Thomas T. Hammond papers

Thomas Taylor Hammond, history professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, was a specialist in Russian and Slavic studies, an astute observer and researcher of communist revolutions and Post World War II Soviet expansion initiatives, a prolific author and lecturer, a skilled photographer and an active civil rights advocate. He was born on September 15, 1920 in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Percy Waters (a journalist) and Elizabeth (Denman) Hammond. He was educated at the University of Mississippi (B. A. 1941) and took graduate studies in economics at the University of North Carolina (M. A. 1943). After serving in the Navy in the Pacific in World War II, he taught history at Emory University, and served as assistant professor of history at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Hammond then continued graduate work in Russian History Studies at Columbia University's Russian Institute (M. A. 1948, Ph. D., 1954).

It was then that he was recruited by the University of Virginia's Dumas Malone for the position of assistant professor in the department of History at UVA. He taught courses on Soviet history and Soviet foreign policy for the next forty two years, rising to full professor in 1963. He was recognized as the University of Virginia's first Russian specialist. His concerted efforts at expanding research and faculty involvement in his area of study led to his founding and directing a Center for Russian and Slavic Studies at the University in the mid-1960's. At that time, he also served as president of the Southern Conference of Slavic Studies (1964-1965) and, in later years, president of the Conference on Slavic and East European History (1982-1983). He held many fellowships, including the Fulbright, Guggenheim, Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller. He was a featured speaker at numerous scholarly conferences and he lectured at the Military Academy at West Point, the Naval War College, the State Department's Foreign Service Institute and at many local and state-wide civic and educational organizations. He did comprehensive research in his field of study on his many visits outside of the United States. He traveled extensively throughout the USSR and Eastern Europe during the period of the Cold war doing research at Moscow University and interviewing people in all walks of life. As a skillful photographer, he compiled a massive collection of photo slides, many of which he used to illustrate his lectures and some of which he incorporated in his articles written for the National Geographic Magazine in September, 1959, ("A First Look at the Soviet Union") and in March, 1966, ("An American in Moscow.") His publications appeared in journals, such as Foreign Affairs, Slavic Review, American History Review, Orbis, and Political Science Quarterly , and in numerous other journals in which he published over 100 book reviews. In 1976, he won a Phi Beta Kappa Prize for the best scholarly work by a faculty member at the University of Virginia for "The Anatomy of Communist Takeovers," which he edited. His other books include: "Yugoslavia Between East and West," "Lenin on Trade Unions and Revolution," and "Red Flag Over Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and its Consequences." He was also editor of "Soviet Foreign Relations and World Communism, A Selected, Annotated Bibliography of 7,000 Books in 30 Languages," and "Witness to the Origins of the Cold War."

In addition to his scholarly work, Hammond was an active participant in university and department activities. He served on a multitude of committees including: Scholarship, Athletics, Non-Western Studies, Undergraduates, Foreign Students, Fulbright Fellowships, and Truman Scholarships. He served on the University President's Special Search Committees, was Secretary of the Academic Faculty for six years, and was a member of all of the Department of History Committees at one time or another.

During the critical civil rights period in the 1950's and 1960's, Hammond was a force in bringing about racial integration. With Paul Gaston, he helped found the Martin Luther King Chapter of the Council on Human Relations to recruit black students and faculty. This effort was also carried over into the local community where Hammond served as president of the Charlottesville Chapter of the Council on Human Relations. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the local branch of the NAACP, promoting social justice in local schools, parks, and other facilities.

On February 11, 1993, Hammond died from a stroke in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was survived by his wife, Nancy, his son, Thomas Kent, and his stepchildren, Andrea Fritch Parle, and Vernon Craig Fritch.