History Professor Inducted as President of International Society

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Professor Jeannie Wayne

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Jeannie Whayne, professor of history in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, was installed as president of the Agricultural History Society Saturday, June 15, at the society's annual meeting in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Whayne was designated a fellow of the society in 2009 in honor of her distinguished scholarship in the field and her service to the society.

The three-day meeting was attended by representatives from the United States, Canada, England, Australia, Norway, Germany, Sweden, Japan and China, among others. It included sessions on a variety of topics centered around the theme "Crops and Cultures: Cultivating Commodities and Communities."

"The department of history is delighted that professor Whayne has been elevated to the leadership position of this august society for professional historians," said Lynda Coon, chair of the department. "Her presidency of the AHS underscores the ability of the historians of Fulbright College to excel in both the national and international levels of the academy."

Whayne has authored two books, including the award-winning Delta Empire: Lee Wilson and the Transformation of Agriculture in the New South, published by Louisiana State University Press, 2011.  She has co-authored a college-level textbook on Arkansas history and edited eight other books.  She is now working on a book on Memphis, Tennessee, as a cotton center, examining the interplay between Memphis and the cotton-producing areas in eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee.  She will present a paper on the topic at the European Rural History Organization Conference in Bern, Switzerland in August.

The Agricultural History Society was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1919 "to promote the interest, study and research in the history of agriculture." Incorporated in 1924, the Society began publishing the journal Agricultural History in 1927. The term "agricultural history" has always been interpreted broadly, and the Society encourages research and publishes articles from all countries and in all periods of history.  Originally affiliated with the American Historical Association, the Agricultural History Society and is the third oldest history society in the United States.