Journeys
Curriculum Vita (updated 7/08)
MICHAEL T. BERTRAND
Department of History, Geography
and Political Science
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37209
(615) 963-1376
http://faculty.tnstate.edu/mbertrand/
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Associate Professor of History
Tennessee State University
2008-
Assistant Professor of History
Tennessee State University 2003-2008
Visiting Assistant Professor of History and Southern Studies
The University of Mississippi 1998-2003
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of History,
Middle Tennessee State University 1995-1998
Full-time Instructor, Department of History,
The University of Memphis 1994-1995
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION:
History: Modern/20th Century U.S., New South, Race Relations, Popular Culture, Popular Music
CLASSES TAUGHT:
U.S. History Survey, Colonial to 1865
U.S. History Survey, 1865-Present
U.S. Cultural History (Team)
U.S. 1877-1919
U.S. History, 1920-1945
Post World War II U.S.
U.S. History Survey II (Honors)
The Old South
The New South
Radical Social Movements
Intro to Southern Studies I & II (Team)
Intro to Southern Studies (Honors)
Southern Working-Class Music (Seminar)
Rock `n' Roll and Southern Culture (Seminar)
History Senior Project
BOOKS PUBLISHED:
Race, Rock, and Elvis. University of Illinois Press (Music in American Life Series). 2000, 2005.
Race, Rock, and Elvis. Seidosha and UNI Agency, Inc. Japanese Translation., 2002.
MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION:
The Bystanders: A Civil Rights Saga of Music, Race, and Assault in the American South.
Book: In-depth examination of the 1956 assault on entertainer Nat “King” Cole in Birmingham, Alabama. Emphasis placed on assessing the larger social and cultural implications of the response to the attack.
Everybody’s Station: Black Radio in the White South and the Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1948-1963.
Book: Examination of the growth of African American radio programming in the post World War II South. Emphasis is placed on the medium’s significance within the black community and its effects upon working-class racial attitudes in the region.
Book: Textbook survey of southern vernacular music that places the evolution of regional musical genres into historical context. Emphasis is placed on the music’s biracial nature.
ADDITIONAL SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS:
Article: “Forever in the Shadow of Race, Region, and Rumor: Elvis Presley
and the Politics of Popular Memory,” for Southern Cultures, volume 13.3
Fall 2007.
Article: “The Power of Black Music (General Essay on Music)," for the
Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From
the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century, Oxford University
Press, forthcoming.
Article: “You Seem Just Like Home Folks”: The Reiteration of Racial-Rural
Identity in the Radio Barn Dance," in Chad Berry, ed., The Hayloft
Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance, University of Illinois Press,
forthcoming.
Article: “O Brother/Sister, Where Art Thou? The Sounds and Imagery of
Mississippi Music (General Essay on Music),” for the Encyclopedia of
Mississippi History and Culture, University Press of Mississippi,
forthcoming.
Article: “Why History Matters,” in Confluence: Tthe Journal of Graduate
Liberal Studies, Volume 13.2 (Spring 2008).
Article: “Why Elvis?” for Historically Speaking: The Bulletin of the
Historical Society, Volume 8.3 (January/February 2007).
Article: “I Don’t Think Hank Done It That Way: Elvis, Country Music, and the
Reconstruction of Southern Identity,” in Kristine McCusker and Diane
Pecknold, eds., A Boy Named Sue: Gender and Country Music.
Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.
Article: “The Music Can Set You Free: Tennessee Rock ‘n’ Soul, 1948-
1968,” in Carroll Van West and Margaret Duncan Binnicker, eds., A
History of Tennessee Arts: Creating Traditions, Expanding Horizons.
University of Tennessee Press, 2004.
Article: “Rock ‘n’ Roll, Race, and Elvis Presley: Southern Youth in Dissent?”
The West Tennessee Historical Society Papers 2003.
Entries: on Huey Long, Populism, Country Music and Class, Stereotypes
and Class, and Rock and Roll and Class for The Encyclopedia of
American Social Class. Forthcoming.
