Stallworth and Mahan Lecture Series

With the generous support of the University of South Alabama Foundation, the Department of History sponsors two distinguished lecture series featuring historians who have made a scholarly impact within the historical field.  In the fall, the Stallworth Lecture focuses on southern U.S. history while in spring, the Mahan Lecture rotates among a variety of historical fields.  For over a decade, members of the USA community as well as the Mobile community have had the opportunity to engage with visiting scholars who have created pathbreaking scholarship while exploring the stories of humanity.  

Stallworth Lecture

The Stallworth lecture is named after N. Jack Stallworth,  a lifelong Mobilian, who was well known in Mobile business circles having owned and operated several business ventures and restaurants over the years. He was a graduate of Castle Heights Military School in Tennessee and of Louisiana State University with a degree in forestry.  Jack Stallworth was instrumental in founding the America’s Junior Miss, the Mobile Chapter of the English Speaking Union, and the Camellia Ball. With his grand leadership of the Mobile Carnival Association, he became known as “Mr. Mardi Gras.”  His love of Mobile, Southern life and history, led him to provide, through the USA Foundation, funding to establish and support the N. Jack Stallworth Lecture in Southern History.  His contributions also include funding for two scholarships named after his parents, Minnie Lee Wilkins Stallworth and Montgomery Carlton Stallworth, for students majoring in history with an emphasis in Southern history at the University of South Alabama.  Additionally, the Stallworth family home and contents were left to the USA Foundation to be used to enhance the teaching of Southern history and to support programs of the University.

N. Jack Stallworth Lecturers

2007  Emory M. Thomas, University of Georgia

2008  David W. Blight, Yale University

2009  Anthony J. Badger, University of Cambridge

2010  James C. Cobb, University of Georgia

2011  Jacquelyn  D. Hall, UNC-Chapel Hill

2012  Stephanie McCurry, University of Pennsylvania

2013  Margaret Humphreys, Duke University

2014  James Oakes, Graduate Center, CUNY

2015  Alan Taylor, University of Virginia

2016  John Boles, Rice University

2017  Laura F. Edwards, Duke University

2018  Joseph Crespino, Emory University

2019  Tera Hunter, Princeton University 

2020  No Lecture

2021  No Lecture 

2022  Thavolia Glymph, Duke University

2023 Jefferson Cowie, Vanderbilt University 

2024 Kari Frederickson, University of Alabama 

Mahan Lecture

The Mahan Lecture is named after Howard F. Mahan,  the founder of the University of South Alabama Department of History.  Mahan was born in New York City and grew up in nearby New Jersey. He interrupted his undergraduate studies in science and engineering at Drew University to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. After serving a full tour as a navigator on bombing missions over Europe, he returned to Drew. He decided to study history now as a way of better understanding the war that he and the world had just endured. He continued as a graduate student at Columbia University, where he received his Ph.D. in U.S. history.  Always interested in adult education, Professor Mahan took a position with the University of Alabama Extension Division in Mobile in 1954. He was one of the original faculty members of the University of South Alabama in 1964 and was the founder of its Department of History. He served as chair of the Department from 1964 to 1983. After nearly forty years of teaching U.S. history in Mobile, Professor Mahan retired in 1993.  With the generous support of the University of South Alabama Foundation, the USA Department of History has established an annual lecture in honor of Professor Mahan’s enduring contributions to his students, colleagues, community, and state.

Howard F. Mahan Lecturers

2001  Dan T. Carter, University of South Carolina

2002  Christopher R. Browning, University of North Carolina

2003  Daniel H. Usner, Vanderbilt University

2004  Jacqueline Jones, Brandeis University

2005  Carol Gluck, Columbia University

2006  William Martin, Rice University

2007  Lawrence Powell, Tulane University

2009  Magnus T. Bernhardsson, Williams College

2010  Susan Reverby, Wellesley College

2011  Mary Roldan, City University of New York

2012  Gary Gerstle, Vanderbilt University

2013  Wendy Goldman, Carnegie Mellon University

2014  Patrick Maney, Boston College

2015  Rae Yang, Dickinson College

2016  David Sorkin, Yale University

2017  James Hevia, University of Chicago

2018  Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Rutgers University

2019  Kate Brown, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2020  No Lecture

2021  Asma Afsaruddin, Indiana University

2022 No Lecture 

2023 Joe Trotter, Carnegie Mellon University

2024 Mary Fissell, Johns Hopkins University