Charles S. Sydnor was professor of history at Duke University at the time of his death in 1954. He had previously served as professor of history at Hampden-Sydney College and the University of Mississippi and had also taught at Emory and Cornell Universities. A one-time president of the Southern Historical Association, he served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Southern History and the Southern Altantic Quarterly. He was the author of Slavery in Mississippi and A Gentleman of the Old Natchez Region: Benjamin L.C. Wailes. He also contributed twenty-three biographical sketches to the Dictionary of American Biography and numerous articles to historical journals. After his death the Sydnor Prize for the best book in the field of Southern history was established by the Southern Historical Association.
