Jimmy G. Shoalmire
Encyclopedia
Jimmy Gayle Shoalmire was an historian
of the American South originally from Shreveport
, Louisiana
, who specialized in Reconstruction and agricultural studies.
there.
Shoalmire then enrolled at Louisiana Tech University
in Ruston
, where he engaged in the study of history, having received both Bachelor of Arts
and Master of Arts
degrees. In 1966, he completed his thesis
"Reconstruction in Red River Parish" based in part on research at the Red River Parish
Courthouse in Coushatta
in northwestern Louisiana. He was named a visiting instructor at Louisiana Tech for the academic year 1966-1967.
, Shoalmire entered Mississippi State University
in Starkville
in Oktibbeha County
in east central Mississippi
. In 1969, he completed the dissertation entitled "Carpetbagger Extraordinary: Marshall Harvey Twitchell, 1840-1905", a study of Marshall H. Twitchell
, the Louisiana Republican
state senator
from Bienville
and Red River parishes. As a legislator, Twitchell pushed for the establishment of Red River Parish and brought many of his northern relatives to live there, mostly as planters. In 1876, his Redeemer
detractors fired six shots at him, and he lost use of both arms below the elbows. He played dead and avoided even more bullets. Twitchell then left Louisiana and spent his later years as a diplomat in Windsor, Canada. Shoalmire's dissertation stemmed from his earlier study of Reconstruction in Red River Parish. In writing his original study on Red River Parish, Shoalmire located the Marshall Twitchell papers in the attic of a Twitchell grandson in Burlington
, Vermont
, and brought the materials to Prescott Memorial Library at Louisiana Tech. The Twitchell papers were used by Ted Tunnell, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University
in Richmond
, in his 2001 publication, Edge of the Sword: The Ordeal of Carpetbagger Marshall H. Twitchell in the Civil War and Reconstruction.
In 1973, Shoalmire co-authored with his MSU colleague, Roy Vernon Scott
, The Public Career of Cully Cobb: A Study in Agricultural Leadership. Cully Cobb
, originally a poor farmboy from Tennessee
, became a southern agricultural publisher and philanthropist. From 1933-1937, Cobb was a director of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, a New Deal
agency which supervised the plowing under of cotton
fields to reduce farm output in hopes of reversing the lagging prices paid to farmers. In the preparation of their book, Shoalmire and Scott used papers from the Henry A. Wallace
Collection at the University of Iowa
at Iowa City
.
Shoalmire became associate professor of history at MSU and head of Special Collections at the Mitchell Memorial Library there. Shoalmire as head of Special Collections was also the curator
of the archives of U.S. Senator John C. Stennis
. In that capacity, he conducted oral history
interviews with personal friends, staff, senatorial colleagues, and other observers of Stennis' long career in politics. Among the interviewees was Stennis' son, Jackson
attorney John Hampton Stennis, who lost in a 1978 bid for the United States House of Representatives
.
Shoalmire left MSU in 1979 to work on Stennis' staff in Washington
. Within a year, he became a lobbyist, serving as director of legislative affairs for Gould, Inc., an electronics and defense weapons firm in Washington.
in Fairfax County
, Virginia, of a heart attack
eight days after his 42nd birthday.
In 1962, Shoalmire wed the former Carol Ann Shaughnessy (born 1942), a Ruston resident who also graduated from Fair Park High School. The marriage ended in divorce
in 1979. Carol Shoalmire is the daughter of John Earl Shaughnessy, Sr. (born 1918), and the former Martha Leah Smith (born 1922), who is originally from Webster Parish
. Three children came from the marriage, Alan Dean Shoalmire (born 1967) of Navasota
, Texas
, Brent Thomas Shoalmire (born 1971) of Shreveport, and Rachel Lee Shoalmire Scriber (born 1972) of Ruston. Brent Shoalmire is a minister, professor, and associate dean at Louisiana Baptist University
.
On October 26, 1980, Shoalmire married the former Betty Kathryn Buckner of Starkville, Mississippi, and Alexandria, Virginia, then a member of the staff of U.S. Senator Thad Cochran
of Mississippi. The wedding ceremony was performed in Christ's Episcopal
Church in Alexandria. Shoalmire's sister, Robbye Agnes McGuinn (1937–1982), succumbed fewer than three months after her brother's passing. Their paternal grandmother, Ethel Wright Shoalmire (1889–1982), died during the short period between the deaths of Jimmy and Robbye. In addition to his spouse Kathryn Shoalmire, his children and their mother Carol, Shoalmire had a surviving brother, Jack Benny Shoalmire (1942-2011) of Broken Arrow
near Tulsa
, Oklahoma
. Jack Shoalmire was a 1960 Fair Park High School graduate and a Vietnam War
veteran, recipient of a Purple Heart
and three Bronze Stars, who retired after thirty-six years with Ford Motor Company
at the title of superintendent.
