James M. Denham, Ph.D.
Professor of History
My goal as a professor is to aid students in reading and thinking critically while developing an appreciation for the relevance of history to their daily lives. I encourage students to understand ‘cause and effect’ of historical events, as well as appreciate the ‘why important’ and the significance. Finally, I believe that active engagement through research, writing, and developing public presentations is essential to good teaching, and I enjoy sharing my projects with my students.
Biography
James M. Denham is Professor of History and Director of the Lawton M. Chiles Jr. Center for Florida History at Florida Southern College. Before coming to Lakeland in 1991, Denham held teaching appointments at Florida State University, Georgia Southern University, and Limestone College in South Carolina. A specialist in Southern, Florida, Criminal Justice, and Legal history, Denham received his Ph.D degree from Florida State University. He is the author of Florida Founder William P. DuVal: Frontier Bon Vivant. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2015), "Fifty Years of Justice: A History of the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2015), and "A Rogue's Paradise": Crime and Punishment in Antebellum Florida, 1821-1861 (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1997). Denham is also the author of four other books including Florida Sheriffs: A History, 1821-1945 (Tallahassee, Sentry Press, 2001), with William W. Rogers; Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives, the Florida Reminiscences of George Gillette Keen and Sarah Pamela Williams(Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2000), with Canter Brown, Jr. Echoes from a Distant Frontier: the Brown Sisters’ Correspondence in Antebellum Florida (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2004), with Keith Huneycutt and The Letters of George Long Brown: A Yankee Merchant on Florida’s Antebellum Frontier (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2019), with Keith L. Huneycutt.
Denham's articles and reviews have appeared in the America Historical Review, American Journal of Legal History, Journal of Southern History, Florida Historical Quarterly, Florida Bar Journal, Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Military History of the West, Gulf Coast Historical Review, Georgia Historical Quarterly, Florida Living, South Florida History Magazine, and the Tampa Tribune. An award-winning author and public speaker, Denham was awarded the Florida Historical Society's Arthur W. Thompson Prize in 1992 and in 2002 he was awarded the society’s James J. Horgan Book Prize for Florida Sheriffs.
Denham has lectured widely throughout the state for the Florida Humanities Council and other organizations. He is a frequent contributor to Florida Public Radio. Denham has also served fellowships at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, the University of South Carolina, the University of Wisconsin, Harvard University, Columbia University, the National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, NC, and the Virginia Historical Society. In 2015 the Florida Historical Society awarded Denham the Rembert Patrick Book Prize for Fifty Years of Justice. In 2016 the Board of Directors of the Florida House on Capitol Hill in Washington D. C. named him Florida Distinguished Author of the Year.
Teaching Experience
Florida Southern College
- Assistant Professor, 1991-96
- Associate Professor, 1996-00
- Professor, 2000-
- Director, Center for Florida History, 2001-
- Chair, History-Political Science Dept 2015-
Limestone College
- Assistant Professor, 1987-91
Georgia Southern University
- Instructor, 1987
Florida State University
- Adjunct Instructor, 1985-6
Courses Taught
- Western Civilization I &II
- U.S. Survey I & II
- Old South
- New South
- U.S. Diplomatic History I & II
- U. S. Foreign Policy
- Civil War and Reconstruction
- History of Women in America
- Modern Latin America
- African American History
- Florida History
- Florida’s Heritage of Diversity and Justice (Honors)
- England and the World Wars (England May Option Program)
Education
- Ph. D., History, Florida State University, (1988)
- Dissertation: “A Rogue’s Paradise: Violent Crime in Antebellum Florida, 1988
- Major Field: U. S. Nineteenth Century, concentration in the Antebellum South
- M. A., History, Florida State University (1983)
- B. A., History, Florida State University (1980)
Awards
- Rembert Patrick Prize, Florida Historical Society for Fifty Years of Justice – 2016
- Named Distinguished Author of the Year, Florida House on Capitol Hill – 2016
- Awarded Tenure – 2011
- Preservationist of the Year, City of Lakeland - 2005
- James J. Horgan Book Award, Florida Historical Society, for Florida Sheriffs – 2002
- Arthur W. Thompson Prize, Florida Historical Society - 1992
Publications
Denham's articles and reviews have appeared in the America Historical Review, American Journal of Legal History, Journal of Southern History, Florida Historical Quarterly, Florida Bar Journal, Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Military History of the West, Gulf Coast Historical Review, Georgia Historical Quarterly, Historical Methods, South Florida History Magazine, and the Florida Supreme Court Historical Review.