Herman Clarence Nixon (1886 – 1967) was an American political scientist and a member of the Southern Agrarians.
Herman Clarence Nixon | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1886 |
| Died | 1967 |
| Alma mater | Auburn University |
| Occupation | Academic |
| Children | John Trice Nixon |
| Relatives | Mignon Nixon (granddaughter) |
Early life edit
Herman Clarence Nixon was born in 1886 in Possum Trot, Alabama.[1] He was educated in the public schools of Jacksonville, Alabama and attended the Jacksonville State normal school, graduating in 1907.[2] He graduated from Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now known as Auburn University.[3] He went to graduate school at University of Chicago.[1] During World War I, he served in the United States Army in Europe.[1]
Career edit
Nixon taught Political Science at Vanderbilt University from 1925 to 1928.[1] During that time, he joined the Southern Agrarians and contributed an essay to I'll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition.[1] From 1928 to 1938, he taught at Tulane University.[3] He then taught at Vanderbilt University again, from 1938 to 1955.[1]
Nixon served as the President of the Southern Political Science Association in 1944 and 1945,[4] though there was no meeting in 1945.[5] Additionally, he was a member of the Southern Regional Committee of the Social Science Research Council.[3]
Nixon served as the Chairman of the Southern Policy Committee from 1935 to 1937.[1] He lobbied in favor of the Bankhead–Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937.[1] By 1938, he became the Executive Secretary of the Southern Conference for Human Welfare.[1][4] Even though he quit by 1939, he felt threatened by the House Un-American Activities Committee.[1] Nevertheless, he joined the Americans for Democratic Action in 1947.[1]
Personal life edit
Nixon had a son, John Trice Nixon, who served as a United States federal judge.[6] His daughter-in-law, Betty C. Nixon, served on the Nashville city council from 1975 to 1987 and later worked for Vanderbilt University.[6] His granddaughter, Mignon Nixon,[6] is a professor at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.
Death edit
He died in 1967.
Works edit
- Forty Acres and Steel Mules (1938).
- Possum Trot: Rural Community, South (1941).
- Lower Piedmont Country (1946).
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sullivan, Patricia (Summer 1987). "Reviewed Work: Hillbilly Realist: Herman Clarence Nixon of Possum Trot by Sarah Newman Shouse". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 71 (2): 351–354. JSTOR 40581683.
- ^ Thomas McAdory Owen; Marie Bankhead Owen (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. S. J. Clarke publishing Company. pp. 1283.
- ^ a b c Vanderbilt special collection Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Havard, William C.; Dauer, Manning J. (August 1980). "The Southern Political Science Association: A Fifty Year Legacy". The Journal of Politics. 42 (3): 664–686. doi:10.2307/2130545. JSTOR 2130545. S2CID 154407299.
- ^ "Past Presidents". Southern Political Science Association. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ a b c "WEDDINGS; Mignon E. Nixon, Gregory D. Smith". The New York Times. July 2, 1995. Retrieved 21 August 2015.