Crotchety. Cantankerous. Curmudgeon.  And those were the compliments paid Dr. William K. Scarborough at a retirement reception held for him recently at the former Walthall School in downtown Hattiesburg.

Scarborough, a 45-year veteran of The University of Southern Mississippi Department of History faculty, humbly accepted praise and endured some good-natured “roasting” from department colleagues, former students and family members at the event, where his longtime service to the university was honored.

“I knew something was up, but I only expected about four or five people at something like this for me,” Scarborough said following thunderous applause from the roomful of guests waiting for him.  

A renowned Civil War and Old South scholar, Scarborough is also noted for his popular teaching style and dedication to academic freedom – along with a militant disdain for campus parking violators.

Colleague and former student Dr. Andy Wiest, who emceed the event, praised Scarborough for being a devoted educator and historian – he has taught generations of students – and for his staunch defense of academic freedom and shared governance at the university.

“As a 21-year-old taking his classes, I knew then that I wanted to be a historian,” he said. “He’s my idol.”

But when hitting the links, Wiest cares not to emulate his idol. “He’s the guy you want behind you academically, but not in front of you on the golf course,” he said, lampooning Scarborough for having a short fuse when things go wrong on the greens. Holding his hands close together, Wiest said “Here’s his passion, and here’s his rage.”

Those same emotions come to the fore when you mention campus parking to Scarborough, Wiest said. After complaining to campus security about students and other motorists parking in unauthorized parking spots, Scarborough was deputized with the power to give out tickets, along with some other like-minded professors.

Fulfilling his duty with too great a zeal cost him his ticketing privileges, withdrawn after too many complaints poured in, but it didn’t keep him from leaving nasty notes on the windshields of parking violators. He once allegedly put up a barricade at the Liberal Arts Building parking lot and checked those coming in for proper credentials.

A Scarborough impersonation by history instructor Kevin Dougherty, complete with the appropriate attire that included the professor’s signature favorite Mr. Rogers-style Carolina blue buttoned sweater, also drew laughter. The characterization followed the tune of the song “Big Bad John” with lyrical revisions capturing the essence of Scarborough’s personality, likes and dislikes.
 
Southern Miss Department of History Chairwoman Dr. Phyllis Jestice presented Scarborough with a plaque recognizing his service to the department and the university, while colleague Dr. Sarah Franklin gave him with a watch bearing the logo of his beloved alma mater, the University of North Carolina, on behalf of the department along with flowers for his wife of 55 years, Pat.

Arguably one of his most famous former students, singer/songwriter/author and Southern Miss alumnus Jimmy Buffett, sent a message via video congratulating Scarborough on a successful career and wishing him a happy retirement.

“A lot of the wisdom and inspiration you passed on to me I pass on (to my audiences),” Buffett said, which was followed by an invitation to attend one of his next concerts. “Come see us at a show.”

Active in the life of the university, Scarborough served on its faculty senate and as chair of both the former College of Liberal Arts and University Tenure and Promotion Committees, which he led in the mid-1980s, as well as its Parking Committee.

Scarborough is the recipient of the university’s Excellence in Teaching Award and faculty awards for research, and from 1996-1998 he was the university’s Charles W. Moorman Distinguished Alumni Professor in the Humanities, one of the most prestigious honors bestowed to a faculty member.

In 2003, the Southern Miss Faculty Senate chose him as the recipient of the University's first Grand Marshal Award in recognition of his many years of service to the university, and was its nominee for the State Institutions of Higher Learning’s HEADWAE Award in 2005.

He is a past president of the Mississippi Historical Society, the St. George Tucker Society and the Southern Miss chapter of American Association of University Presidents, and served as vice president of the State AAUP Conference.

Scarborough’s career path was inspired by his father’s love of history and two grade school history teachers. He said a degree in the subject typically doesn’t lead to “a job making $100,000,” but can make a person richer intellectually and a better judge of the issues of the day.

“History prepares you for life and helps you understand where we’ve come from as a society,” he said. “I don’t believe anyone can be a useful citizen and a knowledgeable voter who doesn’t know history.”   

Another former student, Grant McKay of Hattiesburg, said “Anyone who has studied American history under Dr. Scarborough leaves it knowing more about their own country than the average citizen.”

Scarborough’s published works include “The Overseer: Plantation Management in the Old South;” a three-volume edition of “The Diary of Edmund Ruffin;” and “Masters of the Big House: Elite Slaveholders of the Mid-Nineteenth Century South,” the latter two of which won the Jules and Frances Landry Award from the Louisiana State University Press. He is only the fourth author in the 36-year history of the award to win it twice.

Retired Southern Miss history professor Dr. John Guice was among the guests praising Scarborough on a successful career, and noted that “The Overseer” was recently praised in the Journal of Southern History for remaining the standard work on the subject.

“It was a rare pleasure to teach with him for 38 years,” Guice said. “He’s served as a role model for academic integrity and is one who displays that rare courage to speak out for academic freedom.”

Scarborough is also the recipient of the Willie D. Halsell Prize from the Mississippi Historical Society (1993) and the Richard Wright Literary Excellence Award from the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration (2004).

His strong reputation as a scholar and researcher is matched by his popular teaching style. “I try to make it as interesting as I can and describe the past as accurately as I can,” he said. “I try to relate the lessons of the past to the present.”

Never shy about sharing his thoughts, he gladly gives his own perspective about various subjects and issues during lectures, “But I let them (students) know when it’s my opinion,” he said.

Scarborough plans to teach part-time after retirement and continue his historical research, including work on a biography of wealthy South Carolina planter and politician Robert F. W. Allston and his wife, Adele Petigru Allston entitled “The Allston’s of Chicora Wood: Wealth, Honor, and Gentility in the South Carolina Low Country.”

One of the strengths of the university’s history department is the camaraderie and collegiality among its faculty, he said, and he sees great promise for its future in the new professors who’ve joined its ranks in recent years.

“I had a great ride, with some ups and downs, and it’s been a pleasure to have had people like you with me along the way,” he said.

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