NEWS RELEASE
PUBLIC INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
PO Box 567, Buies Creek, NC 27506
Tel: (910) 893-1224 w Fax: (910) 893-1922
Smith Receives Davis Fellowship
|
Michael Smith |
Dr. Michael Ray Smith, chairman of Campbell
University’s Department of Mass Communication, was awarded the
Archie K. Davis Fellowship by the North Caroliniana Society, an
organization dedicated to promoting increased knowledge and
awareness of North Carolina history.
Smith will use the $750 fellowship to assist with
travel in tracking down and examining copies of pre-Civil War
journalist John McLean Harrington’s handwritten newspaper for an
article he will write.
“This is a rich but unexplored area of history,”
said Smith. “It’s great to be in North Carolina, exploring something
that happened here and is about a North Carolina historical figure.
It is the best of all possible research opportunities.”
Born in 1839 to a farmer and successful politician in
Harnett County, Harrington began issuing his handwritten newspapers when
he was just 19. The newspapers were filled with political commentary,
amusements, literature, and advertising. They also told of the breakup
of the Union and the beginning of military conflict. The tone of
Harrington’s papers was decidedly anti-Lincoln.
Smith is an award-winning writer, photojournalist,
academic, and conference speaker. His fourth book, FeatureWriting.Net,
a step-by-step approach to snagging a story and its successful
completion, was recently published by Publish America. His third book,
The Jesus Newspaper, was published by University Press of
America. Smith’s other books examine local history, and his academic
journal articles explore the subjects of people with disabilities and
mass media, the early American press, and editorial cartoons, among
others.
Smith began his teaching career in 1988, and has taught
journalism at a private college in Pennsylvania, directed a journalism
program in Indiana, and served as chair of a graduate journalism program
in Virginia. In 2003, he was named chairman of the Campbell University
Department of Mass Communication.
As a journalist, Smith has worked for several major
newspapers, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The
Baltimore Sun, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Smith received a Bachelor of Arts in English literature
from the University of Maryland in College Park. He went on to earn a
master’s degree in communication from Shippensburg University in
Shippensburg, PA. He earned his Ph.D. from Regent University in Virginia
Beach, VA.
Founded in 1887, Campbell University is North Carolina’s
second largest private institution of higher education and the second
largest Baptist university in the world. Located in Buies Creek, NC,
just east of the center of the state, Campbell combines academic
excellence and Christian commitment.
Bulletin 0129 |
