Ulrich Bonnell Phillips

Born in 1877 in LaGrange, Georgia, Ulrich Bonnell Phillips became one of the most prominent historians of the American South in the early twentieth century. He studied at the University of Georgia and later built an academic career that included teaching at Tulane University, the University of Wisconsin, and Yale University.

Phillips was especially known for his research on slavery, plantation life, and southern history. His major books included American Negro Slavery and Life and Labor in the Old South, works that drew heavily on plantation records and helped establish slavery studies as a major field of historical research.

At the same time, his interpretations reflected the racial assumptions of his era, and later historians strongly challenged many of his conclusions. That mix of influence and controversy is a big part of why his writing remains important in the history of American scholarship. He died in 1934.