David Roller papers

Collection – Multiple Containers

Identifier: MS-0691

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The David Roller papers contains the lifetime academic works of David C. Roller from 1962-1990. This collection contains correspondence, dissertation drafts, article drafts, supplemental research, and Roller's contributions to the Encyclopedia of Southern History. Roller was a historian on the faculty at Bowling Green State University and focused his dissertation and several academic journal articles on the Republican party of North Carolina at the turn of the twentieth century.

Dates

Creation: 1962-1990

Extent

11.35 Cubic Feet (2 legal sized archives boxes and 9 record center cartons)

Scope and Contents

The David Roller papers consist of eleven boxes of research notes, drafts of dissertation and articles from the 1960s, correspondence, and Roller's contributions to the Encyclopedia of Southern History. The collection is organized into three main series: dissertation drafts/biographical information, correspondence and supplemental research, and finally, the bulk of the collection: nine boxes of his contributions to the Encyclopedia of Southern History, arranged in alphabetical order.

Biographical / Historical

David C. Roller was born on March 26, 1937 in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and received a Bachelor of Arts in history and economics in 1959. In 1960 he entered the United States Army Reserves and simultaneously attended Duke University as a graduate student, receiving a master's degree in 1962 and a doctorate in September 1965 with a dissertation titled "The Republican Party Of North Carolina: 1910-1916."

In 1963 Roller began as an instructor of history at Duke University and then transferred to teach at Bowling Green State University in 1964, remaining at BGSU until his death in 1994. Roller’s students and co-workers described him as a dedicated professor and serious scholar who gave captivating lectures in history. He served on many college and university committees, including Chairman of the Arts and Sciences Task Force on Curriculum Redesign and as chair of the Faculty Senate from 1978-1979.

Roller’s first published article (1963) was titled “North Carolina Republican Factionalism, 1904-1906," which echoes the work of his dissertation. He then went on to deliver a paper on the “Bull Moose Progressives of North Carolina in 1912” before a session of the Southern Historical Association in 1964. On top of these accomplishments, Roller edited the massive "Encyclopedia of Southern History" with Robert W. Twyman, a nearly 1400 page work that included contributions from over 1100 scholars and almost 3000 individual articles. Published by LSU in 1979, the encyclopedi required over a dozen years of planning. Roller received the Arts and Sciences Instructional Excellence Award and an award for co-editing and authoring essays in the Encyclopedia of Southern History.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.