Dr. Craig H. Roell

In Memoriam

Dr. Craig H. Roell (October 25, 1954 – November 11, 2020)

The Department of History is saddened to announce the death of Prof. Craig Roell, on November 11, 2020, after a brief illness. Craig was a dedicated member of the faculty for 31 years and was greatly beloved by his colleagues and generations of students. He was named the Wells/Warren University Professor of the Year in 2002 and 2013, and he was awarded the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Ruffin Cup in 2012. He was known for his warmth and kindness to all, his love of his home state of Texas, and his collection of cowboy boots. He will be greatly missed in the department, on campus, and in the community. He is survived by his wife, Melinda, his stepdaughters Nicole and Emily and their families, and his mother and sister.

Professor of History (1989). Graduate Program Director.
A.A., University of Houston-Victoria, 1974;  B.A., University of Houston, 1977; M.A., Ph.D., University of Texas, 1980, 1986.

Research & Teaching Interests: US Business, Economic, and Cultural History; Advertising and Consumer Culture; Piano history; Texas history.

Upper Division Courses:

• HIST 3134 American Economic History
• HIST 5230/5230G Advertising & Culture
• HIST 5533/5533G Economic Rivals: U.S.-JAPAN
• HIST 4635 Senior Seminar: American Consumer Culture
• HIST 7631 Readings Seminar in American History: American Consumer Culture

Website: Current C.V.

Selected Publications:

• Matamoros and the Texas Revolution (Denton: Texas State Historical Association Press, 2013).
• Remember Goliad: A History of La Bahia (Austin: Texas State historical Association, 1994).
• The Piano in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991).
• Lyndon Johnson: A Bibliography, Vol. 2 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1988).
• “Primal Matamoros: Deeper Meanings of Name and Place on the (Once Wild) Río Bravo,” in Supplementary Studies in Rio Grande Valley History, Volume Fifteen, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Regional History Series, edited by Milo Kearney, Anthony Knopp, Antonio Zavaleta, and Thomas Daniel Knight, pp. 5-57. Brownsville: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 2017.

Professional Activities, Awards, and Honors:

• First Place winner 2015 LA BAHÍA AWARDS by the Sons of the Republic of Texas.
• Georgia Southern University Wells/Warren Professor of the Year Award 2002 and 2013
• Ruffin Cup, College of Arts and Social Sciences, 2012
• Georgia Southern University Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2000-2001
• Director of Graduate Studies, 2002-2008, and 2017-ongoing

Current Research:

• Content expert and exhibit reviewer for Cinco de Mayo hero General Ignacio Zaragoza Birthplace State Historic Site in Goliad, Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, State Parks Division, Historic Sites and Structures Program, 2018.
• Tejanos of Goliad and Victoria during the Texas Revolution, San Jacinto Symposium, Houston, Texas: VIDEO presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTfhLoMP_54
• “Not in Kansas Any More: Selling Midwesterners the ‘Magic Valley’ of South Texas”, to be published in Volume Sixteen of Studies in Rio Grande Valley History Series, University of Texas at Brownsville, forthcoming.