A memorial service for Jimmy Shoalmire was held in the Mike Mansfield
Room in the United States Capitol
, with the Senate chaplain officiating. Another memorial service followed in Shreveport. Shoalmire, who was a Baptist
, is interred at Forest Park Cemetery in Shreveport.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
of the American South originally from Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, who specialized in Reconstruction and agricultural studies.
Early years and education
Shoalmire was born in Shreveport to Rube Robert Shoalmire (1913–1984), a welder, and the former Melba Agnes Elliott (1915–1995). He graduated in 1958 from Fair Park High SchoolFair Park High School
Fair Park Medical Careers Magnet High School is a high school located at 3222 Greenwood Road in Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.A. When it opened as Fair Park High School in 1928, it was the second high school in the city. C.E...
there.
Shoalmire then enrolled at Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
in Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
, where he engaged in the study of history, having received both Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degrees. In 1966, he completed his thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
"Reconstruction in Red River Parish" based in part on research at the Red River Parish
Red River Parish, Louisiana
Red River Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its seat is Coushatta. It was one of the newer parishes created in 1871 by the state legislature under Reconstruction...
Courthouse in Coushatta
Coushatta, Louisiana
Coushatta is a town in and the parish seat of rural Red River Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is situated on the east bank of the Red River. The community is approximately forty-five miles south of Shreveport on U.S. Highway 71...
in northwestern Louisiana. He was named a visiting instructor at Louisiana Tech for the academic year 1966-1967.
At Mississippi State University
To pursue his Ph.D.Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, Shoalmire entered Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University
The Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science commonly known as Mississippi State University is a land-grant university located in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States, partially in the town of Starkville and partially in an unincorporated area...
in Starkville
Starkville, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 21,869 people, 9,462 households, and 4,721 families residing in the city. The population density was 851.4 people per square mile . There were 10,191 housing units at an average density of 396.7 per square mile...
in Oktibbeha County
Oktibbeha County, Mississippi
-National protected areas:*Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge *Tombigbee National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 42,902 people, 15,945 households, and 9,264 families residing in the county. The population density was 94 people per square mile . There were 17,344 housing...
in east central Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. In 1969, he completed the dissertation entitled "Carpetbagger Extraordinary: Marshall Harvey Twitchell, 1840-1905", a study of Marshall H. Twitchell
Marshall H. Twitchell
Marshall Harvey Twitchell was a Union Army soldier from Vermont who became a carpetbagger Republican state senator from Red River Parish in northwestern Louisiana during the era of Reconstruction....
, the Louisiana Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
state senator
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
from Bienville
Bienville Parish, Louisiana
Bienville Parish is a parish located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Arcadia and as of the 2000 census, the population is 15,752....
and Red River parishes. As a legislator, Twitchell pushed for the establishment of Red River Parish and brought many of his northern relatives to live there, mostly as planters. In 1876, his Redeemer
Redeemers
In United States history, "Redeemers" and "Redemption" were terms used by white Southerners to describe a political coalition in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction era which followed the American Civil War...
detractors fired six shots at him, and he lost use of both arms below the elbows. He played dead and avoided even more bullets. Twitchell then left Louisiana and spent his later years as a diplomat in Windsor, Canada. Shoalmire's dissertation stemmed from his earlier study of Reconstruction in Red River Parish. In writing his original study on Red River Parish, Shoalmire located the Marshall Twitchell papers in the attic of a Twitchell grandson in Burlington
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, and brought the materials to Prescott Memorial Library at Louisiana Tech. The Twitchell papers were used by Ted Tunnell, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
in Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, in his 2001 publication, Edge of the Sword: The Ordeal of Carpetbagger Marshall H. Twitchell in the Civil War and Reconstruction.
In 1973, Shoalmire co-authored with his MSU colleague, Roy Vernon Scott
Roy Vernon Scott
Roy Vernon Scott is a Professor Emeritus of history at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, who specialized in agricultural and railroad studies in the American South and Midwest...
