Research of theAmerican South and theAmerican Civil War, president of the Southern Historical Association, president of Louisiana Historical Association, executive committee member of Kentucky Historic Society, professor of the Harold Keith Johnson Institute
Born in thewestern Tennessee townMaury City[1] on April 8, 1918, Roland grew up as the son and grandson of a family of teachers[2][3] inHenderson.[1] As a child in theAmerican South, he heard numerous primary accounts of the Civil War from veterans, saying in an interview "There were quite a number of veterans of the Civil War living in that area".[2]
First graduating fromVanderbilt University in 1938,[1] he had studied under poetJohn Crowe Ransom.[2] He became a high-school history teacher for two years inAlamo, Tennessee, before moving toWashington, D.C., to start work as a historical aide for theNational Park Service. Roland would continue in this role until middle of January in 1942 when he was inducted into the United States Armed Forces.[1]
Starting in 1970,[1] following his employment byTulane University, he became a professor of history emeritus at the University of Kentucky; a position he would hold until he retired in 1988.[1][3] That same year, the University of Kentucky established theCharles P. Roland Fellowship to support university students, according to the institution, pursuing research "...in American history, especially the history of the Civil War, race relations and the American South."[3]
On January 23, 1948, Roland married Allie Lee Roland. They remained married for 70 years until her death on April 26, 2018,[8][9] shortly after Roland's100th birthday.[10] They had three children.[9]
Roland died at his home inLexington, Kentucky,[2] on April 12, 2022, four days after his 104th birthday.[11]
Roland, Charles Pierce (2000).Jefferson Davis's Greatest General: Albert Sidney Johnston. Abilene, TX: McWhiney Foundation Press.ISBN978-1-893114-20-3.OCLC42786225.
Roland, Charles P. (Spring 1970). "The South, America's Willo-o'-the-Wisp Eden".Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association.11 (2):101–119.ISSN0024-6816.JSTOR4231114.
Roland, Charles P. (Autumn 1978). "Louisiana and Secession".Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association.19 (4):389–399.ISSN0024-6816.JSTOR4231817.
Roland, Charles P. (February 1982). Higginbotham, Sanford W. (ed.). "The Ever-Vanishing South".The Journal of Southern History.48 (1):3–20.doi:10.2307/2207294.ISSN0022-4642.JSTOR2207294.
Roland, Charles P. (Winter–Spring 2003). Williams, Kenneth H. (ed.). "Becoming a Soldier".The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.101 (1/2):75–92.ISSN0023-0243.JSTOR23384516.
Roland, Charles P.; Lawrence, Frank (November–December 2007). "Why We Need Our Slaves".Civil War Times.46 (9). Historynet LLC:52–58.ISSN1546-9980.EBSCOhost27137078.
Harris, James Russell (Autumn 1991). "On War and History: Charles P. Roland Discusses "An American Iliad"".The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.89 (4):362–376.ISSN0023-0243.JSTOR23381931.
Williams, Kenneth H.; Cooper, William J.; Roland, Charles P. (2003). "Slavery, the Civil War, and Jefferson Davis: An Interview with William J. Cooper Jr. and Charles P. Roland".The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.101 (4):400–456.ISSN0023-0243.JSTOR23387081.
