Carl Harris: Difference between revisions

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Created page with "'''Carl Vernon Harris''' (born in Jennings, Louisiana; died May 14, 2018 in Santa Barbara, California) was a historian. He was the author of two important books of B...")
 
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Carl Vernon Harris''' (born in Jennings, Louisiana; died [[May 14]], [[2018]] in Santa Barbara, California) was a historian. He was the author of two important books of [[Birmingham]] history, ''[[Political Power in Birmingham, 1871-1921]]'', published in [[1977]], and ''[[Segregation in the New South|Segregation in the New South: Birmingham, Alabama, 1871–1901]]'', published posthumously in [[2022]].
'''Carl Vernon Harris''' (born in Jennings, Louisiana; died [[May 14]], [[2018]] in Santa Barbara, California) was a historian. He was the author of two important books of [[Birmingham]] history, ''[[Political Power in Birmingham, 1871-1921]]'', published in [[1977]], and ''[[Segregation in the New South|Segregation in the New South: Birmingham, Alabama, 1871–1901]]'', published posthumously in [[2022]].


Harris grew up with two younger siblings on his parents' rice farm in Jennings, Louisiana. His father was a minister in the Church of the Brethren, and his mother was music director.  
Carl, the son of Glann and Ethel Harris of Jennings, Louisiana, grew up with two younger siblings on the family's rice farm. His father was a minister in the Church of the Brethren, and his mother was music director. In accordance with the Brethren's pacifism, he registered with the draft board as a conscientious objector.


<!--They were among a group of farm families in the area who were members of the Church of the Brethren. His father, Glenn, was minister of the local church, and his mother, Ethel, was director of music. In line with the church’s pacifist stance, Carl was a conscientious objector, at the time the only one in Louisiana. Carl attended McPherson College before going to Yale Divinity School for a year. He spent two years in Hamburg, Germany with the Brethren Volunteer Service, working with youth organizations during the postwar period of rebuilding. After returning from Germany, he married Judy Harms, who had also been a BVS volunteer in Germany, and began graduate studies in history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Harris attended McPherson College and later studied for a year at Yale Divinity School before relocating to Hamburg, Germany for two years as a member of the Brethren Volunteer Service, which was supporting youth organizations during the post-war period. He met his wife, Judy, through that organization and married her after returning to the United States. He returned to college as a graduate student in history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He completed his Ph.D. in [[1968]] and relocated to Santa Barbara, California to join the faculty of the history department at the University of California–Santa Barbara.


Carl completed his PhD in 1968 and moved with Judy and 9-month old son David to Santa Barbara, where he joined the history department at UCSB. His daughter Susan was born two years later. Carl remained a professor at UCSB for the rest of his life, retiring from teaching several years ago but remaining a professor emeritus and continuing work on research and writing projects. During parts of his career he was deeply involved in campus politics, and also served on Academic Senate committees. Carl married two more times, to Sung-in Ch’oe, a colleague from UCSB, and finally to Lisha Wong Harris.
Harris remained at UCSB for his entire career, specializing in Southern history with a focus on race relations and political alignments between the [[Civil War]] and [[Civil Rights Movements]]. He is known for two major books relating to Birmingham history. The first, published in [[1977]] by the University of Tennessee Press, focuses on political developments in the first 50 years of the industrial center of the Reconstruction South. The second, completed and edited by W. Elliot Brownlee after Harris' death, investigates the establishment and experience of racial segregation in the city over the same period.


Carl was a keen card player, preferring games involving tricks and trump suits. He enjoyed department softball games as a young professor, and took up tennis seriously in his thirties and forties. He had a lifelong passion for classical music, including the great German composers and German and Italian opera. He sang in the Santa Barbara Oratorio Chorale for many years, often writing their program notes.
Harris was recognized as an innovator in using computer databases for analysis of congressional voting records and other large data sets. He applied a multi-disciplinary approach to analyzing housing and school segregation with the tools of social psychologists and geographers as well as historians. His work was often critical of the biases of other historians of the period.


