About the Speaker

Wayne Flynt, Distinguished University Professor at Auburn University and a leading authority on Alabama history and Baptist history in Alabama, was educated at Samford University, formerly Howard College (B.A.,1961) and Florida State University (M.S., 1962; PhD 1965). He has served as the President of the Southern Historical Society (2003-2004) and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the new Online Encyclopedia of Alabama. Prof. Flynt has actively devoted his life to bringing the issues of history and poverty and their social impact to the forefront of the public’s consciousness.

Wayne Flynt is the author of eleven books, including the Pulitzer Prize nominated Poor But Proud: Alabama’s Poor Whites. His most recent book, Alabama in the Twentieth Century was awarded the 2004 Anne B. and James B. McMillan Prize. In 2004, his book Dixie’s Forgotten People: The South’s Poor Whites was re-issued. Prof. Flynt’s books have won many awards, some multiple times, including: the Lillian Smith Award for Non-Fiction, the Alabama Library Association Award for Non-Fiction, Outstanding Academic Book from the American Library Association, and the James F. Sulzby, Jr. Book Award. He is co-author of Alabama: A History of a Deep South State, which was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.