Professor of English. Born March 1, 1921, Ripley, Tenn. Parents: O.B. and Lola (Bibb) Emerson. Education– Lambuth College, B.A., 1943; Vanderbilt University, M.A., 1946; Ph.D., 1962. Taught English at Webb School, Bell Buckle, Tenn., 1944-45; Taught at the University of Alabama, 1946-1986.  A member of the Modern Language Association, American Dialect Society, National Council of Teachers of English, the Southern Literary Festival Association, the Society for the Study of Southern Literature, and Kappa Sigma.  Served as president of the Association of College English Teachers of Alabama and of the Alabama Council of English Teachers of the Alabama Education Association.  Received the University of Alabama Outstanding Professor Award in 1966 and the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award of the National Alumni Association of the University in 1980.  On his retirement in 1986 the O. B. Emerson Endowed Scholarship Fund was established in his honor, funded by contributions of his colleagues and students.  Died November 11, 1990.

Source:

Directory of American Scholars, 7th edition; Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, 1969-70.

Obituary, Tuscaloosa News, 12 November 1990.

Arts and Sciences Collegian [newsletter of the UA School of Arts and Sciences], Spring 1991.

Publication(s):

Billy Budd and Typee; Notes. Lincoln, Neb.; Cliff’s Notes, 1968.

Faulkner’s Early Literary Reputation in America. Ann Arbor; UMI Research Press, 1984.

Pantosocracy; the Utopian Scheme of Southey and Coleridge. Nashville; Vanderbilt University, 1946.

Editor:

Alabama Prize Stories 1970. Huntsville, Ala.; Strode, 1970.

Southern Literary Culture; a Bibliography of Masters’ and Doctors’ Theses. Rev. ed. University, Ala.; University of Alabama Press, 1979.

Papers;

A collection of the papers–largely correspondence–of O. B. Emerson is held by the Hoole Special Collections Library at the University of Alabama.