Frank Porter Graham - by William A Link

About the Book

"Frank Porter Graham (1886-1972) was one of the most consequential white southerners of the twentieth century. Born in Fayetteville and raised in Charlotte, he taught history at UNC, and in 1930, he became the university's fifteenth president. Affectionately known as 'Dr. Frank,' Graham spent two decades overseeing UNC's development into a world-class public institution. But he regularly faced controversy, especially as he was increasingly drawn into national leadership on matters such as intellectual freedom and the rights of workers. As a southern liberal, Graham became a prominent New Dealer, negotiator, and briefly a U.S. senator. Graham's reputation for problem solving through compromise led him into service under several presidents as a United Nations mediator, and he was outspoken as a white southerner regarding civil rights. Brimming with fresh insights, this definitive biography reveals how a personally modest public servant took his place on the national and world stage and, along the way, helped transform North Carolina"

Book Synopsis

Frank Porter Graham (1886-1972) was one of the most consequential white southerners of the twentieth century. Born in Fayetteville and raised in Charlotte, Graham became an active and popular student leader at the University of North Carolina. After earning a graduate degree from Columbia University and serving as a marine during World War I, he taught history at UNC, and in 1930, he became the university's fifteenth president. Affectionately known as "Dr. Frank," Graham spent two decades overseeing UNC's development into a world-class public institution. But he regularly faced controversy, especially as he was increasingly drawn into national leadership on matters such as intellectual freedom and the rights of workers. As a southern liberal, Graham became a prominent New Dealer and negotiator and briefly a U.S. senator. Graham's reputation for problem solving through compromise led him into service under several presidents as a United Nations mediator, and he was outspoken as a white southerner regarding civil rights.

Brimming with fresh insights, this definitive biography reveals how a personally modest public servant took his place on the national and world stage and, along the way, helped transform North Carolina.

Review Quotes

"[Frank Porter Graham] raises important questions for those now trying to work on, learn at, or live nearby campuses whose uses have dramatically changed since the Founding. . . . Link's account of Graham's life . . . adds to the recent reconsiderations of how the academy has changed and its place in American life has dramatically shifted."--Reviews in American History

"An engaging and important book. . . . [T]his biography offers important lessons for how one man navigated the complexities of racism, higher education, politics, labor relations, and internationalism during mid-twentieth-century America."--Journal of American History

"In [this] well-researched biography, [Frank Porter] Graham emerges as more complex and human, and his career exposes the limitations of white liberalism in the post-World War II South. . . . A well-crafted and thoughtful account."--Journal of Southern History

"Link introduces readers to the illustrious career of Frank Porter Graham. . . . [This volume] would be suitable for inclusion in any academic library with a focus on North Carolina political or cultural history."--North Carolina Libraries

"This fascinating biography of one of the most important figures in twentieth-century North Carolina is a significant contribution that promises to rejuvenate the study of white southern liberals."--Jennifer Ritterhouse, author of Discovering the South: One Man's Travels Through a Changing America in the 1930s

"Well researched and well written, this important biography gives a full picture of the life and legacy of the avatar of twentieth-century southern liberalism."--Kevin M. Kruse, co-author of Fault Lines: A History of America since 1974