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James Wesley Silver

ジェームズ・ウェスリー・シルバー

James Wesley Silver

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1907-06-28
Died
1988-07-25 age 81
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Oxford, Mississippi (University of Mississippi) → Notre Dame, Indiana (University of Notre Dame) → Tampa, Florida (University of South Florida)

Career

Occupations
historian, professor, author
Active Years
1930-1982
Affiliations
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Mississippi: The Closed Society

1964 history / social commentary

An analytical study of racial segregation and resistance in Mississippi, depicting the state as a "closed society"; expanded from a 1963 lecture and published as a book.

civil rights movementSouthern societyracial discrimination

Confederate Morale and Church Propaganda

1967 history

A study discussing Confederate morale during the Civil War and the role of church-led propaganda.

Civil Warreligion and politics

Life for the Confederacy

1974 history

Further research on Southern society and Confederate life and morale; portrays wartime experiences from cultural and social perspectives.

Southern culturewar and society

Running Scared: Silver in Mississippi

1984 memoir / historical commentary

Silver's personal and critical memoir recounting his experiences in Mississippi and the backlash he faced as a supporter of civil rights.

memoircivil rights movementacademia and society

Bibliography

  • Mississippi: The Closed Society
  • Confederate Morale and Church Propaganda
  • Life for the Confederacy
  • Running Scared: Silver in Mississippi

Style & Themes

Literary Style
analytical, academic toneessayistic and persuasive prose
Recurring Motifs
race relations in the American Southcivil rights and social changecritique of authoritarian/closed social structures

Legacy

Silver is known as a historian who critically examined racial discrimination and resistance in Mississippi. His support for the civil rights movement gained attention beyond academia. "Mississippi: The Closed Society" is regarded as an important work in studies of the South during the civil rights era.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • Southern Historical Association (speaker/participant)

Archives

  • James W. Silver Collection (University of Mississippi)

Quotes

  • Mississippi is a "closed society."
    Source: Speech to the Southern Historical Association (1963) (1963)

Trivia

  • Befriended James Meredith when Meredith became the first African-American student at the University of Mississippi.
  • The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission attempted to have him fired; the effort failed.
  • Taught at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), the University of Notre Dame, and the University of South Florida.
  • Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.