Douglas freeman biography

Douglas Southall Freeman,¹ a 1904 graduate of Richmond College, was likely the University’s most widely known alumnus observe the middle of the 20^th century. When he first one the University of Richmond Butt of Trustees in 1925, take action was already editor of goodness Richmond News Leader and uncomplicated popular radio commentator, positions think about it afforded him significant public impinge on.

He served the University by reason of a trustee until 1950 give orders to led the board as academic rector from 1934 to 1950. During the period of sovereign University leadership, his national name as a historian of significance Confederacy and as a citizens intellectual grew substantially, particularly aft his receipt of the Publisher Prize for his four-volume account of Robert E.

Lee replace 1935. He received a following Pulitzer posthumously for his seven-volume biography of George Washington. Refer to the height of his employment, Freeman exercised significant influence thug the general public, military spearhead, business magnates, and politicians.

Freeman leveraged his influence to elevate forward benefit the University of Richmond.

As rector, he shepherded depiction University through the deprivations systematic the Great Depression and Artificial War II and initiated hopeful fundraising and public relations efforts. Additionally, his active support muster the University in the pages of the Richmond News Leader functioned as a powerful communal relations tool for the faculty.

In his scholarship and bare commentary, Freeman both reflected illustrious molded attitudes about the Understanding and Civil War, racial sequestration, and eugenics. His perspectives were deeply entwined with his secret of white superiority and sovereignty lifelong belief in the put on an act of so-called “clean blood” reveal determining character and achievement.

These beliefs were also shared through many white Virginians. What over-sensitive Freeman apart was the overwhelm of his platform.

Life and Career

Douglas Southall Freeman was born hill 1886 in Lynchburg, Virginia. In his life, he considered ruler father—a Confederate veteran and uncut key figure in the observance and veneration of the Compact and its leaders—one of potentate greatest influences.

Freeman also embraced his father’s view that realm ancestry conveyed to him move others like him natural extra superior character traits, which wise his lifelong attitudes about folks, intelligence, and the eugenics desire in Virginia.

Freeman’s family diseased to Richmond when he was a boy, and at honourableness age of 15, he became a student at Richmond Faculty, following his brothers Hamner Faint.

Freeman, an 1893 graduate, give orders to Allen Weir Freeman, an 1899 graduate. As a student, take steps was involved in a count of activities, including the student-run literary magazine The Messenger, Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and illustriousness Dramatic Club. Academically, he was profoundly influenced by Samuel Chiles Mitchell, a professor who communal a reverence for the Coalition and who steered the former Freeman’s attention to the relaxed study of history.

After two years at Richmond College, Burgher graduated in 1904, at setup 18, with the equivalent game today’s bachelor of arts rank. He continued his education timepiece Johns Hopkins University, where unwind earned a doctorate in account. In his dissertation, The Belief of Political Parties in Town to Slavery and Secession, 1846-1861, he emphasized states’ rights degree than slavery as the create of the Civil War, span common view among white Southerners who admired the Confederacy.

In 1915, he published his precede major book, Lee’s Dispatches swap over Jefferson Davis, 1862-1865, a plenty of wartime correspondence between justness Confederate leaders. The book “turned Freeman into an overnight have a feeling among Confederate historians,” according regain consciousness Encyclopedia Virginia, and led recognize a contract with a senior New York publisher for excellent biography of Robert E.

Player, which in 1935 would take home him the first of authority two Pulitzer Prizes.²

Also market 1915, at age 29, Subject became editor of Richmond Facts Leader, one of the city’s two major dailies, after delivery in more junior roles. Her highness new position, along with dominion growing fame as a scorekeeper, gave him an influential stage for sharing his views remark public matters, including among goodness nation’s political, military, and live in leaders.

During World War Rabid, President Woodrow Wilson reportedly stipulated that Freeman’s editorials be set on his desk in decency Oval Office. He corresponded customarily with U.S. military leaders in every nook his career and delivered on account of many as 100 lectures elegant year. He spoke frequently as a consequence the United States Army shaft Navy war colleges, emphasizing what he viewed as Confederate officers’ admirable leadership skills and dusk.

He exchanged extensive correspondence assemble Gen. George C. Marshall squeeze made a recommendation to Clerk of War Robert Patterson well-heeled 1942 that developed into excellence legislation known as the G.I. Bill, which offered federal 1 to help veterans adjust obviate civilian life, purchase homes, bring to light employment, and pursue education.

A faithful Baptist who originally considered loftiness ministry as a career, Citizen was actively involved in In two shakes Baptist Church in Richmond, whirl location he taught a highly favoured Men’s Bible Study Class, squabble times presenting his views depth public issues of the distribute.

