UA student Susan Dollar was selected as the first
University
of
Arkansas Diane D. Blair Graduate Fellow
for her outstanding performance in the classroom and
written work. The fellowship will support Dollar's graduate program, including
the researching and writing of her dissertation. The
Diane
D.
Blair
Center
for the Study of Southern Politics and Society was founded
last year, and the graduate fellowship program was introduced for the first time
by the history and English departments. The Blair fellowship is a three-year
scholarship that will add $6,000 to the candidate's existing graduate
fellowship. The faculty makes the nominations and the Departmental Awards
Committee examines the candidate's file and votes on to whom to give the
fellowship. The dean's approval then makes the selection official. Jeannie M.
Whayne, department of history chairperson, said one letter written in Dollar's
behalf referred to her as "not only one of the very best doctoral
candidates currently in our program but one of the finest we have ever
had." "We are particularly
pleased that she was selected as the first Diane D. Blair fellow," Whayne
said. "She has been a graduate student in our program for a couple of
years. The fellowship should allow her to complete her course work (which is
almost done anyway), take her qualifying exams and then write her
dissertation." Dollar is
planning to write the dissertation on Creoles in the Catholic Church in
Louisiana
in the antebellum period. "I
plan to research the Catholic Church and its role in the lives of Creoles of
color in
Louisiana
," Dollar said. "A main Creole community that I
plan to study is
Isle
Brevelle
, on the
Cane
River
in north
Louisiana
." Dollar
said the community is largely composed of descendents of a slave woman named
Marie Therese Coin-Coin and a French soldier, Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer.
Metoyer freed Marie Therese and their children from slavery. The descendents
were free people of color who owned slaves and plantations along the
Cane
River
, dating back to the eighteenth century.
St. Augustine Catholic Church is at the heart of this community and has
been since it was founded in 1803. It is the first Catholic Church established
in the
United States
by people of color for people of color. "I
plan to research its work in
Isle
Brevelle
as it provided schools and organizations that helped define
the community and its people," Dollar said.
Dollar is the assistant director of the
Arkansas
Center
for Oral and Visual History in
Fayetteville
and a native of
Natchitoches
,
La.
She received her master's degree in English at Texas A
& M and received a master's degree in history at Northwestern State
University of Louisiana. She
published the book The Freedmen's Bureau Schools of Natchitoches Parish,
Louisiana, 1865-1868 with the NSU Press in 1998, and she published an
article in the Ozark Historical Review in Spring 2000 entitled "Viney
Grove Methodist Church: A View into the Frontier Ministry of Western Washington
County, Arkansas."
UA student James Anthony Anderson was selected to receive the
University
of
Arkansas Blair Fellowship for Southern Literature. The
fellowship is given through the Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society in
the
Fulbright
College of Arts & Sciences and is dedicated to the study of Southern politics,
culture, history, and literature. The
Blair fellowships are given in memory of Diane D. Blair (1938-2000), political
scientist and activist. Blair, who
maintained more than thirty years of commitment to the university and the state
of
Arkansas
, continues to influence UA through her important legacy.
With substantial support from the Blair fellowship, James A. Anderson has
begun (Fall 2004) his Ph.D. work in Southern Literature through the English
Department.
Anderson’s interests include Southern Agrarian thought and cultural studies,
traditional American music, travel narratives, and nature/conservation writing. Anderson also plans to study closely under the renowned Southern Literature faculty in
English, which includes Department Chair Robert Brinkmeyer, and with other
programs such as Creative Writing and History, along with the Center for Arkansas
and Regional Studies. “I am
extremely honored to receive this fellowship and am excited about the
possibilities to shed some light on the traditional culture of
Arkansas
and the South at large,” says Anderson. For the next three years,
Anderson
will complete his course work and dissertation, while teaching composition.
Anderson
received his B.A. in English from the
University
of
North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
and his M.A. in English from
East Carolina
University. “Through the aid of this
fellowship I hope to continue the goals of the Blair Foundation and do all I can
to help support its community-based and regional endeavors,” Anderson adds.
Matthew A Byron (bio)
Born and raised in
Massachusetts
. He received his BA in history from
the
University
of
Massachusetts
@ Amherst in 1999. He received his
MA in history from
Clemson
University
in
South Carolina
in 2002. Where he completed his
thesis entitled: “Beyond the Traditional Code of Honor.”
This was a study of several key aspects to Southern honor which have been
traditionally ignored. Finally he
began his work on a PhD at the
University
of
Arkansas
in 2002. While here, he has had the
opportunity to teach both
US
I and II surveys in American history. While
being a Blair Fellow, he has begun research into various aspects in southern
honor and culture. His most recent
focus of research has centered on the use of body history, such as gestures and
walking styles, to interpret affairs of honor.
The Blair Center
of Southern Politics and Society
428 Old Main
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
(479)-575-3356
Todd Shields, Director
tshield@uark.edu
