Alum Spotlight
What was a significant accomplishment from your time at UM?
I won the Odom Prize from the Department of History for my capstone paper, “How the Mighty Fell: The Decline of Generational Wealth among the Planter Elite Families of Desoto County, Mississippi, 1836-1870.” In a broad sense, it examines the decline of intergenerational wealth among the planter elite in DeSoto County (my home county) as a result of Confederate defeat and emancipation. When I began my research, I was shocked at the immense number of wealthy slaveholders in a county founded a little over two decades prior to the Civil War. This fact led me to narrowing the parameters of my paper. I decided to limit family selection to those who had sent at least one son to the University of Mississippi that would serve in the Confederate military once the war broke out in 1861. This limited my research to four families — the Raines, Johnsons, Olivers, and Holmes. Prior to the war, these four families had a total wealth of almost $740,000. In 1870 that combined financial number had dwindled to just over $38,000, a decrease of ninety-five percent. I used these four families to showcase how economically devastating the decision to secede was for some of the South’s wealthiest residents.
This paper has served me well over the past three years. In addition to the Odom prize, I was selected to present my work at The Mississippi Historical Society’s annual meeting and at Johns Hopkins University. “How the Mighty Fell” is set for publication.
I want to emphasize that none of my accomplishments could be possible without the amazing faculty within the Department of History at UM. Each faculty member made me feel important while at the University and I still keep in contact with a few of them to this day, especially my mentor, Dr. Anne Twitty. The College of Liberal Arts, the Department of History and the University of Mississippi holds a special place in my heart that cannot and will not diminish.
Tell us about your current career, and the path that your education/career has taken since college.
I was also the Executive Director of the La Pointe - Krebs House and Museum, the oldest
scientifically confirmed standing structure on the Gulf Coast of the United States. I am currently
an AP history teacher at Basis charter school in Goodyear, AZ.
What is the value of studying history in today’s world?
My liberal arts education at the University of Mississippi opened many doors for me in my career. Additionally, my time at UM taught me to be an objective thinker, always searching for the truth behind every story. This fact shaped me into a well-rounded and informed adult.