Lanning, John Tate, 1902-1976

John Tate Lanning served as a Latin America scholar, historian, and Professor of History at Duke University.

John Tate Lanning was born in Linwood, N.C. in 1902. He received degrees from Trinity College (A.B., 1924) and the University of California (A.M., 1925, Ph.D., 1928).

A teacher, lecturer, educator, and historian, Lanning began his career at Duke University in 1927. In 1942, he became a full professor, and became a James B. Duke professor in 1961. He was one of the first Guggenheim Fellows in the early 1930s and won several research awards in the field of history. In 1955, Lanning won the Carnegie Fund Prize for his manuscript, The 18th Century Enlightenment in the University of Can Carlos de Guatemala.

Lanning was the managing editor of the Hispanic American Historical Review (1939-1945) and held memberships in the American Historical Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Sociedad de Geografia e Historia de Guatemala. He specialized in colonial Hispanic-American history and wrote The Spanish Missions of Georgia (1935) and 10 other works.

A self-proclaimed bibliophile, Lanning regarded the Duke University's Perkins Library as the heart of the university. He was instrumental in developing Perkins Library's book collection on Hispanic America. Upon his death, Lanning was honored with three book funds established in his name: one by the Hanes Foundation of Winston-Salem, N.C. and the other two by his students.

Lanning married Elizabeth B. Williams in 1932 and died in Durham, N.C., on August 15, 1976.