Joe Gray Taylor
Encyclopedia
Joe Gray Taylor was a historian
of the American South who published fifteen essays and eight books, including Louisiana: a Bicentennial History (1976). A World War II
hero, Taylor was affiliated for most of his career with McNeese State University
in Lake Charles
, Louisiana
.
, located north of Memphis
, Tennessee
, to Bassil Gray Taylor, who earned the family livelihood as a farmer
and carpenter
, and the former Lennie Fee Shinault. He was educated in public schools and attended Memphis State University, then Memphis State College, from 1937 to 1939. He taught in a one-room school
in Tennessee from 1939 until 1941.
With the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
, Taylor joined the United States Air Force
(then the Army Air Corps). He flew seventy missions as bombardier-navigator with the Twelfth Bomb Group in the China
-Burma theater. He attained the rank of first lieutenant
and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
, the Air Medal
, and three battle stars.
On his discharge from the armed forces in 1945, Taylor married the former Helen Friday (born 1923), of North, South Carolina
, a small town near Orangeburg
. She was the daughter of the attorney
Edward Brodie Friday and the former Ora Barksdale Coleman. The couple had three children, Joe G. Taylor, Jr. (born 1952), Harriet Eva Taylor (born 1955), and Edward Coleman Taylor (born 1959).
After the war, Taylor obtained his Bachelor of Arts
and Master of Arts
degrees from Memphis State in 1947 and 1948, respectively. He threafter obtained the Ph.D.
degree in history
from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge in 1951. He taught at Nicholls State University
in Thibodaux
(the Junior College) from 1950 to 1953, prior to a four-year commitment as the historian at the Air Force Research Studies Institute at Maxwell Air Force Base
near Montgomery
, Alabama
.
(then College) in Hammond
for the 1957–1958 term. Then he returned to Nicholls State from 1958–1963, when he became professor at McNeese, a position that he held until his death twenty-four years later.
At McNeese, Taylor chaired the history department from 1968 to 1983. He was then the dean of the College of Liberal Arts from 1983 until his death.
Taylor also authored book reviews in twenty historical journals and thirty reviews in Louisiana History alone. One of Taylor's acclaimed reviews was "The Many Interests of T. Harry Williams" in the March 1984 edition of Reviews in American History. T. Harry Williams
was the preeminent historian at LSU prior to his death in 1979.
In 1967, Taylor was elected the president of the Louisiana Historical Association
. He received the McNeese "Distinguished Teaching Award" in 1979. He received the "Award of Merit" from the American Association for State and Local History in 1984. He was a member of the executive council of the Southern Historical Association
for the last two years of his life. He was named Louisiana "Humanist of the Year" in 1986. His associations included Phi Kappa Phi
, Phi Alpha Theta
, the American Historical Association
, the Organization of American Historians
, the Louisiana Historical Association. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church.
Taylor died in Lake Charles. He is interred in Robinson Cemetery near the Gainsville Community in Tipton County, Tennessee. Taylor's papers are in McNeese's Lether Edward Frazar
Library.
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 who published fifteen essays and eight books, including Louisiana: a Bicentennial History (1976). A World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
hero, Taylor was affiliated for most of his career with McNeese State University
McNeese State University
McNeese State University is a public university located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the United States. Founded in 1939 as a junior college, McNeese experienced growth due to economic activity in the region. It adopted its present name in 1970....
in Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
, 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...
.
Early years, military, family
Taylor was born in Tipton CountyTipton County, Tennessee
Tipton County is a county located on the western end of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 51,271. Its county seat is Covington. Tipton County is part of the Memphis, TN–MS–AR Metropolitan Statistical Area, centered on Shelby County, which borders Tipton on...
, located north of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, 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...
, to Bassil Gray Taylor, who earned the family livelihood as a farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
and carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
, and the former Lennie Fee Shinault. He was educated in public schools and attended Memphis State University, then Memphis State College, from 1937 to 1939. He taught in a one-room school
One-room school
One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...
in Tennessee from 1939 until 1941.
With the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Taylor joined the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
(then the Army Air Corps). He flew seventy missions as bombardier-navigator with the Twelfth Bomb Group in the China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
-Burma theater. He attained the rank of first lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
, the Air Medal
Air Medal
The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
, and three battle stars.
