S. Jonathan Bass

S. Jonathan Bass is a Professor of History and the University Historian at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book-nominated: "Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King, Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders and the Letter from Birmingham Jail"; the New York Times featured "He Calls Me By Lightning: A Saga of Jim Crow, Southern Justice, and the Death Penalty." His latest book is "From Every Stormy Wind That Blows: The Idea of Howard College and the Origins of Samford University" published by LSU Press in 2024. Reared in Birmingham’s industrial suburb of Fairfield, Alabama, Bass is a frequent speaker on race, religion, and culture and was recognized by the National Urban League with an Interracial Friendship Award. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and lives in Birmingham, Alabama.