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Frances C. Roberts
Frances C. Roberts
Born	Frances Cabaniss Roberts; December 19, 1916; Gainesville, Alabama, US
Died	November 5, 2000 (aged 83)
Academic background
Education	BSc, 1937, Livingston State; M.A., PhD., University of Alabama;
Thesis	Background and Formative Period in the Great Bend and Madison County (1956)
Academic work
Institutions	University of Alabama in Huntsville

Frances Cabaniss Roberts (December 19, 1916 – November 5, 2000) was an American historian. She was a founding member of the University of Alabama in Huntsville who was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.

Early life and education

Roberts was born on December 19, 1916, to parents Richard H. and Mary (Watson) Roberts.^[1] She was the great-granddaughter of Col Septimus D. Cabaniss, whose papers she later used to write her dissertation.^[2]

Growing up, she attended public schools in Gainesville and Livingston before completing two years at Livingston State Teachers College. With her teaching degree, she taught in Sumter County for two years before earning her Bachelor of Science degree in 1937.^[3] Upon earning her BS.c., she lived in her late aunt's house in Huntsville and began teaching at West Clinton School.^[4]

She continued to teach in elementary schools in Huntsville before entering the University of Alabama. In 1956, Roberts became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in history from the University of Alabama.^[3] Her thesis "Background and Formative Period in the Great Bend and Madison County" was published in 2018 in honour of the state's 200th anniversary celebration.^[5]

Career

Roberts was elected treasurer of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Athens chapter in 1941.^[6] She later became a co-founding member of the AAUW's Huntsville chapter and was elected their inaugural president.^[7] When the Extension Center joined the UAH in 1950, she became the first chairman of the history department and the university's first full-time faculty member.^[1]^[8] She joined the UAH faculty in 1953 as an instructor before being promoted to assistant professor in 1956.^[1] In her later position as an associate professor, Roberts directed the university's Academic Advisement Center.^[9] She was also an editor of the Huntsville Historical Review and president of the Alabama Historical Association.^[3] In October 1975, she sat on the Alabama Committee for the Humanities and Public Policy.^[10] By 1978, she received the University of Alabama in Huntsville Award of Merit for Distinguished Service In the Field of State and Local History.^[11] She finally became a full professor of history in 1961 until her retirement on August 31, 1980.^[1]

On May 14, 1988, the University of Alabama in Huntsville renamed their Humanities Building in her honor.^[12] As a member of the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society, she worked alongside architect Harvie Jones to save the Weeden House.^[13]^[14] She also helped establish the Alabama Constitution Village and the Burritt Mountain Museum and Park before her death in 2000.^[15] Roberts was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 2013.^[16]

Publications

An experiment in emancipation of slaves by an Alabama planter, 1940
Understanding civics : to accompany Civics for Alabama schools, 1960
Shadows on the wall: life and works of Howard Weeden, 1962
Sesquicentennial history of Church of the Nativity, Episcopal, 1843-1993, Huntsville, Alabama, 1992

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Guide to the Collection of Dr. Frances Cabaniss Roberts" (PDF). dkdayton.net. May 11, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
^ "The Townsends: Reconstructing the Lives of Seven Enslaved Women, 1830-1856" (PDF). acumen.lib.ua.edu. p. 6. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Frances Cabaniss Roberts (1916-2000)". awhf.org. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
^ Nilsson, Dex (August 2003). "Why Is It Named That?" (PDF). huntsvillehistorycollection.org. Twinbrook Communications. p. 90. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
^ LaChance, Diana (October 1, 2018). "Dr. Frances Roberts' dissertation to be published in conjunction with Alabama's bicentennial". uah.edu. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
^ "AAUW Holds First Meeting". Athens Alabama Courier. Alabama. October 9, 1941. p. 5.
^ "Huntsville Branch Newsletter" (PDF). huntsville-al.aauw.net. January 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
^ "UAH's Frances C. Roberts to be inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame". uah.edu. December 17, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
^ Leslie Nicole Thomas (November 16, 2015). Legendary Locals of Huntsville. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781439654637. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
^ "Humanities: State Agencies (September 15, 1975)". digitalcommons.uri.edu. October 1975. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
^ "The Point" (PDF). fivepointshistoricdistrict.org. April 2013. p. 2. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
^ "A bright future for one of UAH's oldest buildings". uah.edu. August 1, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
^ Easterling, Bill (August 27, 2000). "Weeden House underappreciated part of city's history". Associated Press Newswires.
^ "HISTORIC HUNTSVILLE FOUNDATION" (PDF). huntsvillehistorycollection.org. Summer 1999. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
^ "UAH hosts honorary reception for Frances Roberts' Hall of Fame induction". uah.edu. March 4, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
^ Ammons, Pat (March 8, 2013). "Noted Huntsville historian, UAH founding faculty member Frances Roberts named to Alabama Women's Hall of Fame". al.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.