Entry: on Rock ‘n’ Roll for The Encyclopedia of Activism and Social
Justice. Forthcoming.
Entry: on Rockabilly for The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture,
forthcoming.
Entry: on Elvis Presley for the Encyclopedia of Mississippi History and
Culture, University Press of Mississippi, forthcoming.
Entries: on Sun Records and Bonnaroo Music Festival for the New Online
Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, forthcoming.
Entries: on Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, and Rockabilly for the Tennessee
Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 1998.
Editorial
Online List, Web, and Review Editor, Moderator, H-Southern Music, 2005-[2008].
Subject Editor (Music) African American National Biography Project, Oxford University Press, Executive Editors Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, 2007-
Subject Editor (Music) Encyclopedia of Mississippi History and Culture, University Press of Mississippi. Forthcoming.
Book Review of Brian Ward’s Radio and the Struggle for Civil Rights in the South for the American Historical Review. December 2005.
Book Review of Bill Malone’s Don’t Get Above Your Raisin’: Country Music and the Southern Working Class for the Journal of Southern History. November 2003.
Book Review: George Lipsitz’s Footsteps in the Dark: The Hidden Histories of Popular Music for the Journal of American History, forthcoming.
Book Review: Michael Ann Williams’ Staging Tradition: John Lair and Sarah Gertrude Knott, for the Journal of Southern History, forthcoming.
Book Review: Sherry L. Hoppe and Bruce W. Speck’s Maxine Smith’s Unwilling Pupils: Lessons Learned in Memphis’s Civil Rights Classroom for H-SAWH (Southern Association of Women Historians). April 2008.
Exhibit Review of Night Train to Nashville: Rhythm and Blues in Nashville, 1945-1960 for the Journal of American History. June 2005.
Book Review of Gavin James Cambell’s Music and the Making of a New South for the Journal of American History. June 2005.
Book Review of Pete Daniel's Lost Revolutions: The South in the 1950s for The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Spring, 2002.
Film Review of When America was Rocked (History Channel Series Ten Days that Unexpectedly Shook America) for the Journal of American History December 2006.
Book Review of Suzanne Smith's Dancing in the Street: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit for the Journal of American History. June 2001.
Book Review of James Goff’s Close Harmony: A History of Southern Gospel for the Georgia Historical Quarterly. Fall 2002.
Book Review of Todd Moye’s Let the People Decide: Black Freedom and White Resistance Movements in Sunflower County, Mississippi, 1945-1986 for H-South and H-Net. August 2005.
Book Review of Ronald Cohen, ed., Alan Lomax: Selected Writings, 1934-1997 for the Journal of Popular Music Studies. August 2006.
Book Review of James L. Dickerson’s Mojo Triangle: Birthplace of Country, Blues, Jazz and Rock ‘n’ Roll for the Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 2006.
Book Review of Jeffrey J. Lange’s Smile When You Call Me a Hillbilly: Country Music’s Struggle for Respectability, 1939-1954 for the Georgia Historical Quarterly. 2005.
Book Review of Glenn Altschuler’s All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America for the Gulf South Historical Review. 2005.
Book Review of Jay R. Howard and John M. Streck’s Apostles of Rock: The Splintered World of Contemporary Christian Music for H-Tennessee and H-Net. Spring 2005.
Book Review of Mickey Lauria and Luis F. Miron’s Urban Schools: The New Social Spaces of Resistance for H-Urban and H-Net. Spring 2006.
Book Review of William Doyle’s An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962 for the Journal of Southern History. May 2003.
Commissioned Response to Book Review of Race, Rock, and Elvis for H-South and H-Net. April 2002.
Commissioned Book Review of James Cobb's Redefining Southern Culture: Mind and Identity in the Modern South for H-South and H-Net. Fall 2000.
Review Essay of Ronnie Pugh's Ernest Tubb, Cecelia Tichi's Reading Country Music, and Richard Peterson's Constructing Country Music for the Tennessee Historical Quarterly. Winter, 1999.
Book Review of Brian Ward's Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and Blues, Black Consciousness, and Race Relations for the Mississippi Folklife Quarterly. Spring 1999.