On his discharge from the armed forces in 1945, Taylor married the former Helen Friday (born 1923), of North, South Carolina
North, South Carolina
North is a town in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 813 at the 2000 census.-Geography:North is located at ....
, a small town near Orangeburg
Orangeburg, South Carolina
Orangeburg, also known as "The Garden City," is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city is also the fifth oldest city in the state of South Carolina. The city population was 12,765 at the 2000 census, within a Greater Orangeburg...
. She was the daughter of the attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Edward Brodie Friday and the former Ora Barksdale Coleman. The couple had three children, Joe G. Taylor, Jr. (born 1952), Harriet Eva Taylor (born 1955), and Edward Coleman Taylor (born 1959).
After the war, Taylor obtained his 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 from Memphis State in 1947 and 1948, respectively. He threafter obtained the 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...
degree in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge in 1951. He taught at Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University, founded in 1948, is a public university located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA. Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System of universities. Originally called Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the institution split from the Louisiana State University System in...
in Thibodaux
Thibodaux, Louisiana
Thibodaux is a small city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 14,431 at the 2000 census. Thibodaux is a principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux...
(the Junior College) from 1950 to 1953, prior to a four-year commitment as the historian at the Air Force Research Studies Institute at Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command . The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C...
near Montgomery
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
Academic career
Taylor returned to teaching at Southeastern Louisiana UniversitySoutheastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
(then College) in Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
for the 1957–1958 term. Then he returned to Nicholls State from 1958–1963, when he became professor at McNeese, a position that he held until his death twenty-four years later.
At McNeese, Taylor chaired the history department from 1968 to 1983. He was then the dean of the College of Liberal Arts from 1983 until his death.
Books and articles
Taylor produced five monographs and four essays on Air Force history. Otherwise, he concentrated on Louisiana and the South. His works included Negro Slavery in Louisiana (1963) and Louisiana Reconstructed, 1863–1877 (1974), which won the L. Kemper Williams Prize and the Louisiana Literary Award. A later work was his social history on southern hospitality entitled Eating, Drinking, and Visiting in the South (1982). Taylor was one of three coauthors of Louisiana: The Pelican State, a middle school textbook which traces the development of the state from earliest times to the 1980s.Taylor also authored book reviews in twenty historical journals and thirty reviews in Louisiana History alone. One of Taylor's acclaimed reviews was "The Many Interests of T. Harry Williams" in the March 1984 edition of Reviews in American History. T. Harry Williams
T. Harry Williams
Thomas Harry Williams was an award-winning historian at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge whose career began in 1941 and extended for thirty-eight years until his death at the age of seventy...
was the preeminent historian at LSU prior to his death in 1979.
In 1967, Taylor was elected the president of the Louisiana Historical Association
Louisiana Historical Association
The Louisiana Historical Association is an organization of professional historians and interested laypersons dedicated to the preservation, publication, and dissemination of the history of the U.S. state of Louisiana, with particular emphasis at the inception on territorial, statehood, and the...
. He received the McNeese "Distinguished Teaching Award" in 1979. He received the "Award of Merit" from the American Association for State and Local History in 1984. He was a member of the executive council 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...
for the last two years of his life. He was named Louisiana "Humanist of the Year" in 1986. His associations included Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Kappa Phi
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is an honor society established 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study and to promote the "unity and democracy of education"...
, Phi Alpha Theta
Phi Alpha Theta
Phi Alpha Theta is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history.The society is a charter member of the Association of College Honor Societies and has over 350,000 members, with about 9,500 new members joining each year through 860 local chapters.-...
, the American Historical Association
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
, the Organization of American Historians
Organization of American Historians
The Organization of American Historians , formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S...
, the Louisiana Historical Association. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church.
Taylor died in Lake Charles. He is interred in Robinson Cemetery near the Gainsville Community in Tipton County, Tennessee. Taylor's papers are in McNeese's Lether Edward Frazar
Lether Frazar
Lether Edward Frazar was the Democratic lieutenant governor of Louisiana under Governor Earl Kemp Long from 1956-1960, who had earlier, as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Beauregard Parish, authored the state teacher retirement law...
Library.