Harvey H. Jackson to Speak at Spring 2008 Commencement

Dr. Harvey H. (Hardy) Jackson, III, Professor and Head of the Department of History and Foreign Languages at Jacksonville State University (JSU), will step down from those responsibilities at the end of August to begin a new assignment as the Eminent Scholar in History. In his new role, Dr. Jackson will conduct research, write, make speeches, and teach courses in history for JSU. A popular professor, scholar, and colleague on campus, he will be the commencement speaker at JSU’s May 2, 2008 graduation ceremony.

 

Hardy Jackson grew up in Grove Hill, Alabama where he attended local public schools. He is a graduate of Marion Military Institute (1963), Birmingham Southern College (B.A. 1965), the University of Alabama (M.A. 1966) and the University of Georgia (Ph.D., 1973). He previously taught at colleges and universities in Florida and Georgia.

 

Jackson is the author, co-author, or co-editor of eleven books on various aspects of Southern History, including Rivers of History: Life on the Coosa, Tallapoosa, Cahaba and Alabama, which was published in 1995 and Putting “Loafing Streams” to Work: The Building of Lay, Mitchell, Martin, and Jordan Dams, 1910-1929, which was published in 1997.  His articles and reviews have appeared in newspapers throughout the state, as well as in professional and popular journals, and he has served on the Editorial Boards of The Alabama Review, The Gulf Coast Historical Review, and The Georgia Historical Quarterly. He is the co-editor of the section on “Politics” for the On-line Encyclopedia of Alabama.

 

Currently Jackson serves on the Editorial Board of The Anniston Star, and writes editorials and a weekly column for the paper. In 2007 he won the Alabama Press Association award for the best “Human Interest” column.

 

Jackson is past president of the Alabama Association of Historians and the Alabama Historical Association. He has served as chairman of the Alabama Historical Commission's National Trust Review Board. He has received awards and recognition for teaching and scholarship from the Alabama Association of Historians, Alabama Historical Association, the Atlanta Historical Society, Jacksonville State University, and the Colonial Dames.  He has appeared on or served as an advisor for programs on Alabama Public Television, Auburn Television, and Georgia Public Television.

 

Jackson’s most recent book Inside Alabama: A Personal History of My State, won the C.J. Coley award given by the Alabama Historical Association for the best book on an Alabama topic. His current project is serving as editor of Recreation, the 17th volume of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture which will be published by the University of North Carolina Press in the Spring of 2010.  His long range plans include a history of the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico since World War II, tentatively entitled “The Rise and Decline of the ‘Redneck Riviera.’”

 

Hardy Jackson lives in Jacksonville, Alabama, with his wife, Suzanne, their son Will and daughter Anna.  His daughter, Kelly, teaches in the Metro-Atlanta area. 

 

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