Thomas L. Bynum
615-898-2760 (office) thomas.bynum@mtsu.edu
Education:
Ph.D., Georgia State University
Graduation Date: December 2007
Dissertation: “Our Fight Is For Right!”: NAACP Youth Councils and
College Chapters’ Crusade for Civil Rights, 1936-1965.
Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Jacqueline A. Rouse
Teaching Mentor: Dr. Glenn T. Eskew
Major Fields: 20 th century African American History (emphasis on women activism, the NAACP youth movement, and the modern civil rights movement) and the
American South
Minor Fields: South African History and Modern British Imperial History
M.A., Clark Atlanta University, 1995
Thesis: “Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Historical Images of African
American Womanhood”
Advisors: Dr. Janice Sumler-Edmond
Dr. Keith Baird
Major Field: African American History
Minor Field: Modern African History
B.S., Barton College, 1993
Major: Social Studies
Minor: Religion and Philosophy
Teaching Experience:
Fall 2007- Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN; Assistant Professor
Present Youth Movements since the 1930s, History 3020
African American History before 1865, History 2040
African American History since 1865, History 2050
The Modern Civil Rights Movement, History 3020
Introduction to African American Studies, AAS 2100
Reading Seminar in the Modern Civil Rights and Black Power movements,
Hist. 6104/7104
Research Seminar in the Modern Civil Rights and Black Power movements,
Hist. 6105/7105

Fall 2006- Middle Tennessee State University, Geier Dissertation Fellow
Spring 2007 Black Youth Activism and the Civil Rights Movement, History 3030
Fall 2003- Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia; Instructor
Spring 2006 United States History, History 2110
African American History, 1140
Summer 1999- Georgia Military College, Atlanta, Georgia; Assistant Professor
Fall 1999 United States History 1492-1865, History 121
United States History 1865-present, History 122
World History 1500-present, History 102
Fall 1996- Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia; Adjunct Professor
Spring 2006 World History Topical Approaches, History 111 and 112
Fall 1996- Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia; Adjunct Professor
United States History, History 205
Fall 1995- Georgia Perimeter College, Atlanta, Georgia; Instructor
Summer 2002 United States History 1492-1865, History 2111
United States History 1865-present, History 2112
Publications:
Spring 2012- Bynum, Thomas L. Review of Downhome Gospel:
The Alabama Review:
A Quarterly Journal of Alabama History.
Fall 2010- Bynum, Thomas L. Review of Long Is the Way and Hard: One Hundred
Years of the NAACP , printed in the Journal of African American History.
Spring 2010- Bynum, Tommy L. Review of Becoming King, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Making of a National Leader, printed in The Alabama Review: A
Quarterly Journal of Alabama History , April 2010 .
Fall 2009- Bynum, Thomas L. “‘We Must March Forward!’: Juanita Jackson and the
Origins of the NAACP’s National Youth Movement” Journal of African
American History , Vol. 94. No. 4 Special Issue: “Documenting the NAACP’s
First Century,” (Fall 2009), pp. 487-508.
Fall 2007- Bynum, Tommy L. and Tara White. “The Civil Rights Movement in
Tennessee,” in Tennessee Electronic History Reader , ed. Amy Sayward.
Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press.
Forthcoming Publications:
Spring 2013- NAACP Youth and the Fight for Black Freedom, 1936-1965 . University of
Tennessee Press.

Fall 2013- “Old Guard verses New Guard: Young Turks, Black Power and the NAACP” to be submitted to the Journal of African American History
Spring 2013- Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in
America . By Victoria W. Wolcott. Politics and Culture in Modern America.
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. Reviewed by Bynum, Thomas L. To be published by the Journal of Southern History .
Professional Experience:
Fall 2012- Recruiter, Middle Tennessee State Minority Dissertation Fellowship at the
Compact for Faculty Diversity 19
Atlanta, GA th Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in
Fall 2011- Recruiter, Middle Tennessee State Minority Dissertation Fellowship at the
Compact for Faculty Diversity 18 th Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in
Tampa, FL
Spring 2011- Judge, Tennessee History Day, sponsored by the Tennessee Historical Society in Nashville, TN
Fall 2010-
Present
Recruiter, Middle Tennessee State Minority Dissertation Fellowship, The
Compact for Faculty Diversity 17 th Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in
Arlington, VA
Spring 2010- Advisor, Sankofa-The Movement, Middle Tennessee State University,
Murfreesboro, TN
Advisor, Morehouse College Amnesty International, Atlanta GA Fall 2004-
Spring 2005
Fall 2000-
Spring 2003
Advisor, Morehouse College JOBA, Atlanta GA
Fall 2002- Book Reviewer, St. Martins and Bedford Press
Spring 2001- Book Reviewer, Longman Publishing Company
Fellowships, Grants, and Honors:
Spring 2010- Letter of Recognition for Teaching and Service from the Office of Vice President for Student Affairs and Vice Provost for Enrollment and Academic Services,
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
Spring 2009- Letter of Recognition for Teaching and Service from the Office of Vice President for Student Affairs and Vice Provost for Enrollment and Academic Services,
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
Spring 2009- “Building Bridges and Eradicating Barriers: How Mentoring Relationships
Increase Minority Students’ Enrollment and Retention,” Grant from Office of

