James M. Denham, Ph.D.
Professor of History
My goal as a professor is to aid students in reading and thinking critically while developing an appreciation for the relevance of history to their daily lives. I encourage students to understand ‘cause and effect’ of historical events, as well as appreciate the ‘why important’ and the significance. Finally, I believe that active engagement through research, writing, and developing public presentations is essential to good teaching, and I enjoy sharing my projects with my students.
Biography
James M. Denham is Professor of History and Director of the Lawton M. Chiles Jr. Center for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú History at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú. Before coming to Lakeland in 1991, Denham held teaching appointments at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú State University, Georgia Southern University, and Limestone College in South Carolina. A specialist in Southern, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú, and Criminal Justice and Legal history, Denham received his Ph.D degree from FSU. He is the author of "ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Founder William P. DuVal: Frontier Bon Vivant. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2015), "Fifty Years of Justice: A History of the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú. (Gainesville: University Press of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú, 2015), and "A Rogue's Paradise": Crime and Punishment in Antebellum ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú, 1821-1861 (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1997). Denham is also the author of three other books including ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Sheriffs: A History, 1821-1945 (Tallahassee, Sentry Press, 2001), with William W. Rogers; Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives, the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Reminiscences of George Gillette Keen and Sarah Pamela Williams (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2000), with Canter Brown, Jr. and Echoes from a Distant Frontier: the Brown Sisters’ Correspondence in Antebellum ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2004), with Keith Huneycutt.
Denham has lectured widely throughout the state for the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Humanities Council and other organizations. He is a frequent contributor to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Public Radio. Denham has also served fellowships at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, the University of South Carolina, the University of Wisconsin, Harvard University, Columbia University, the National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, NC, and the Virginia Historical Society.
Education
- Ph.D., M.A., B.A., History, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú State University
Awards
- Rembert Patrick Prize, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Historical Society for Fifty Years of Justice – 2016
- Named Distinguished Author of the Year, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú House on Capitol Hill – 2016
- Awarded Tenure – 2011
- Preservationist of the Year, City of Lakeland - 2005
- James J. Horgan Book Award, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Historical Society, for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Sheriffs – 2002
- Arthur W. Thompson Prize, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Historical Society - 1992
Publications
Denham's articles and reviews have appeared in the America Historical Review, American Journal of Legal History, Journal of Southern History, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Historical Quarterly, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Bar Journal, Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Military History of the West, Gulf Coast Historical Review, Georgia Historical Quarterly, Historical Methods, South ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú History Magazine, and the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Supreme Court Historical Review.
Book Chapters
With Canter Brown, “South Carolina Volunteers in the Second Seminole War: A Nullifier Debacle as Prelude to the Palmetto State Gubernatorial Election of 1836” in W. Steve Belco, ed. America’s Hundred Years War: U. S. Expansion to the Gulf Coast and the Fate of the Seminole, 1763-1858. Gainesville: University Press of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú, 2011, 209-36. “Victoria Seward Varn Brandon Sherrill: South ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Women as Community Builders”, in Larry Rivers and Canter Brown, eds. The Varieties of Women’s Experiences: Portraits of Southern Women in the Post-Civil War Century. Gainesville: University Press of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Èë¿Ú, 2010, 54-63.