žŸ

Fleming Lecture Series 

When Prof. George Rable of the žŸ of Alabama delivered the 2014 Fleming Lecture Series on March 12 and 13, the occasion was notable for a number of reasons. Prof. Rable’s series of lectures, under the overall heading “Damn Yankees! Hatred and Defiance in the Confederate South,” dealt colorfully and persuasively with the origins of North-South mistrust and the Southern resentment of the “Barbarous Enemy;” attitudes that he traced back to the early years of the Civil War and even earlier. The 2014 lectures marked the 75th occasion of the Fleming Lectures, in an almost unbroken string that goes back to the series’ inauguration in 1937. Just as noteworthy, Prof. Rable’s lectures marked the first time the Fleming Lectures were delivered by a graduate of LSU’s own doctoral program in History.

The Fleming Lecture series was established in 1936 and is named in memory of Walter Lynwood Fleming, a former professor of history at LSU who distinguished himself as a scholar of the Reconstruction period. In three quarters of a century since their founding, the Lectures have helped revise many of the interpretations held by historians in the 1930s, including those of Professor Fleming, on the evils of the Reconstruction era. Not without irony, then, the lectures named in his memory have come to testify to the changing nature of the southern past and southern history.

Fleming Lecturers have included some of the most noteworthy names in American and Southern history. Following is a list, in reverse chronological order, tracing this highly distinguished occasion back to its origins

The 83rd Fleming Lecture Series will be delivered by Dr. Mia Bay, Professor of History at the žŸ of Pennsylvania, on March 24-25, 2026. Professor Bay will give her opening lecture on Tuesday March 24 at 7:00 pm. Her second two lectures will follow on Wednesday March 25 from 10:30 am - 12:00 pm and from 2:00-3:30 pm. All lectures will take place in Hill Memorial Library.

     
 
 
 

82nd Series, 2025:

Laura Edwards

Princeton žŸ

81st Series, 2024:

Brenda Stevenson

Oxford žŸ

and UCLA

80th Series, 2022:

Daniel Usner

Vanderbilt žŸ

79th Series, 2021:

Glenda Gilmore

Yale žŸ

78th Series, 2020:

Bill Link

žŸ of Florida

77th Series, 2018:

Edward L. Ayers

žŸ of Virginia

 

76th Series, 2016:

Peter Onuf

žŸ of Virginia

75th Series, 2015:

Nancy MacLean

Duke žŸ

74th Series, 2014:

George C. Rable

žŸ of Alabama

 

 

73rd Series, 2013:

James Oakes

City žŸ of New York

 

72nd Series, 2012:

Catherine Clinton,

Queen’s žŸ, Belfast

 

71st Series, 2011:

John Shelton Reed,

žŸ of North Carolina

 

 

70th Series, 2009:

Thomas C. Holt,

žŸ of Chicago

 

69th Series, 2007:

Michael Perman,

žŸ of Illinois at Chicago

 

68th Series, 2006:

William W. Freehling,

žŸ of Kentucky

 

 

67th Series, 2005:

Stanley L. Engerman,

žŸ of Rochester

66th Series, 2004:

Pete Daniel,

Smithsonian Institution

65th Series, 2003:

Karen Ordahl Kupperman,

New York žŸ

 

 

64th Series, 2002:

David Levering Lewis,

Rutgers žŸ

63d Series, 2001:

Robert William Fogel,

žŸ of Chicago

62d Series, 2000:

Peter Kolchin,

žŸ of Delaware

 

 

61st Series, 1999:

Michael F. Holt,

žŸ of Virginia

60th Series, 1998:

Fred Colby Hobson, Jr.,

žŸ of North Carolina

59th Series, 1997:

Gavin Wright,

Stanford žŸ

 

 

58th Series, 1996:

James L. Axtell,

College of William and Mary

57th Series, 1995:

Bertram Wyatt-Brown,

žŸ of Florida

56th Series, 1994:

Jacquelyn Dowd Hall,

žŸ of North Carolina

 

 

55th Series, 1993:

James M. McPherson,

Princeton žŸ

54th Series, 1992:

Dan Thomas Carter,

Emory žŸ

53d Series, 1991:

William E. Leuchtenburg,

žŸ of North Carolina

 

 

52d Series, 1990:

