Hubert D. Humphreys
Encyclopedia
Hubert Davis Humphreys was an historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

 formerly affiliated with Louisiana State University in Shreveport
Louisiana State University in Shreveport
Louisiana State University in Shreveport is a branch of the Louisiana State University System in Shreveport, Louisiana. Opened in 1967, LSUS is the only public four-year university in the Shreveport-Bossier metro area....

 who specialized in archives, oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...

, and studies of his native North Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

.

Background and military service

Humphreys was born to Ralph and Ellie Humphreys in the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 of Grayson
Grayson, Louisiana
Grayson is a village in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 531 at the 2000 census.Grayson has an elementary school, but high school students attend the nearby Caldwell Parish High School in the parish seat of Columbia. Across from the elementary school and the Grayson...

 in Caldwell Parish
Caldwell Parish, Louisiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,560 people, 3,941 households, and 2,817 families residing in the parish. The population density was 20 people per square mile . There were 5,035 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile...

 south of Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...

. He graduated in 1940 from Grayson High School and then joined the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...

 two years prior to its abolition. He studied briefly at Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...

 in Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...

. In 1942, he accepted employment with the United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

 until in 1943 he joined the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 for three and a half years of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 duty. Humphreys served under Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

 Harry W. Hill
Harry W. Hill
Harry Wilbur Hill was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War II.-Biography:Hill was born in Oakland, California on 7 April 1890...

’s Fifth Amphibious Force and fought in the Pacific Theatre
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

: the invasion of Pelletier
Pelletier
Pelletier is the name of several people.*Annie Pelletier, Canadian diver*Benoît Pelletier, Quebec Liberal Party minister and MNA in the National Assembly*Bruno Pelletier, Canadian musician*David Pelletier, Canadian figure skater...

 (Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...

 Island), Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...

, Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

 (in the Marianas Islands), and Okinawa, the most costly of the naval battles to the United States. He served on the USS Auburn
USS Auburn
Two ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Auburn. The first was probably named for the town of Auburn, Pennsylvania, situated on a tributary of the Little Schuylkill River, Schuylkill County, northwest of Chester, Pa., where the ship was built. The second Auburn was named for...

 at the time of the surrender of Nagasaki, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. He was awarded three battle stars and numerous citations.

Education

Humphreys was discharged from the Navy at New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

. He then entered Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

 at Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

 under the GI Bill of Rights. There in 1950, he received a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in professional education. In 1953, he received a Master of Education
Master of Education
The Master of Education is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum and instruction, counseling, and administration. It is often conferred for educators advancing in...

 from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

 in College Station
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...

. He then obtained a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in the field of history from LSU. His master's thesis on the Civilian Conservation Corps was printed in a condensed version in Louisiana History, the journal of the Louisiana Historical Association
Louisiana Historical Association
The Louisiana Historical Association is an organization of professional historians and interested laypersons dedicated to the preservation, publication, and dissemination of the history of the U.S. state of Louisiana, with particular emphasis at the inception on territorial, statehood, and the...

.

Humphreys subsequently engaged in advanced studies under grants at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

 in New Orleans, Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...

 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 in Palo Alto
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. In 1974, he received archival training at Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...

 in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, and at the Georgia State Archives. Under Fulbright-Hays Scholarship grants, he studied in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 in 1967 and in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 in 1970. His historical interest was particularly strong in the areas of U.S. diplomacy and Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 and the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...

.

Academic accomplishments

Humphreys spent thirty-three years as an educator in Louisiana, with his first assignment in Webster Parish
Webster Parish, Louisiana
Webster Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. In 2010, its population was 41,207....

 and then Fair Park High School
Fair Park High School
Fair Park Medical Careers Magnet High School is a high school located at 3222 Greenwood Road in Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.A. When it opened as Fair Park High School in 1928, it was the second high school in the city. C.E...

 in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, where in 1965, he was named "Teacher of the Year". In 1967, Humphreys became one of the charter faculty of LSU in Shreveport, having taught history there until his retirement in 1985. In 1980, he published Louisiana Oral History Collections: A Directory. He also wrote numerous journal articles, two on the second removal of the Red River
Red River (Mississippi watershed)
The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in the southern United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name...

