david yancey thomas: historian

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David Yancey Thomas: Historian Author(s): Mary Elizabeth Massey Source: The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Autumn, 1948), pp. 221-226 Published by: Arkansas Historical Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40037856 . Accessed: 13/06/2014 20:08 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Arkansas Historical Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 194.29.185.251 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 20:08:57 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: David Yancey Thomas: Historian

David Yancey Thomas: HistorianAuthor(s): Mary Elizabeth MasseySource: The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Autumn, 1948), pp. 221-226Published by: Arkansas Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40037856 .

Accessed: 13/06/2014 20:08

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Arkansas Historical Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to TheArkansas Historical Quarterly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.251 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 20:08:57 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: David Yancey Thomas: Historian

DAVID YANCEY THOMAS: HISTORIAN

By Mary Elizabeth Massey

Chestertown, Maryland1

David Yancey Thomas characterized that versatility of interest and that scholarly approach for which many members of his profession strive. The breadth of his in- terests was amazing, indeed, and nowhere can this be seen better than in his voluminous writings. Whereas his success as a teacher and his inspirational qualities as an adviser of students will be apt to remain largely in the realm of verbal tribute and be exemplified indirectly by the hundreds of students who were fortunate enough to sit in his classes, his writings give tangible evidence of his unique versatility.

Born in Fulton County, Kentucky, on January 19, 1872, he spent his youth on his father's farm. At the age of twenty-two, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University, then located at Oxford, Georgia. Four years later, in 1898, he took his Master of Arts degree at Vanderbilt University. In the fall of the same year Thomas assumed the duties as Professor of Latin and Greek at Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas. Desiring to take the doctorate, however, he entered Columbia University in 1901, and two years later he received this degree. At Colum- bia he worked under the direction of William Archibald Dunning, the father of that prolific school of reconstruction historians. When Thomas received the doctorate, it was in the field of history and political science, and not, as his earlier degrees had been, in Greek and Latin. Despite his forsaking the classics in this manner, his interest in them continued, and all of his life he exemplified that rapidly disappearing breed of men who evidence an interest in many fields, not in only one. After taking his doctorate, he taught for a time at the University of Florida and at

aThe writer is a native of Morrilton, Arkansas. She holds the B. A. from Hendrix College and the M. A. and the Ph. D. from the University of North Carolina. She is now Assistant Professor of History, Washington College, Chester- town, Maryland,

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Page 3: David Yancey Thomas: Historian

222 ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Hendrix College, but his most fruitful years and the greatest part of his professional life were spent at the University of Arkansas. He used many of his summers to broaden his teaching experience by lecturing in other institutions, among them George Peabody College for Teachers, in Nashville, and the University of Texas, in Austin. It was while he was associated with the latter that he died on April 18, 1943, after a fruitful life that had a lasting effect on many people.

David Y. Thomas was a fearless critic of anything he felt to be unjust or wrong. Although deeply devoted to the South, and to Arkansas in particular, he never condoned its weakness. At the turn of the century he was especially critical of the South's lack of interest in research, and he challenged the region to do something about it.2 When sixty-nine years old, in 1941, he was still trying to arouse the interest of the South in its history, and in that year he was made editor of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. It is generally conceded that "he was largely responsible for reviving activities of the Arkansas Historical Association.3 During all of his life this energetic attitude was evidenced in the life and work of David Y. Thomas. He was an active member of many professional societies, among them The American Historical Association, The Southern Historical Association, The Southwestern Political and Social Science Association, and The American Association of University Professors. He regularly attended the meetings of these and other similar organizations, and he served in official capacities from time to time.

The following bibliography of the published writings of David Y. Thomas is complete as far as the author has been able to discover. No attempt has been made to include the hundreds of letters that he wrote to editors and that were subesquenly published. That would be a difficult if not an insurmountable task, resulting in a far too lengthy report to be published in this form, for he always had his heart, hand and mind on the pulsebeat of the world, and being articulate* he left proof of this in his letters.

2David Yancey Thomas, "The South and Her History," The American Monthly Review of Reviews. XXVI, 461-464.

3"David Yancey Thomas," Journal of Southern History, IX, 435.

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DAVID YANCEY THOMAS, HISTORIAN 223

A. BOOKS Thomas, David Yancey, A History of Military Govern- ment in the Newly Acquired Territory of the United States, Columbia University Studies in History, Eco- nomics, and Public Law, XX (1904), New York: Columbia University Press. Thomas, David Yancey, editor, Arkansas and Its People: A History 15-41 -1930, 4 Vols., New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1930. Thomas, David Yancey, Arkansas in War and Re- construction, Little Rock: The United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1926. Thomas, David Yancey, History of Banking in Florida, New York: Carnegie Foundation, 1907. Thomas, David Yancey, History of the Free Negro in Florida Before 1865, New York: Carnegie Founda- tion, 1907. Thomas, David Yancey, and Reynolds, John Hugh, History of the University of the State of Arkansas, Fayetteville : University of Arkansas, 19 10. Thomas, David Yancey, One-Hundred Years of the Monroe Doctrine, New York: The MacMillan Comp- any, 1923.

B. COLLABORATIVE WORKS Thomas, David Yancey, "Southern Political Theories/' Studies In Southern History and Politics, Inscribed to William Archibald Dunning, New York: Columbia University Press, 1924. Thomas, David Yancey, "The South in Foreign Affairs Independent of the Federal Government," The South in the Building of a Nation, Richmond : Southern His- torical Society Publications, 1909- 19 13.

C. ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS Thomas, David Yancey, "A Gallery of Confederate Portraits," The Dial, LVII (1914), 51-53. Thomas, David Yancey, "A History of Taxation in

* Arkansas/' Publications of the Arkansas Historical Association, II (1908), 43-90. Thomas, David Yancey, "A Socialist Critic Criticized/' The American Review of Reviews, XL(i9io), J22.