Harold D. Woodman,

Purdue žŸ

51st Series, 1989:

Robert W. Johannsen,

žŸ of Illinois

50th Series, 1988:

Lewis P. Simpson,

Louisiana State žŸ

 

 

49th Series, 1987:

Drew Gilpin Faust,

žŸ of Pennsylvania

48th Series, 1986:

Russell F. Weigley,

Temple žŸ

47th Series, 1985:

C. Vann Woodward,

Yale žŸ

 

 

46th Series, 1984:

Robert V. Remini,

žŸ of Illinois, Chicago

45th Series, 1983:

Leon F. Litwack,

žŸ of California, Berkeley

44th Series, 1982:

Eric Foner,

City žŸ of New York

 

 

43d Series, 1981:

Jack P. Greene,

The Johns Hopkins žŸ

42d Series, 1980:

Merrill D. Peterson,

žŸ of Virginia

41st Series, 1979:

Robert Coles,

Harvard žŸ

 

 

40th Series, 1978:

Don E. Fehrenbacher,

Stanford žŸ

39th Series, 1977:

Louis R. Harlan,

žŸ of Maryland

38th Series, 1976:

Carl N. Degler,

Stanford žŸ

 

 

37th Series, 1975:

Louis D. Rubin, Jr.,

žŸ of North Carolina

36th Series, 1974:

Eugene D. Genovese,

žŸ of Rochester

35th Series, 1973:

George Brown Tindall,

žŸ of North Carolina

 

 

34th Series, 1972:

John Hope Franklin,

žŸ of Chicago

33d Series, 1971:

George E. Mowry,

žŸ of North Carolina

32d Series, 1970:

Abraham P. Nasatir,

San Diego State College

 

 

31st Series, 1969:

David B. Davis,

Cornell žŸ

30th Series, 1968:

David M. Potter,

Stanford žŸ

29th Series, 1966:

Richard N. Current,

žŸ of Wisconsin

 

 

28th Series, 1965:

David Herbert Donald,

The Johns Hopkins žŸ

27th Series, 1964:

Frank Friedel,

Harvard žŸ

26th Series, 1963:

Walter B. Posey,

Agnes Scott College

 

 

25th Series, 1962:

Norman A. Graebner,

žŸ of Illinois

24th Series, 1961:

Clement Eaton,

žŸ of Kentucky

23d Series, 1960:

John R. Alden,

Duke žŸ

 

 

22d Series, 1959:

Rembert W. Patrick,

žŸ of Florida

21st Series, 1958:

Avery O. Craven,

žŸ of Oregon

20th Series, 1957:

Walter P. Webb,

žŸ of Texas

 

 

19th Series, 1956:

Francis Butler Simkins,

Longwood College

18th Series, 1955:

Wendell Holmes Stephenson,

žŸ of Oregon

17th Series, 1954:

Charles Snydor,

Duke žŸ

 

 

16th Series, 1952:

E. Merton Coulter,

žŸ of Georgia

15th Series, 1951:

Carl Bridenbaugh,

žŸ of California

14th Series, 1951:

C. Vann Woodward,

The Johns Hopkins žŸ

 

 

13th Series, 1950:

William C. Binkley,

Vanderbilt žŸ

12th Series, 1949:

William B. Hesseltine,

žŸ of Wisconsin

11th Series, 1949:

Fletcher M. Green,

žŸ of North Carolina

 

 

11th Series, 1949:

Fletcher M. Green,

žŸ of North Carolina

Tenth Series, 1948:

Frank L. Owsley,

žŸ of Alabama

Ninth Series, 1947:

Thomas D. Clark,

žŸ of Kentucky

 

 

Eighth Series, 1945:

James Garfield Randall,

žŸ of Illinois

Seventh Series, 1944:

Arthur Charles Cole,

Brooklyn College

Sixth Series, 1943:

Bell Irvin Wiley,

Emory žŸ

 

 

Fifth Series, 1941:

J. Fred Rippy,

žŸ of Chicago

Fourth Series, 1940:

Thomas P. Abernathy,

žŸ of Virginia

Third Series, 1938:

Herbert A. Kellar,

McCormick Historical Association

 

 

Second Series, 1937:

Avery O. Craven,

žŸ of Chicago

First Series, 1936:

Charles W. Ramsdell,

žŸ of Texas