offered exciting fare," Picayune Item, December 25, 1983
"Nelson's visit was 'a Yankee's education'," Picayune Item, January 8, 1984 (portion also
appeared in Federation Reports, above)
Magazines
"'This House is Yours'," Decision, January 1987 (about 2 million circulation)
"Grace at the Intersection," Pentecostal Evangel, August 21, 1994
"Lowering the Nets on 'Whiskey Row'," Today's Pentecostal Evangel, July 23, 2006
Book Reviews
Theodore Saloutos, The American Farmer and the New Deal (Ames: Iowa State
University Press, 1981), in Journal of Southern History, 49 (August 1983),
475-76.
John Hawkins Napier III, Lower Pearl River's Piney Woods: Its Land and People
(University: University of Mississippi Center for the Study of Southern
Culture, 1985), in Gulf Coast Historical Review, 2 (Fall 1986), 110-12.
Chester M. Morgan, Redneck Liberal: Theodore G. Bilbo and the New Deal (Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 1985), in Journal of Southern History,
53 (May 1987), 342-44.
David Garrow, Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.,
1986), in History: Reviews of New Books, 15 (January/February 1987), 73.
Gaines M. Foster, Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause, and the Emergence of
the New South, 1865 to 1913 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), in
The Alabama Review, 43 (January 1990), 51-52.
Robert McNamara. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam (New York:
Times Books, 1995) in RiverViews, July/August 1995, 47.
Samuel Hill, One Name but Several Faces: Varieties in Popular Denominations in Southern
History (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996), in North Carolina Historical
Review, (October 1996), 507-08.
REFEREE/COMMENT
Referee for numerous potential articles for Journal of Southern History (most recent completed in
2004); one potential article for Agricultural History; asked to comment on one potential
article for Gulf Coast Historical Review.
SPEECHES/ADDRESSES
Over more than a quarter century, I have spoken to scores of groups in various settings, including civic
(as in Rotary, Civitan, Kiwanis, Lions), churches and church groups, retired groups, school (from elementary
to college), historical, patriotic and women's groups, in open-air public (as in a dedication and a celebration), and
even to a homebuilders association! Topics often included items cited under publications above; numerous
speeches were given as part of my membership on the Bicentennial Speakers Bureau, Alabama Humanities
Foundation, 1987; and during my scholar-in-residence activities as Consultant to the Pearl River County Library
System in Mississippi, 1983.
COMMITTEES/SPONSORSHIP/CAMPUS SPEECHES/etc.
Over many years service has included various committee assignments, including--but not limited to--Chair,
Educational Support Services Committee of self-study for Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
(5.1-5.4 of Criteria for Accreditation), 1990-92, Self-study Steering Committee (ex officio member), 1990-92,
Academic Affairs Committee (faculty senate committee), University Research Committee, Commencement
Committee, Arts and Sciences Research Grant Committee (several years), Chair, General Studies Degree
committee for first student entering program (A & S), Convocations Committee, Chair, Phi Kappa Phi national
scholarship competition committee, 1992-93, Library Committee, Facilities Committee (Willingham Hall),
Student Publications.
Faculty sponsor or co-sponsor for several student groups over many years; participation in various
departmental and university/student activities, including emcee for history competition for high school
students, sponsored by the History and Political Science Department and the Tennessee Valley Historical
Society; also, emcee (with my wife) of Mr. Spring Fling Pageant 2004; a Greek Week competition, 2005;
Step-Sing participant (faculty-staff), several years; ad hoc speaker for UNA Leadership Forum, SOAR,
speaking to Greek organizations on campus, etc. Also, judge at high school contests, American Legion
oratorical contests, board of directors for Cooperative Campus Ministries, served in a non-ordained pastoral
role of a rural church, 1988-1997, etc. Interviews on local television and radio in Missouri and Alabama.
PERSONAL
Born: Joliet, Illinois, October 20, 1944; high school, New York and Illinois,
Class of 1962
States lived in: Illinois, New York, Missouri, California, Mississippi, Alabama
Married: Verlie M. Vipond Nelson, May 31, 1969 (the best person in the world!)
Children: Lawrence Peter Nelson II (born September 1970; deceased)
Peter John Nelson (born September 1975)
Julia Suzanne Nelson (born February 1977)
Religion: Christian: (imperfect) follower of Jesus Christ
Life member: Southern Historical Association