E. Merton Coulter
Encyclopedia
Ellis Merton Coulter was an American
historian of the South, author, and a founding member of the Southern Historical Association
. He believed in segregation and white supremacy. For four decades, he was a professor at the University of Georgia
in Athens
, Georgia
, where he was chair of the History Department for 18 years. He was editor of the Georgia Historical Quarterly for 50 years, and published 26 books on the American Civil War
and Reconstruction.
. His father had hoped his son would go into the ministry, but Coulter chose history instead.
Both of Coulter's grandfathers served in the Confederate States Army. One fell in the Civil War while the other during Reconstruction was indicted for Ku Klux Klan
-related violence and acquitted by an all-white jury.
Coulter earned his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina
(UNC), mentored by J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, a prominent historian who emphasized how Southern whites had suffered under Reconstruction and the lack of readiness of freedmen and blacks for suffrage. In 1914 Coulter entered the University of Wisconsin–Madison
for graduate doctoral work, where he studied under additional professors sympathetic to Southern thinking about the Civil War and Reconstruction.
in Ohio, Coulter was hired by Georgia's flagship
University of Georgia, where he was a professor for six decades. In 1940 he was selected as chair of the History Department, a position he held for 18 years. As a professor and writer, he influenced generations of historians.
In addition, Coulter was editor of the Georgia Historical Quarterly for 50 years. A founding member of the Southern Historical Association, he served as its first president in 1934. In both writing and teaching, he was influential. The Library of Congress lists 50 different books written or edited by Dr. Coulter. He published more than 125 articles, and wrote what for decades was the standard textbook for Georgia history.
According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, "Coulter emerged as a leader of that generation of white southern historians who viewed the South's past with pride and defended its racist policies and practices. He framed his literary corpus to praise the Old South, glorify Confederate
heroes, vilify northerners, and denigrate southern blacks."
segregation and opposing civil rights
reform.
Historian Eric Foner
wrote: "Anti-Reconstruction scholars faithfully echoed Democratic propaganda of the post-Civil War years. 'The Negroes,' wrote E. Merton Coulter in 1947, 'were fearfully unprepared to occupy positions of rulership,' and black officeholding was 'the most spectacular and exotic development in government in the history of white civilization...(and the) longest to be remembered, shuddered at, and execrated.'"
Foner also noted that as late as 1968, Coulter, "The last wholly antagonistic scholar of the era, described Georgia's most prominent Reconstruction black officials as swindlers and 'scamps', and suggested that whatever positive qualities they possessed were inherited from white ancestors."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
historian of the South, author, and a founding member of the Southern Historical Association
Southern Historical Association
The Southern Historical Association is an organization of historians focusing on the history of the Southern United States . It was organized on November 2, 1934...
. He believed in segregation and white supremacy. For four decades, he was a professor at the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
in Athens
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, where he was chair of the History Department for 18 years. He was editor of the Georgia Historical Quarterly for 50 years, and published 26 books on the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and Reconstruction.
Background and early life
Coulter was the son of the moderately wealthy John Ellis Coulter, a merchant and land speculator in the small town of Connelly Springs, North Carolina, in the western PiedmontPiedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
. His father had hoped his son would go into the ministry, but Coulter chose history instead.
Both of Coulter's grandfathers served in the Confederate States Army. One fell in the Civil War while the other during Reconstruction was indicted for Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
-related violence and acquitted by an all-white jury.
Coulter earned his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
(UNC), mentored by J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, a prominent historian who emphasized how Southern whites had suffered under Reconstruction and the lack of readiness of freedmen and blacks for suffrage. In 1914 Coulter entered the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
for graduate doctoral work, where he studied under additional professors sympathetic to Southern thinking about the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Professional career
After teaching briefly at Marietta CollegeMarietta College
Marietta College is a co-educational private college in Marietta, Ohio, USA, which was the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory. The school offers 42 majors along with a large number of minors, all of which are grounded in a strong liberal arts foundation...
in Ohio, Coulter was hired by Georgia's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
University of Georgia, where he was a professor for six decades. In 1940 he was selected as chair of the History Department, a position he held for 18 years. As a professor and writer, he influenced generations of historians.
In addition, Coulter was editor of the Georgia Historical Quarterly for 50 years. A founding member of the Southern Historical Association, he served as its first president in 1934. In both writing and teaching, he was influential. The Library of Congress lists 50 different books written or edited by Dr. Coulter. He published more than 125 articles, and wrote what for decades was the standard textbook for Georgia history.
According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, "Coulter emerged as a leader of that generation of white southern historians who viewed the South's past with pride and defended its racist policies and practices. He framed his literary corpus to praise the Old South, glorify Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
heroes, vilify northerners, and denigrate southern blacks."
Reassessment
Late 20th century historians have described Coulter's books as "historical apologies justifying Southern secession, defending the Confederate cause, and condemning Reconstruction." In this he had absorbed ideas of his professor J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton at UNC, as well as views commonly shared by whites in the South. In the mid-20th century, people used Coulter's "intellectual paradigm" about southern black failures as justification for maintaining Jim CrowJim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
segregation and opposing civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
reform.
Historian Eric Foner
Eric Foner
Eric Foner is an American historian. On the faculty of the Department of History at Columbia University since 1982, he writes extensively on political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African American biography, Reconstruction, and historiography...
wrote: "Anti-Reconstruction scholars faithfully echoed Democratic propaganda of the post-Civil War years. 'The Negroes,' wrote E. Merton Coulter in 1947, 'were fearfully unprepared to occupy positions of rulership,' and black officeholding was 'the most spectacular and exotic development in government in the history of white civilization...(and the) longest to be remembered, shuddered at, and execrated.'"
Foner also noted that as late as 1968, Coulter, "The last wholly antagonistic scholar of the era, described Georgia's most prominent Reconstruction black officials as swindlers and 'scamps', and suggested that whatever positive qualities they possessed were inherited from white ancestors."
Books
- A Short History of Georgia (1933, 1947, and 1960)
- History of Georgia (1954), a junior high school textbook
- The South During Reconstruction (1947)
- Confederate States of America (1952)
- William G. Brownlow: Fighting Parson of the Southern Highlands (1939)
- The Civil War and Readjustment in Kentucky (1926)
- Auraria: The Story of a Georgia Gold-Mining Town (1956)