, The Public Career of Cully Cobb: A Study in Agricultural Leadership. Cully Cobb
Cully Cobb
Cully Alton Cobb, Sr. , was an agricultural pioneer, educator, printer, journalist, and philanthropist in the American South who with his second wife, Lois Dowdle Cobb , co-founded the Cobb Institute of Archaeology on the campus of Mississippi State University at Starkville, Mississippi.-Early...
, originally a poor farmboy from Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, became a southern agricultural publisher and philanthropist. From 1933-1937, Cobb was a director of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, a New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
agency which supervised the plowing under of cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
fields to reduce farm output in hopes of reversing the lagging prices paid to farmers. In the preparation of their book, Shoalmire and Scott used papers from the Henry A. Wallace
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
Collection at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
at Iowa City
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
.
Shoalmire became associate professor of history at MSU and head of Special Collections at the Mitchell Memorial Library there. Shoalmire as head of Special Collections was also the curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of the archives of U.S. Senator John C. Stennis
John C. Stennis
John Cornelius Stennis was a U.S. Senator from the state of Mississippi. He was a Democrat who served in the Senate for over 41 years, becoming its most senior member by his retirement.- Early life :...
. In that capacity, he conducted oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
interviews with personal friends, staff, senatorial colleagues, and other observers of Stennis' long career in politics. Among the interviewees was Stennis' son, Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
attorney John Hampton Stennis, who lost in a 1978 bid for the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
.
Shoalmire left MSU in 1979 to work on Stennis' staff in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Within a year, he became a lobbyist, serving as director of legislative affairs for Gould, Inc., an electronics and defense weapons firm in Washington.
Early death and family
Shoalmire's lobbying career was cut short, for he died suddenly at his residence in AlexandriaAlexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
in Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
, Virginia, of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
eight days after his 42nd birthday.
In 1962, Shoalmire wed the former Carol Ann Shaughnessy (born 1942), a Ruston resident who also graduated from Fair Park High School. The marriage ended in divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
in 1979. Carol Shoalmire is the daughter of John Earl Shaughnessy, Sr. (born 1918), and the former Martha Leah Smith (born 1922), who is originally from Webster Parish
Webster Parish, Louisiana
Webster Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. In 2010, its population was 41,207....
. Three children came from the marriage, Alan Dean Shoalmire (born 1967) of Navasota
Navasota, Texas
Navasota is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,789 at the 2000 census. In 2005, the Texas Legislature named the city "The Blues Capital of Texas," in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native and blues musician....
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Brent Thomas Shoalmire (born 1971) of Shreveport, and Rachel Lee Shoalmire Scriber (born 1972) of Ruston. Brent Shoalmire is a minister, professor, and associate dean at Louisiana Baptist University
Louisiana Baptist University
Louisiana Baptist University is an accredited theologically conservative Christian university, founded in 1973, located at 6301 Westport Avenue in Shreveport, Louisiana....
.
On October 26, 1980, Shoalmire married the former Betty Kathryn Buckner of Starkville, Mississippi, and Alexandria, Virginia, then a member of the staff of U.S. Senator Thad Cochran
Thad Cochran
William Thad Cochran is the senior United States Senator from Mississippi and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the Senate in 1978, he is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and was its chairman and 2005 to 2007.-Early life:He was born in Pontotoc,...
of Mississippi. The wedding ceremony was performed in Christ's Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
Church in Alexandria. Shoalmire's sister, Robbye Agnes McGuinn (1937–1982), succumbed fewer than three months after her brother's passing. Their paternal grandmother, Ethel Wright Shoalmire (1889–1982), died during the short period between the deaths of Jimmy and Robbye. In addition to his spouse Kathryn Shoalmire, his children and their mother Carol, Shoalmire had a surviving brother, Jack Benny Shoalmire (1942-2011) of Broken Arrow
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Broken Arrow is a city located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, primarily in Tulsa County but also with a small section of the city in western Wagoner County. It is the largest suburb of Tulsa. According to the 2010 US Census, Broken Arrow has a population of 98,850 residents...
near Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. Jack Shoalmire was a 1960 Fair Park High School graduate and a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran, recipient of a Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
and three Bronze Stars, who retired after thirty-six years with Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
at the title of superintendent.
A memorial service for Jimmy Shoalmire was held in the Mike Mansfield
Mike Mansfield
Michael Joseph Mansfield was an American Democratic politician and the longest-serving Majority Leader of the United States Senate, serving from 1961 to 1977. He also served as United States Ambassador to Japan for over ten years...
Room in the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
, with the Senate chaplain officiating. Another memorial service followed in Shreveport. Shoalmire, who was a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
, is interred at Forest Park Cemetery in Shreveport.