In Memoriam

Winthrop Donaldson Jordan (1931-2007)

Winthrop D. Jordan, professor emeritus of history and African-American studies at the University of Mississippi and a leading authority on slavery and racism, died last month from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) at his home in Oxford, Mississippi. He was 75 years old.

Professor Jordan, a frequent contributor to JBHE, won the National Book Award for his 1968 work White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812. He wrote several other influential books on slavery and race relations.

Professor Jordan was a graduate of Harvard University. He held a master’s degree from Clark University and a Ph.D. in history from Brown. He taught at Phillips Exeter Academy and the University of California at Berkeley before joining the faculty at Ole Miss in 1982.

Copyright © 2007. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.