Rev. Dr. Herman Hattaway

Dr. Herman Morell Hattaway passed away on March 31, 2023, in Overland Park, Kansas. For 34 years (1969-2003) he was a professor of history and religious studies at the University of Missouri Kansas City.

Herman Hattaway was born on December 26, 1938 in New Orleans and grew up in Houma, Tennebonne Parish, Louisiana, the only child of Mary Amelia Cook and Samuel Morell Hattaway. In his early years he was a disc jockey for a local radio station known as “Happy Hat”. In 1969, he earned his Ph.D. in History from Louisiana State University, where he studied under the mentorship of Pulitzer Prize winning historian T. Harry Williams.

Professor Hattaway’s first book was General Stephen D. Lee, an adaption of his doctoral dissertation, which received the Jefferson Davis Book Award from the Museum of the Confederacy (now American Civil War Museum). He was later nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in History and received the Bell I. Wiley Prize from the National Historical Society for his 1983 book How the North Won: A Military History of the Civil War, which he co-authored with Archer Jones. His next book, Why the South Lost the Civil War, with Archer Jones, Richard Beringer, and William Still, Jr. received both the Jefferson Davis Book Award and Bell I. Wiley Prize. His other notable works include Shades of Blue and Gray: An Introductory History of the Civil War, Jefferson Davis, Confederate President (co-authored with Richard Beringer), and Reflections of a Civil War Historian: Essays on Leadership, Society, and the Art of War. Five of his books were selections of the History Book Club.

Throughout his career, Professor Hattaway was a popular and prolific lecturer to Civil War Round Tables and history preservation and education groups all over the United States. He also served on the editorial boards for a number of academic and popular history publications, including The Historian, Civil War Times Illustrated, and Columbiad: A Quarterly Review of the War Between the States. As a result of his body of work as a scholar and teacher, and extensive service to the field of Civil War studies, he received the Harry S Truman Award from the Civil War Round Table of Kansas City and University of Missouri Curators’ Award for Scholarly Excellence. In addition to his decades of service on the faculty at UMKC, he was the distinguished visiting professor of military history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1990-91 (for which he received the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal) and subsequently served as scholar-in-residence at the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War at Shepherd University.

Among his other pursuits Dr. Hattaway served a stint in the U.S. Army between 1963 and 1965, earning the Vietnam Era Service Medal and National Defense Service Medal. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Houma, LA. An Eagle Scout, he proudly served as both a leader and chaplain for the Boy Scouts of America and was an ordained Anglican minister who served as both pastor and assistant pastor to a number of churches in the Kansas City metropolitan area. He is survived by his wife of over 60 years, Margaret Anne Troth Hattaway.

Born in the Christmas Season, he entered eternal life at Eastertime. He loved God. There will be a Requiem Mass, officiated by Bishop Leo Michael, on April 20, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. at St. James Anglican Cathedral, 342 North Water Street, Liberty, MO 64068.

Honorary Pallbearers are Dr. Ethan Rafuse, Dr. Mark Snell, Dr. Michael J.C. Taylor, Dr. Ron Machoian, Dr. Henry Troth, John Troth, Robert Troth and Dr. Karl Pizzolatta.

Graveside services and interment will be in the Young Family Cemetery in Zachary, Louisiana.