Carl specialized in the history of the American South, focussing on race relations and political alignments in the years between the Civil War and Civil Rights Movement. Early in his career he was an innovator in using computers to analyze large sets of data, in his case congressional voting records from the late nineteenth century. In his later work he focussed on the establishment of patterns of segregation in housing and education during Reconstruction, integrating theories such as ingroup bias from the field of social psychology, and looked at how the historical and cultural contexts of different historians affected their interpretations of the period. His work as a teacher and mentor were central to Carl’s career. He continuously worked to refine and improve syllabi and lectures, and is remembered by his students as an especially thoughtful and generous advisor.
Harris continued his research and writing after his retirement as a professor emeritus. He was involved in numerous Academic Senate committees and otherwise engaged in campus politics, as well as softball and tennis in his younger years. Later he competed in card games and performed with the Santa Barbara Oratorio Chorale.


Carl is survived by his sister Velma, his wives, his two children, and his grandson Otto. A memorial gathering will take place the weekend of June 23rd at UCSB.-->
He and Judy had two children, David and Susan. He was later married twice more, to Sung-in Ch'oe and to Lisha Wong Harris.
 
Harris died in [[2018]].
 
==Publications==
* {{Harris-1977}}
* {{Harris-2022}}
 
==References==
* "Carl Harris" (May 21, 2018) ''Santa Barbara Independent''


{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Carl}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Carl}}
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:Historians]]
[[Category:Historians]]
[[Category:College faculty]]
[[Category:Vocalists]]

Revision as of 20:20, 22 January 2023

Carl Vernon Harris (born in Jennings, Louisiana; died May 14, 2018 in Santa Barbara, California) was a historian. He was the author of two important books of Birmingham history, Political Power in Birmingham, 1871-1921, published in 1977, and Segregation in the New South: Birmingham, Alabama, 1871–1901, published posthumously in 2022.

Carl, the son of Glann and Ethel Harris of Jennings, Louisiana, grew up with two younger siblings on the family's rice farm. His father was a minister in the Church of the Brethren, and his mother was music director. In accordance with the Brethren's pacifism, he registered with the draft board as a conscientious objector.

Harris attended McPherson College and later studied for a year at Yale Divinity School before relocating to Hamburg, Germany for two years as a member of the Brethren Volunteer Service, which was supporting youth organizations during the post-war period. He met his wife, Judy, through that organization and married her after returning to the United States. He returned to college as a graduate student in history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He completed his Ph.D. in 1968 and relocated to Santa Barbara, California to join the faculty of the history department at the University of California–Santa Barbara.

Harris remained at UCSB for his entire career, specializing in Southern history with a focus on race relations and political alignments between the Civil War and Civil Rights Movements. He is known for two major books relating to Birmingham history. The first, published in 1977 by the University of Tennessee Press, focuses on political developments in the first 50 years of the industrial center of the Reconstruction South. The second, completed and edited by W. Elliot Brownlee after Harris' death, investigates the establishment and experience of racial segregation in the city over the same period.

Harris was recognized as an innovator in using computer databases for analysis of congressional voting records and other large data sets. He applied a multi-disciplinary approach to analyzing housing and school segregation with the tools of social psychologists and geographers as well as historians. His work was often critical of the biases of other historians of the period.

Harris continued his research and writing after his retirement as a professor emeritus. He was involved in numerous Academic Senate committees and otherwise engaged in campus politics, as well as softball and tennis in his younger years. Later he competed in card games and performed with the Santa Barbara Oratorio Chorale.

He and Judy had two children, David and Susan. He was later married twice more, to Sung-in Ch'oe and to Lisha Wong Harris.

Harris died in 2018.

Publications

References

  • "Carl Harris" (May 21, 2018) Santa Barbara Independent
Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Carl_Harris&oldid=196864"