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2018 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 197
Celebrating the life of Thaddeus Wilbur Tate, Jr.

 

Agreed to by the Senate, March 6, 2018
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 7, 2018

 

WHEREAS, Thaddeus Wilbur Tate, Jr., a respected scholar and emeritus professor of history at The College of William and Mary, died on April 8, 2017; and

WHEREAS, Thaddeus “Thad” Tate was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and briefly attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before serving as a United States Navy cryptographer during World War II; after the war, he returned to Chapel Hill and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees; and

WHEREAS, a talented scholar of history, particularly the American colonial period, Thad Tate began his career working for the National Parks Service at Colonial National Historical Park at Yorktown; he then worked at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia and at Colonial Williamsburg, where he served as a research associate and assistant director of research; and

WHEREAS, after earning his doctorate from Brown University in 1960, Thad Tate began a nearly 30-year career as a history professor at The College of William and Mary; in 1972, he took over as director of the school’s Institute of Early American History and Culture; and

WHEREAS, along with teaching classes and publishing articles and books on early American history, Thad Tate also spent over a decade as book review editor and editor of the journal The William and Mary Quarterly; and

WHEREAS, an active member of The College of William and Mary faculty, Thad Tate held many positions during his tenure at the school; in 1989, he chaired the Tercentenary Committee assembled to mark the school’s 300th anniversary; and

WHEREAS, after leaving his teaching position in 1989, Thad Tate served for three years as the founding director of the Commonwealth Center for the Study of American Culture at The College of William and Mary; and

WHEREAS, during his long and distinguished career, Thad Tate held fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Endowment for the Humanities; in 2011, The College of William and Mary presented him with an honorary doctorate in recognition of his service; and

WHEREAS, outside of his scholarly work, Thad Tate was an avid hiker and outdoorsman who had a lifelong love of trains and railroads; and

WHEREAS, Thad Tate will be fondly remembered and dearly missed by his stepmother, Lib, and many other family members, friends, and colleagues; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Thaddeus Wilbur Tate, Jr., a dedicated professor who helped bring history to life for countless students; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Thaddeus Wilbur Tate, Jr., as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.