Institutional Equity and Compliance, Middle Tennessee State University,
Murfreesboro, TN
Fall 2007- Southern Regional Education Board Scholars Program Dissertation Award,
Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Fall 2007- Fellow, The Compact for Faculty Diversity 14 th Annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, Southern Regional Education Board, Atlanta, Georgia
Fall 2006- Middle Tennessee State University Geier Dissertation Fellowship,
Murfreesboro, TN
Spring 2007
Fall 2006-
Spring 2007
Southern Regional Education Board Doctoral Scholar, Atlanta GA
Fall 2006- Fellow, The Compact for Faculty Diversity 13 th Annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, Southern Regional Education Board, Atlanta, GA
Summer 2006- National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute, W. E. B. Du Bois
Fellow, Harvard University Civil Rights Institute, Cambridge, MA
Fall 2003-
Spring 2006
Georgia State University Teaching Assistantship, Atlanta GA
Fall 1995- Clark Atlanta University All American Scholar Award, Atlanta GA
August 1994- Clark Atlanta University Graduate Research Assistantship, Atlanta GA
July 1995
January-
May1995
Emory and Atlanta University Center AIDS Research Project Graduate
Research Assistant, Atlanta, GA
Panels, Papers and Presentations:
Fall 2011- Presented “More Than A Hamburger and A Cup of Coffee”: NAACP Youth and the Black Freedom Movement at Southern Historical Association in
Baltimore, Maryland
Spring 2011- Panelist, “Is It Legal” Forum sponsored by University Collegiate 100 at
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
Spring 2011- Presented “I Got A Home Over Yonder”: The Christian Church and the Black
Freedom Movement” at Lake Providence Missionary Baptist Church,
Nashville, TN
Fall 2010- Panelist, Graduate School Information Workshop sponsored by Sankofa The
Movement at Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN

Spring 2009- Presented “Great Men and Women in Black History” for Boys to Men
Mentoring Workshop at Lake Providence Missionary Baptist Church,
Nashville, TN
Fall 2008- Panelist, Educational Retention Forum sponsored by Middle Tennessee State
University NAACP Chapter, Murfreesboro, TN
Spring 2008- Moderator, Jena Six Forum sponsored by Middle Tennessee State University
NAACP Chapter, Murfreesboro, TN
Fall 2007- Moderator, “Lost Episodes of Holocaust History,” Middle Tennessee State
University Holocaust Studies Conference, Murfreesboro, TN
Fall 2006- Presented “Juanita Jackson and the Origins of a National Youth Movement within the NAACP: The Youth Councils Lead the Way” at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in Atlanta, Georgia
Spring 2005- Moderator, Black History Symposium for Association for Georgia State
University Historians (AGSUH), Atlanta, GA
Fall 2004-
Elizabeth
Fall 2003-
Presented “Blacks and Reconstruction in Georgia;” Guest Lecturer for Dr.
Evans’ American Literature Class, Georgia Perimeter College, Clarkston, GA
Presented “Origins of Jim Crow Practices in Georgia;” Guest Lecturer for Dr.
Elizabeth Evans’ American Literature Class, Georgia Perimeter College,
Clarkston, Georgia
Summer 2002- Presented “Life, Liberty and Pursuit of God;” Guest Speaker for Youth Day
Program, Mount Welcome Baptist Church, Decatur, Georgia
Spring 2001- Presented “The Role of the Black Church in the Twentieth Century;” Guest
Speaker for Black History Forum hosted by the African American Student
Association, Georgia Perimeter College, Clarkston, GA
Fall 2001- Presented “Blacks and the Failure of Reconstruction;” Guest Lecturer for Dr.
Elizabeth Evans’ American Literature Class, Georgia Perimeter College,
Clarkston, GA
Professional Associations:
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History
National Council of Black Studies
Southern Historical Association
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated