Green, Fletcher Melvin, 1895-1978

Fletcher Melvin Green (1895-1978) was a member of the faculty of the History Department at the University of North Carolina, 1936-1960. Green directed the graduate studies of more than 200 students, held a Kenan professorship, and served as department chair.

From the description of Fletcher Melvin Green papers, 1898-1980 (bulk 1935-1965) [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 25740280

Fletcher Melvin Green (1895-1978) was a member of the faculty of the History Department at the University of North Carolina, 1936-1966. Green directed the graduate studies of more than 200 students, held a Kenan professorship, and served as department chair.

From the description of Fletcher Green collection, 1972. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 277229376

Fletcher Melvin Green was born 12 July 1895 near Gainesville, Ga., the son of Robert Chambers and Mary Mahala Haynes Green. In 1920, Green graduated from Emory University, having interrupted his education to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces in France.

Green continued his education with graduate work in history at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. In 1922, he earned the M.A. degree, and five years later received the Ph.D. under the guidance of Joseph Gregoire de Roulhac Hamilton. Green also attended classes at the University of Chicago and Vanderbilt University. At Chicago, William E. Dodd helped shape Green's early career, as did Walter Lynwood Fleming at Vanderbilt.

While completing his graduate studies, Green held teaching positions at the Lindsey-Wilson Preparatory School in Columbia, Ky., UNC, Sparks College, and Vanderbilt. After graduation, Green taught three years at Emory University. In 1936, he returned to UNC, accepting a post in the history department. He remained at Chapel Hill until his retirement in 1966. In 1946, Green was promoted to a Kenan professorship in history, and from 1953 until 1960, he was head of the department.

Throughout his life, Green's skills as a teacher were in demand. He spent summers as a visiting professor at Duke, Northwestern, and Stanford universities, as well as at the College of William and Mary and the universities of Tennessee and Missouri. He delivered the Eugenia Dorothy Blount Lamar Lectures at Mercer University, and the Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures at Louisiana State University.

Green's talent as an educator attracted many promising graduate students. At UNC, Green guided the studies, for instance, of George Brown Tindall (1921- ), Dewey W. Grantham (1921- ), Arthur Stanley Link (1920- ), Hugh Rankin, Rembert W. Patrick (1909-1967), Mary Elizabeth Massey (1915-1976?), and James Welch Patton (1900-1973). Altogether, Green directed the dissertations of over 100 doctoral candidates and the masters theses of well over 150 students. By overseeing the training of such a large number of scholars, Green's influence on the study of Southern history extended far beyond Chapel Hill.

Along with his ability to teach, Green was a respected historian and leader. He wrote or edited over a dozen books. He also contributed scores of articles and reviews to scholarly journals. Furthermore, Green held the position of president in both the Southern Historical Association and the Mississippi Valley Historical Association (later the Organization of American Historians).

Despite his official retirement, Green continued to teach. In 1968, he served as Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford University, England. Green received at least three honorary degrees from various southern universities. In 1965, former students presented him with Writing Southern History: Essays in Honor of Fletcher M. Green .

Green and his wife, Mary Frances Black, had four children: Fletcher Melvin II, Mary Carolyn, Robert Ramsey, and Elizabeth Haynes. All four of the Green children graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. Fletcher Green remained in Chapel Hill after his retirement. He died on 27 February 1978. Mary Frances Green died in 1984.

(Sources: The Encyclopedia of the South, 354-355; Who's Who in America, 1974-1975, 1218; these papers.)

From the guide to the Fletcher Melvin Green Papers, 1898-1980, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)