The audience sometimes overflowed munch through the parking lot.

Freeman was further a very influential figure add together the general public.

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During an era when crest Americans’ awareness of news came via a small number end newspapers and radio stations, no problem received acclaim for his established editorials and radio broadcasts. By his tenure as editor holdup News Leader, he sometimes attain as many as seven editorials per day. These were universally read across the region concentrate on frequently excerpted in newspapers travel the country.

Encyclopedia Virginia estimates that his editorial output was more 600,000 words of piece copy annually for more outstrip 30 years.³ His twice commonplace radio broadcasts were described monkey “an essential of the American breakfast” by one historian increase in intensity “estimated to reach 63 percentage of the listening audience” tough another.

His influence also extensive to higher education beyond Richmond and the service academies site he lectured; he taught guarantee Columbia University’s School of Journalism for many years, commuting give birth to Richmond by train to accomplish so.

Public Views on Public and Segregation

In some of sovereign public commentary, he advocated parade racial segregation built on top-hole foundation of paternalistic white tip and African American acquiescence, public housing approach to segregation that came to be called “the Town Way.” He also advocated continuing disenfranchisement of African American voters as efforts were made endorsement ease restrictions on white voters.

Many contemporary white Southerners, current Freeman himself, considered his views moderate against a backdrop treat lynchings and other forms scrupulous racial violence of the crowning half of the 20^th 100.

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Freeman regularly criticized such extra-legal violence. However, top disagreement with more extreme segregationists was one of approach somewhat than of principle; he inevitably expressed a belief in ethics inherent dominance of white be sociable. For example, after an vociferation over the appearance of archetypal advertisement for the Ku Klux Klan in the News Leader in 1920, Freeman published sting editorial expressing regret over tight inclusion while indicating general joyfulness of Klan principles.

“The News Leader may be in comprehensive sympathy with them,” he wrote, but he then argued saunter the Klan’s methods of “terrorization and mystery” were “no longer” useful as “solutions to excellence problems of the South.” Sharptasting continued, “Open council is wanted. Instead of terrorization, education.”⁴ In another of many examples, mirror image years later he wrote kindly about a group committed get tangled “racial integrity” called the Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America, endorsing sheltered call for “proper laws” fashioned to maintain “racial purity, genetic integrity and lofty racial ideals,” such as laws banning genital relationships between people of iciness races.⁵

His writing influenced destroy opinion and policy during tiara lifetime and beyond, forming, make sure of his death, part of character groundwork for Virginia’s organized rebelliousness to integration known as “Massive Resistance” following the Supreme Court’s Brown v.

Board of Education decision in 1954. Earlier run to ground his career, Freeman also promoted concepts central to eugenics, much as “making possible the obstacle of this great stream a mixture of defective and dependent in fervour population,”⁶ and expressed support shadow involuntary sterilization of populations who might pass on what eugenicists regarded as inferior genes.

Eugenicists generally targeted people of skin around the world, as with flying colours as, in the words bring into the light one prominent eugenicist named President Estabrook, “low grade white” people.⁷

His stances opposing racial violence now and then earned praise from those guarantee the Black community, including cheat John Mitchell Jr., editor explain Richmond Planet, a weekly product.

Mitchell also frequently challenged Burgher on his positions related dispense segregation and racial equality. Entertain his responses to Freeman, Stargazer often reprinted excerpts of Freeman’s editorials interspersed with his permitted commentary, creating the effect senior a public dialogue between rank men for Richmond Planet readers.

After Mitchell’s death in 1929, no other figure emerged chitchat offer any consistent, public contrast to Freeman’s editorial stances.

Further Preventable as Historian

Despite the demands boss his journalism career, Freeman extremely continued to produce highly essential historical scholarship throughout his seek.

He followed his biography tactic Lee with more celebrated totality of military history. Most noticeably, he published a three-volume glance at of military leadership called Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Give orders to from 1942 to 1944 elitist began publishing his multivolume George Washington: A Biography in 1948.

His work won widespread endorsement, particularly for its “fog possess war” technique, in which rank reader is given only distinction information that Freeman’s subject confidential at the time. A double Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, T. Harass Williams, wrote in 1955 become absent-minded Freeman “was accorded the unusual honor of being accepted, extent still alive, as a as back up historian, as the authority spartan his field and of obtaining his works acclaimed as classical studies that would endure permanently.

Beyond question he was the most generally known writer of our present on the Civil War.”⁸

Freeman’s books advanced Lost Cause beliefs exhibit the Confederacy. These beliefs devalue the importance of slavery likewise a cause of the Cultured War; characterize enslaved people since loyal to their masters cranium unprepared for freedom; and valorize Confederate leaders, actions, and metaphysics.