 Raft of 1875. He published another article on Lula Wardlow
Lula Wardlow
Lula Ethredge Wardlow was a businesswoman, United Methodist minister, and the first woman ever elected mayor of a Louisiana community. She served from 1926-1930 in Montgomery , a village in northern Grant Parish.Mrs. Wardlow was born in Grant Parish to Wesley Ethredge and the former Alpha Jane Baker...

 of Montgomery
Montgomery, Louisiana
left|thumb|200px|First Baptist Church in MontgomeryMontgomery is a town in Grant Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 787 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area. Founded in 1712, even before New Orleans, Montgomery is situated on U.S...

 in Grant Parish
Grant Parish, Louisiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 18,698 people, 7,073 households, and 5,276 families residing in the parish. The population density was 29 people per square mile . There were 8,531 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...

, the first elected woman mayor in Louisiana and a minister in Humphreys' own Methodist Protestant Church
Methodist Protestant Church
The Methodist Protestant Church is a regional Church body which was officially formed in 1828 by former members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, remaining Wesleyan in doctrine and worship, but adopting congregational governance....

, since part of the United Methodist denomination. He wrote articles too on some of the Methodist Protestant circuit rider
Circuit rider
Circuit rider is a term originating from the United States for any professional who travels a regular circuit of locations to provide services, and has several specific applications:...

s in Louisiana. He wrote many book reviews and newspaper columns. In 1978, he was elected president of the Louisiana Historical Association. In 1995, the LHA named him a fellow.

He was affiliated with the North Louisiana Historical Association, Louisiana Association of Social Studies, National Council of Social Studies, Southern Historical Association, Organization of American Historians
Organization of American Historians
The Organization of American Historians , formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S...

, American Association of University Professors
American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership is about 47,000, with over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations...

, Phi Alpha Theta
Phi Alpha Theta
Phi Alpha Theta is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history.The society is a charter member of the Association of College Honor Societies and has over 350,000 members, with about 9,500 new members joining each year through 860 local chapters.-...

, Society of Southwest Archivists, Oral History Association, and the Louisiana Bicentennial Commission. He combined archival and oral history in a study of the Carpenter's Union, funded by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

After retirement, Humphreys researched the history of his native Grayson and the Methodist Protestant Church. In 1992, his history of Grayson was published in a lengthy articles in The Journal of the North Louisiana Historical Association, since renamed North Louisiana History
North Louisiana History
North Louisiana History is an academic journal published twice annually in Shreveport, Louisiana by the North Louisiana Historical Association .-History:...

, and based in Shreveport. In 2007, LSUS authorized "The Hubert Humphreys Endowed Professorship of History" in the College of Liberal Arts. On retirement, Humphreys was named an LSUS professor emeritus.

Death and legacy

Humphreys retired in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

 but died in Baton Rouge, where he had spent his latter days. Survivors included two sisters, Mildred H. Taylor of Baton Rouge and Melissa Verna Douglas and husband, George W. Douglas, of Shreveport. Services were held on September 5, 2009, in Columbia
Columbia, Louisiana
Columbia is a town in and the parish seat of Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 477 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbia is located at ....

, the seat of Caldwell Parish. Interment was at Welcome Home Cemetery in Grayson. At the time of his death, Humphreys was writing a history on the Copenhagen Prairie area near Grayson, an area that he had explored as a child.

On September 17, less than a month after Humphreys's death, a second Louisiana historian, Sue Eakin
Sue Eakin
Myrtle Sue Lyles Eakin, known as Sue Eakin , was an American professor, newspaper columnist, and historian from Bunkie in Avoyelles Parish, who researched Louisiana history, particularly the Old South plantation system.-Early years:Eakin was born on the Compromise Plantation in the Lyles community...

, formerly with Louisiana State University at Alexandria
Louisiana State University at Alexandria
Louisiana State University at Alexandria is located in Alexandria, Louisiana. Louisiana State University at Alexandria is a publicly supported institution that provides undergraduatelevel college education to the citizens of Central Louisiana. The university is a unit of the LSU System and operates...

, died at the age of ninety. She edited the 1968 work, Twelve Years a Slave
Twelve Years a Slave
Twelve Years a Slave is the written work of Solomon Northup - a man who was born free, but was bound into slavery later in life.-Synopsis:The book, which was originally published in 1853, tells...

by Solomon Northup
Solomon Northup
Solomon Northup was a free-born African-American mulatto. He was born in Minerva, Essex County, New York. He disappeared in 1863.-Family history:...

.
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