Jack David Lazarus was born in New Jersey in 1930.  In 1952 he legally changed his name, adopting the Holmes surname of his step-father.  He was raised in New Jersey, New York, California, and Florida.  He served as a private in the U.S. Army and in 1951 was honorably discharged.  In 1952 Holmes graduated cum laude from Florida State University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree.  He was also a student-athlete and was a member of the first swimming team at FSU, lettering all four years.  He earned a master's degree the following year from the University of Florida.  Holmes spent the year of 1954 in Mexico studying anthropology, history, and art, and in 1959 he received a PhD in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas.  Dr. Holmes began his academic career in 1956 as an instructor at Memphis State and in 1959 became an assistant professor at McNeese State in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  In 1961 he received a Fulbright Research Award to conduct research in Spain and Portugal during which time he also taught U.S. History to American Air Force personnel stationed in Constantina, Spain.  In 1963 Holmes joined the history department at UAB as an associate professor; he was promoted to professor in 1968.  During this time, he was also the representative of the history faculty to the university's College of General Studies Senate.  Holmes retired from UAB in 1979.  Dr. Holmes was an expert in the history of the U.S. Gulf Coast region, in the history of Spanish Colonial America, in the history of French Colonial America, and in the history of the Caribbean region.  He was a prolific academic, authoring 12 books, co-authoring two dozen other books, and publishing over 130 articles for scholarly and historical journals.  He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and held memberships in the American Historical Association, the Southern Historical Association, and the Louisiana Historical Association.  Holmes also lectured extensively throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.  The Spanish crown recognized Dr. Holmes in 1979 for his research and work in Spanish and Spanish Colonial history by inducting him into the Royal Order of Isabel la Catolica in a ceremony held in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Dr. Jack David Lazarus Holmes died in Birmingham in 1990.

This collection consists of material related to the personal and professional life, as well as the academic research, of Dr. Jack Holmes.  The collection contains correspondence, diaries, publications, and research files.

Gulf States  x History.
Holmes, Jack D. L.,  d  1930-1990.
Southern States  x  History  z  Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.
University of Alabama in Birmingham.  b  Department of History.

Letters, diaries, pamphlets, news clippings, publications, research notes.

n/a