Commissioned Textbook Review of James Henretta, David Brody, and Lynn Dumenil's America: A Concise History and sundry materials for H-Survey and H-Net, Spring, 1999.
Documentaries
On-Camera Interview, The History Channel, Documentary When America was Rocked. Series Ten Days that Unexpectedly Shook America. Produced by Bruce Sinofsky. Directed by Sidney Beaumont. April 2006.
On-Camera Interview, The History Channel, Documentary The State: Tennessee. Spring 2007.
On-Camera Interview, The Biography Channel, Documentary The Boy Who Would Be King. Produced by Mimi Freedman, Michael Rose Productions, forthcoming.
PEER AND POPULAR REVIEWS OF RACE, ROCK, AND ELVIS:
Journal of American History American Historical Review
Journal of Southern History History: Review of New Books
Journal of American Folklore Popular Music and Society
Tennessee Historical Quarterly Multicultural Review
Arkansas Review Southern Historian
Gulf South Historical Quarterly Journal of Folklore Research
Journal of Mississippi History Journal of the American
Musicological Society
Chronicle of Higher Education H-South Review
PopMatters Magazine Irish Times
Goldmine Magazine Blues and Rhythm:
The Gospel Truth Magazine
Dirty Linen Magazine Choice
Luther College Review Boston Globe
AM Radio Gold Duke University Chronicle
Blue Suede News Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator
Memphis Commercial Appeal San Antonio Express-News
Socialist Review Journal of American Culture
European Journal of Communication Popular Music(Journal)
Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society
EDUCATION:
University of Memphis
History PhD. 1995 (Areas: U.S., U.S. South; Subfields: Ethnomusicology; Latin America)
Dissertation: “Southern Youth in Dissent: Rock ‘n’ Roll, Race, and Elvis Presley, 1945-1960”
Dissertation Advisors: Charles Crawford and David Evans
University of Louisiana - Lafayette History MA 1988
University of Louisiana - Lafayette Journalism BA 1985
HONORS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND ACTIVITIES:
Southern Cultures article, “Elvis Presley and the Politics of Popular
Memory” chosen for inclusion in the Common Reading Program for
Incoming Freshman at Susquehanna University (Under 2008 theme of
“Memory”).
Recipient of Faculty Research Release Time Grant, Tennessee State
University.
Recipient of the 2004 Marshall Wingfield Award for Best Published Essay
in West Tennessee Historical Society Papers
Recipient of the 2001 Association for Recorded Sound Collections
Certificate of Merit in Historical Recorded Sound Research.
Recipient of the 2001 Shelby County Historical Association Book of the
Year.
Race, Rock, and Elvis chosen as demonstrative model for Association of
American University Presses (AAUP) Midwest Regional Symposium for
Junior Editors.
Frederick Jackson Turner Award Nominee (Organization of American
Historians).
Nominated for Inclusion in Contemporary Authors
Belle McWilliams Scholarship, Department of History, The University of
Memphis.
Sesquicentennial Research Fellowship, Department of History, The
University of Memphis.
College of Arts and Sciences Research Fellowship, The University of
Memphis.
Graduate Assistant Meritorious Teaching Award, The Graduate School,
The University of Memphis.
Departmental Awards for Best Paper by a Graduate Student, Department
of History, The University of Memphis (2):
"In Search of Early 19th Century American Folk Music Culture: A Different
Approach."
"Elvis, The King of Rock as Hillbilly Cat: Rock `n' Roll, Race, and the
Contradictions of Southern Apartheid, 1948-1958."
Graduate Student Organization Research Grant, University of Louisiana at
Lafayette.
Paper Participant, Moderator, or Commentator at Professional Conferences, Meetings, and Seminars
Institute for Women and Gender, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
(panelist).
Kendrick E. Kelley Lecturer, Davidson College, Charlotte, North Carolina
(keynote address).
*Ohio Valley History Conference, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville,
Tennessee (luncheon keynote, Phi Alpha Theta).
*Southern Historical Association Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, (panelist).
*Common Reading Program on “Memory,” Susequehanna University,
Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania (lecture).