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224 ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Thomas, David Yancey, "A Year of Bench Labor Law/' Political Science Quarterly, XXIV (1909), 80-94. Thomas, David Yancey, "An American View of the Menace of Germany/' The Dial, L( 191 1), 265-66. Thomas, David Yancey, "An Old-Time Statesman of South Carolina/' The Dial, XLVII(i9O9), 94-96. Thomas, David Yancey, "Ancient Precedents for Present Day Policies/' The Dial, -LIX(igis),. 142-43. Thomas, David Yancey, "Blanket Liability for Labor Unions," Current History, XVI (1922), 796-74. Thomas, David Yancey, "Compulsory Military Train- ing in American Colleges," Current H\story, XXIV (1926), 27-31. Thomas, David Yancey, "Concerning Industrial Dem- ocracy/" The Outlook, XCVI(i9io), 373. Thomas, David Yancey, "Direct Legislation in Ark- ansas," Political Science Quarterly, XXIV (1914), 84-110. Thomas, David Yancey, "Economic Influences in the Formation of American Parties," The Dial, LX( 1916), 212-214. Thomas, David Yancey, "Economic Unpreparedness," The American Review of Reviews, LIII(i9i6), 214- 215. Thomas, David Yancey, "Educational Preparedness Versus Compulsory Military Training," School and Society, XXXII (1930), 428. Thomas, David Yancey, "European Diplomacy in Its Beginnings," The Dial, XL (1906), 9-1 1. Thomas, David Yancey, "Farms and the Man," The Independent, XCI(i9i7) , 392. Thomas, David Yancey, "Filling the Coal-Bin," The Independent, XCIII(i9i8), 63, 73-74. Thomas, David Yancey, "Florida Finance in the Civil War," The Yale Rev iezv, XVIC1907), 311-18. Thomas, David Yancey, "Getting Hold of the Social Sciences," School and Society, XII (1920), 313-315. Thomas, David Yancey, "Income and Its Distribution in the United States," The Dial, LIX (1915), 212-214.

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Page 6: David Yancey Thomas: Historian

DAVID YANCEY THOMAS, HISTORIAN 225

Thomas, David Yancey, "Inside Light on Reconstruc- tion," The Dial XLII (1907), 10-11. Thomas, David Yancey, "More About the Teaching of, English,*' School and Society, ¥(1917), 141-143. Thomas, David Yancey, "Pan-Americanism and Pan Hispanism," North American Review, CCXVII ( 1923) , 327-333. Thomas, David Yancey, "Problems of Humanity and Property," The Dial, ill (1912), 316-317. Thomas, David Yancey, "Problems of Our National Administration," The Dial, XXXIX(i9O5), 12-13. Thomas, David Yancey, "Random Recollections of a Regular," The Dial, LI (1911), 392-394. Thomas, David Yancey, "Regenerating Our Judiciary," r^/>ia/, UII(i9i2), 336-338. Thomas, David Yancey, "Report Upon the Historic Buildings, Monuments, and Local Archives of St. Augustine, Florida," Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 1(1905), 339-352. Thomas, David Yancey, "Social Aspects of the Slavery Question," The Dial, LI(i9ii), 330. Thomas, David Yancey, "Southern Non- Slaveholders in the Election of i860," Political Science Quarterly, XXIV ( 191 1 ), 222-237. Thomas, David Yancey, "Stirring Chapters of Ameri- can History," The Dial, XLIVC1907), 172-182. Thomas, David Yancey, "Studies in Administrative Law," The Dial, XXXIX ( 1905), 304-306. Thomas, David Yancey, "The American Historical Association in the South," The American Review of Reviews, XXIX ( 1 904 ) , 2 1 1 -2 1 3 . Thomas, David Yancey, "The Close of the Civil War and the Beginning of Reconstruction," The Dial, XXX- VIII ( 1905), 230-232. Thomas, David Yancey, "The Conclusion of Two Important American Histories," The Dial, LVIX1913), 179-181. Thomas, David Yancey, "The Cotton Tax and Southern Education," The North American Review, XCC(i9O9), 688-692.

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Thomas, David Yancey, "The Land and the People," The Nation, CX(i92o), 34-35.

, Thomas, David Yancey, "The Law and the Profits/' The Nation*, CXVC1922), 548-549. Thomas, David Yancey, "The Needless Making of Laws/" The Dial, L( 191 1 ) , 393~394- Thomas, David Yancey, "The 'New Idea' in State Government/' The Dial, LIII(i9i2), 134-136. Thomas, David Yancey, "The Next Step in Railway Legislation," The Unpopular Review, IX(i9i8) 49-57. Thomas, David Yancey, "The Problems of the South : A Northern View," The Dial, XLIX(i9io), 112-114. Thomas, David Yancey, "The South and Her History," The' American Review of Reznews, XXVI (1902), 461-464.

D. BOOK REVIEWS Review of Acheson, Sam Hanna, Joe Bailey the Last Democrat, (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1932), The American Historical Review, XXXVIII (1933). 606-607. Review of Dodd, William E., The Old South: Struggles for Democracy, (New York : The MacMillan Company, 1937.), Journal of Southern History, IV(i938), 99- 101. Review of Dumond, Dwight Lowell, Roosevelt to Roosevelt; the United States in the Twentieth Century, (New York: Henry Holt, 1936), American Historical Review, XLIII (1937), 213-214. Review of Hosmer, James Kendall, A History of the Louisiana Purchase, . (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1902), American Historical Review, VIII (1902), 140-141. Review of DeWitt, David Miller, The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson, (New York : The MacMillan Company, 1903), American Historical Reviezv, IX (1903), 188-191.

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