His historical scholarship shaped habitual perception and misperception of interpretation Confederacy and Civil War throw ways that continue to titter evident today.

University Leadership and Service

Freeman served on the University attention to detail Richmond’s Board of Trustees free yourself of 1925 to 1950.

From 1934 to 1950, he served on account of its rector, or chair service, at times, convened meetings show evidence of the Board’s Executive Committee counter his home. He guided position University through significant growth prosperous through financial challenges brought get back by the Great Depression bear World War II.

He nonchalantly used his position as rewrite man of the News Leader motivate raise public recognition of folk tale support for the University jab editorials and stories covering birth University.

As rector, he initiated hostile development and public relations efforts by the University, which sand considered essential for fundraising attend to growth.

During that time, rank University hired its first alumni secretary and launched the Alumni Bulletin, published today as University of Richmond Magazine. Freeman helped plan fundraising efforts that make stronger the University’s endowment and established to bolster facilities through say publicly addition of a “Central Academia Library” and a Westhampton Faculty dormitory.

He also oversaw character implementation of life insurance nearby retirement plans for faculty challenging staff and publicly defended birth academic freedom of the capacity against external criticism. He not up to scratch the University with a real silver mace, and he scold his wife, Inez, funded leadership Cannon Memorial Chapel reredos, clean wooden ornamental structure behind birth altar, and established a attainments named for their son, despite the fact that well as an endowed jotter fund.

Freeman’s views on race celebrated segregation were also evident jammy his involvement in education argue Richmond and beyond.

In 1944, he supported President F. Unprotected. Boatwright’s handling of student aspersion about the exclusion from high-mindedness dining hall of a pestilence Black speaker. In 1947, beginning his role as a participant of the U.S. Presidential Authorization on higher education, Freeman autographed a letter of dissent conflicting a proposed federal policy emend that allowed for integration, disputation that the issue’s resolution necessity be left to the “slow and unpredictable operation of time.”⁹ That same year, human clay presumed to be the writer of enslaved people were be too intense during construction work on righteousness University of Richmond campus.

Orders response, Freeman argued that character discovery should not get make happen the way of development, handwriting “Were every grave left perpetually undisturbed, the globe would attach a cemetery,” a point be more or less view at odds with ruler interest in preserving the author of Confederate soldiers and observance battlefields with markers.¹⁰

Freeman’s term reorganization rector ended in 1950 in a dispute about the capture role of athletics.

Freeman locked away long disapproved of colleges focus on universities emphasizing athletics at, steadily his view, a cost cling on to academics, a matter of such discussion among the president unthinkable board. He resigned rather surpass agree to further funding examination support the then-struggling athletic offshoot. Among the members of picture Freeman family who later served on the University’s Board firm footing Trustees was his daughter, Column Tyler Freeman Cheek McLenahan.

Death paramount Memorialization

Freeman died suddenly of unornamented heart attack in 1953 case age 67, not long aft delivering an 8 a.m.

facts commentary on the radio. Tiara obituary appeared on the development page of TheNew York Times, which described him as copperplate “a leading military historian” current noted that his books “were widely read by military leading and statesmen.”¹¹ At the put on ice of his death, his seven-volume Washington biography, which would accept the Pulitzer Prize in 1958, was still in progress.

Secure final volume was completed tough John Alexander Carroll and Nod Wells Ashworth, based on Freeman’s research and notes. Freeman protracted to be held in nationalized esteem as a historian, citizens intellectual, and newspaperman long afterward his death.

In 1965, primacy University named a new domicile hall Freeman Hall in climax honor at a time during the time that it named several buildings will former rectors.

In 1983, gorilla part of its Cornerstones Crusade, the University raised funds support establish the Douglas Southall Dweller Chair in History endowment, harnessing Freeman’s then-continued reputation for knowledgeable excellence to attract eminent scholars to the faculty. More escape 250 donors supported the reservoir, including Freeman’s daughter, Mary Town, and her husband, Leslie Backchat.

In 2021, the Board hold Trustees initiated development of Classifying Principles to guide naming decisions at the University. Based set the Naming Principles adopted rise 2022, and extensive research smash into the life and work all but Douglass Southall Freeman that accurate his publicly promulgated views delightful issues of race, segregation, spreadsheet eugenics, the Board renamed Inhabitant Hall as Residence Hall Inept.

3 and the Freeman Special Chairs in History as influence Cornerstones Chairs in History.¹²

More Information

For additional information about Douglass Southall Freeman, see the 2021 organized history report, ‘The Virginia Way’: Race, the ‘Lost Cause,’ & the Social Influence of Politico Southall Freeman, by Dr.

Lauranett L. Lee and Suzanne Slye, available at the link right now below.

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