Douglas freeman biography

Douglas Southall Freeman,¹ a 1904 graduate of Richmond College, was likely the University’s most widely known alumnus in the middle of the 20^th century.

When he first joined the University of Richmond Board of Trustees in 1925, he was already editor of the Richmond News Leader and a popular radio commentator, positions that afforded him significant public influence. He served the University as a trustee until 1950 and led the board as its rector from 1934 to 1950.

Douglas freeman high school

During the period of his University leadership, his national reputation as a historian of the Confederacy and as a public intellectual grew substantially, particularly after his receipt of the Pulitzer Prize for his four-volume biography of Robert E.

Lee in 1935. He received a second Pulitzer posthumously for his seven-volume biography of George Washington. At the height of his career, Freeman exercised significant influence with the general public, military leaders, business magnates,