Leah Rawls Atkins, a trailblazer in Southern history and a distinguished educator, passed away on October 4, 2024, at the age of 89. A Birmingham, Alabama native, Dr. Atkins earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees in history from Auburn University, later shaping the minds of countless students as a professor at Auburn, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Samford University.
Her scholarly contributions include coauthoring Alabama: The History of a Deep South State, Bicentennial Edition, a cornerstone for historians of the South. She also contributed to Alabama Governors: A Political History of the State and wrote the introduction to Party Politics in Alabama from 1850 through 1860 by Lewry Dorman.
Dr. Atkins’ lifelong dedication to history and education leaves a lasting legacy that will continue to resonate within the academic community for years to come.
Headshot from Auburn University College of Liberal Arts.
Leah Rawls Atkins Books

Alabama: The History of a Deep South State, Bicentennial Edition is a comprehensive narrative account of the state from its earliest days to the present. This edition, updated to celebrate the state’s bicentennial year, offers a detailed survey of the colorful, dramatic, and often controversial turns in Alabama’s evolution.

Alabama Governors is a collection of biographical essays, written by thirty-four noted historians and political scientists, chronicles the times, careers, challenges, leadership, and legacies of the fifty-seven men and one woman who have served as the state’s highest elected official.

Party Politics in Alabama from 1850 through 1860 reveals the flow of political events and the people behind these events during the critical decade preceding the Civil War.