History Professor Authors Chapter in Anthology

Dr. Michael Bowen, Westminster College visiting assistant professor of history, contributed a chapter in Painting Dixie Red, an anthology edited by Glenn Feldman and recently published by University Press of Florida.

Bowen's chapter, "The First Southern Strategy," details Republican organization-building in the South in the late 1940s and early 1950s.  It was included after a peer review process.

"Most of this work was focused on nominating Dwight D. Eisenhower as president, but state leaders like John Minor Wisdom and Elbert Tuttle gained stature within the GOP," Bowen said.  "They would lay the groundwork for Southern Republicans to break the Democratic stranglehold on the region in the 1960s and 1970s."

Bowen, who joined the Westminster faculty in August, earned undergraduate and master's degrees from East Tennessee State University and Ph.D. from the University of Florida.  He is the author of The Roots of Modern Conservatism: Dewey, Taft, and the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party published earlier this fall.

Contact Bowen at (724) 946-7152 or email for additional information.