*Association for the Study of African American Life and History Convention,
Birmingham, Alabama (paper).
Phi Alpha Theta Biennial Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico
(workshop panelist, session commentator).
International Country Music Conference, Belmont University, Nashville,
Tennessee (paper).
Phi Alpha Theta Induction, Lambuth College, Jackson, Tennessee (keynote
address).
Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs, Memphis (luncheon
speaker).
Race and Place in the American South Conference, University of Alabama,
Tuscaloosa (paper).
Tennessee Conference of Historians, Jackson, Tennessee (paper
presentation).
Experience Music Project Conference, Seattle (paper).
Tennessee Conference of Historians, Nashville (paper).
“Music of the South” Conference, University of Mississippi, Oxford
(panelist).
Gulf South Historical Association Meeting, Pensacola, Florida (paper)
PBS Broadcast of Graceland VigilCast, Memphis, Tennessee (on-air
interview)
Country Music Hall of Fame Panel Discussion on Gender and Country
Music, Nashville, Tennessee (panelist).
Midwest African American History Month Conference, Luther College,
Decorah, Iowa (Closing Lecture).
Southern Historical Association meeting (with Bill Malone, Brian Ward, Rob
Bowman, and David Evans), Memphis, Tennessee (paper).
Graduate Student Conference in African American History, University of
Memphis, (keynote address).
Tennessee Conference of Historians, Memphis, Tennessee (panel chair)
Popular Culture/American Culture Association Meeting, San Antonio,
Texas (paper).
Mid-America Conference, Memphis, Tennessee (paper).
Phi Alpha Theta Chapter Meeting, Tennessee State University, Nashville,
Tennessee (paper).
Organization of American Historians panel (with Joel Williamson, Charles
Wilson, Charles Joyner, Charles McGovern, and Charles Crawford),
Memphis (Proposer and paper).
Popular Culture/American Culture Association Meeting, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania (paper).
Is Elvis History? Elvis Presley Seminar, Memphis, Tennessee (paper).
Southern Kentucky Festival of Books, Bowling Green, Kentucky (paper).
Southern Festival of Books, Nashville, Tennessee (paper).
Presentation of Race and Southern Culture Lecture before Harvard
Fellows, The University of Mississippi, Oxford (paper).
Tennessee Conference of Historians, Memphis (paper).
Brown Bag Luncheon Presentation, The Center for the Study of Southern
Culture, The University of Mississippi, Oxford (paper).
Ohio River Valley Historical Conference, Clarksville, Tennessee,
(commentator).
Eastern Sociological Society Conference, Baltimore, Maryland (paper).
Elvis Now and Then: Thoughts About His Life and Our Times Conference,
Memphis, Tennessee (paper).
Crossroads Conference, The Center for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University, Murfreesboro (paper).
American Studies Regional Conference, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
(commentator).
American Studies Graduate Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota (paper).
Popular Culture in the South/American Culture in the South Conference,
Nashville, Tennessee (paper).
Popular Culture/American Culture Association Conference, New Orleans,
Louisiana (paper).
Joint Louisiana-Mississippi Historical Association Meeting, New Orleans,
Louisiana (paper).
Community and University Service
Tennessee State University, 2003-
Panelist, Provost Conversation on Teaching and Learning (2007)
Co-Chair, Program Committee, Tennessee Conference of Historians
(2006)
Co-Coordinator, Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference (2007)
University Search Committee, Urban Studies Dean Position (2007)
Departmental Committee, Sam Shannon Lecture Series
Departmental Committee, African American History
Departmental Committee, American History Survey
Departmental Committee, American History Textbook
Departmental Committee, Student Development (Chair)
Teaching American History in the Tennessee Heartland Federal Grant
Editor, The Compass, Department Student Newsletter
Editor, Student Matters, Department Webpage for Students
Advisor, Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society/History Club
Other Institutional Service and Activities
Facilitator, Program Designer, “Museum on Mainstreet (Popular Music and
Social Change), Humanities-Tennessee, Nashville.
