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Winthrop Donaldson Jordan

ウィンスロップ・ドナルドソン・ジョーダン

Winthrop Donaldson Jordan

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1931-11-11 （Worcester, Massachusetts）
Died
2007-02-23 （Oxford, Mississippi） age 75
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Quaker (Religious Society of Friends)
Residence History
Worcester, Massachusetts (birthplace) → Andover, Massachusetts (Phillips Academy) → Cambridge, Massachusetts (Harvard University) → Berkeley, California (University of California, Berkeley) → Oxford, Mississippi (University of Mississippi; later life)

Career

Occupations
Historian, Professor
Active Years
1955-2004
Affiliations
Phillips Exeter Academy, Institute of Early American History and Culture, College of William & Mary (Fellow), University of California, Berkeley, University of Mississippi
Influenced By
Dumas Malone (historian)
Influenced
Annette Gordon-Reed (historian), Paul Spickard (historian), David Libby (scholar)

Education

Phillips Academy, Andover
Period: 〜1940年代末〜1950年代初
Country: United States
Attended preparatory school; exact graduation year not confirmed.
Harvard University
Social Relations / Social Relations
Degree: A.B.
Period: 1949–1953
Year of Graduation: 1953
Country: United States
A.B. in Social Relations
Clark University
Graduate School (History) / History
Degree: M.A.
Period: 1955–1957
Year of Graduation: 1957
Country: United States
Earned M.A. in History
Brown University
Graduate School (History) / History
Degree: Ph.D.
Period: 1957–1960
Year of Graduation: 1960
Country: United States
Doctoral dissertation formed the basis of his major work 'White Over Black'.

Awards

National Book Award (History and Biography)
1969
Work: White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812
Category: History and Biography
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Winner
Bancroft Prize
1993
Work: Tumult and Silence at Second Creek: An Inquiry into a Civil War Slave Conspiracy
Category: History
Organization: Columbia University (awarding institution)
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812

1968 History

A comprehensive study of American attitudes toward people of African descent from 1550 to 1812. Using primary sources, it examines ideas about race, interracial relations, and the cultural dimensions of slavery, influencing later scholarship on race and sexuality.

Race relationsSlaveryInterracial sexual relationships

Tumult and Silence at Second Creek: An Inquiry into a Civil War Slave Conspiracy

1993 History; Regional History

Investigates a Civil War–era slave conspiracy near Natchez, Mississippi, reconstructing events from previously unstudied sources to illuminate slave resistance and regional dynamics.

Slave resistanceRegional historyCivil War–era social history

Bibliography

  • White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812
  • Tumult and Silence at Second Creek: An Inquiry into a Civil War Slave Conspiracy
  • “American Chiaroscuro: The Status and Definition of Mulattoes in the British Colonies” (article)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Scholarly, archival-source driven narrativeDetailed source criticism and analytical exposition
Recurring Motifs
Race and power relationsInterracial sexual and family relationshipsCultural dimensions of slavery and resistance

Health

  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; Lou Gehrig's disease)
    数年（晩年）
    Suffered for several years late in life, limiting his activities and contributing to his death.
  • Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma)
    数年（晩年）
    Contributed to declining health in his final years and was a factor in his death.

Legacy

Winthrop D. Jordan was an influential historian who deepened understanding of racial thought and the cultural dimensions of slavery in early America. His major work 'White Over Black' stimulated serious scholarly inquiry into interracial relationships and race studies. Memorial research funds and essay collections by former students preserve his scholarly legacy.

Academic Societies

  • American Historical Association
  • Organization of American Historians

Archives

  • University of Mississippi Archives (papers, teaching materials, and related collections)

In Popular Culture

  • Frequently cited in academic works and documentaries; continues to influence contemporary studies of race history.

Quotes

  • "One of the most important contributions yet made to the history of racial relationships in early America."
    Source: Scholarly review (1969)

Trivia

  • He was descended on his mother's side from abolitionist Lucretia Coffin Mott.
  • After preparatory school and Harvard, he taught for many years at UC Berkeley and later at the University of Mississippi.
  • Died at 75 in 2007 after battling ALS and liver cancer.