Dr. Melvin Macklin has taught courses at Ferrum College since 2008 in English literature, history, and cultural studies, with specializations in Holocaust studies and African American literature. After retiring from full-time teaching, he was named professor emeritus in 2021.
During his teaching career of more than fifty years, Dr. Macklin has also taught in Texas public schools and worked with adult learners seeking GEDs, immigrants studying English as a Second Language, and those preparing for U.S. citizenship.
Ph.D., University of Texas at Dallas, Literary Studies with a Certificate in Holocaust Studies
M.Ed., Prairie View A&M University
B.A., Southern Illinois University
From 1965 to 1969, Dr. Macklin served in the United States Army as a Sergeant (E-5) and Radio Communications Specialist with the 3rd U.S. Army. He held top-secret clearance; served in Mannheim, Germany; and deployed to Da Nang, Vietnam, during the 1968–1969 TET Offensive. He received multiple commendations, including the National Defense Service Medal, Army Rifle Expert Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with Bronze Stars, Vietnam Campaign Medal with Cluster, and the Good Conduct Medal.
Dr. Macklin has written several works on African American history and culture, including Traces in the Dust: Carbondale’s Black Heritage, 1852–1964; Generations: A Pictorial Review of African Americans in Carbondale, Illinois; and The Legacy of Attacks and Black Institutions in the Northeast Carbondale Community.
He has organized and led a number of conferences and seminars, including Ferrum College’s Holocaust Conference: A Celebration of Survival (2015) and the Tell Me Your Names poetry seminar at James Madison University (2012). He has presented talks and displays based on his research on children in the Holocaust.
In 2016, he was selected by the Council of Independent Colleges and the Gilder Lehrman Institute to attend the prestigious Slave Narratives seminar at Yale University.