Advisory Scholar, “’Whole Lotta Shakin’ History of Rockabilly Program,
Public Radio International, Texas Heritage Music Foundation.
Program Facilitator and Interviewer, “Discussion with Martin Hawkins,
author of A Shot in the Dark: Making Records in Nashville, 1945-1955,
Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy, Vanderbilt University,
Nashville.
Facilitator, book discussion of Bobby Lovett’s The Civil Rights Movement
in Tennessee: A Narrative History, for the Tennessee Historical Society.
Advisory Board Member, Tennessee State Museum “We the People” Website Project (awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant)
Black History Month Presentation, Williamson County Library, Franklin,
Tennessee.
Monthly Workshop on Southern Music, Landmark Books, Franklin,
Tennessee.
Class (2) on Rock ‘n’ Roll for University School of Nashville.
Pull Tight Theatre Prelude: The Politics of Grease, Presentation, Franklin,
Tennessee.
Black History Month Brown Bag Speaker Presentation, Christian Brothers
University, Memphis, Tennessee (paper).
Black History Month Brown Bag Presentation Sponsored by University
Museums, The University of Mississippi, Oxford (paper).
Mississippi Governor's School Seminar on William Faulkner, The University
of Mississippi, Oxford (paper).
Graduate Student Conference in African American History, University of
Memphis, (faculty moderator).
University of Mississippi Graduate Student Conference, Oxford (faculty
commentator).
Rotary Club Luncheon, Memphis, Tennessee (paper)
Kiwanis Club Luncheon, Memphis, Tennessee (paper).
High School Literacy Program Presentations, Memphis, Tennessee
(papers).
Oxford Conference for the Book, The University of Mississippi (2) (Panel
organizer & moderator).
High School Scholar's Seminar, Department of History, University of
Memphis (paper).
Coordinator, Phi Alpha Theta Mid-South Regional Conference, The
University of Memphis.
Coordinator, Mississippi Valley Lecture Series, Department of History, The
University of Memphis.
Editor, Phi Alpha Theta Newsletter, Department of History, The University
of Memphis.
President, Epsilon-Nu Chapter, Phi Alpha Theta, 2 Terms.
Graduate Student Representative, Department of History, The University of
Memphis.
Manuscript Reader, American Music (Journal).
Manuscript Reader, University of North Carolina Press.
Manuscript Reader, Vanderbilt University Press.
Manuscript Reader, Journal of Popular Music Studies.
Consultant/Archivist, Media Plus Productions, Hollywood, California.
Archivist, The University of Memphis, Department of Media Relations
Faculty Resource for Media:
Arts and Entertainment Network
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Boston Globe
Canadian Public Radio
Duke University Chronicle
Folha de São Paulo
Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator
Memphis Commercial Appeal
New Orleans Times Picayune
Public Radio in Mississippi
Religion News Service
San Antonio News-Express
Sirius Satellite Radio
WMJI Radio (Cleveland, OH)
Wall Street Journal
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:
American Historical Association
American Studies Association
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
The History Society
Organization of American Historians
Phi Alpha Theta
Popular Culture/American Culture Association
Southern Historical Association
Tennessee Historical Society
COURSES I WOULD LIKE TO DEVELOP:
African American History and Culture I & II
Prosperity, Depression, and WWII
Radicalism and Reform in America
Patterns in American Populist Thought
The Worker and American Life
Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the Melting Pot
The Culture of Segregation
The Civil Rights Movement
The Cold War at Home
Coming Unwound in the ‘60s and Beyond
Youth in the 20th Century
Music in American Life
Popular Culture and the American Past
REFERENCES:
Margaret Caffrey The University of Memphis (901) 678.3387
Charles Crawford The University of Memphis (901) 678-2524
Carl Degler Stanford University, (650) 493-0745
David Evans The University of Memphis (901) 678-3317
Judith McCulloh The University of Illinois, (217) 244-4681
Ted Ownby The University of Mississippi, (662) 915-5993
Brian Ward The University of Florida, (352) 392-0271, x251
Charles R. Wilson The University of Mississippi, (662) 915-5993