Senate Concurrent Resolution 640

(As Adopted by Senate)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF PROFESSOR GEORGE ANTHONY CARBONE ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 90TH BIRTHDAY.

WHEREAS, Professor George Anthony Carbone served as a teacher and mentor who energized the intellect of the generation of students at the University of Mississippi that followed World War II. With insight and wisdom and a commanding presence in the classroom, Professor Carbone taught us the lessons of history of the Old World from which our ancestors and our nation came. He turns 90 years old on May 14, 2007. Though his professional and academic career took him back to his native West Coast where his family lived, it is altogether fitting and proper that the people of Mississippi honor and commemorate his 15 years of distinguished service in this state; and

WHEREAS, George Anthony Carbone was born on May 14, 1917, in Napa, California, and for a number of years lived in San Francisco, California. He married Marguerite Rodoani in 1940. The Carbones had two children, Edward Frederick and Karen Joan, twins born December 5, 1942; and

WHEREAS, Professor Carbone's formal educational achievements include a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California in 1939, a Master of Arts in History from the University of California in 1941, and a Doctor of Philosophy in History from the University of California in 1947. During these times, he served as a Teaching Fellow, and then Junior Instructor in History at the University of California, and was awarded a Sigmund Martin Traveling Fellowship to Harvard University, 1945-1946. He served as a Teaching Fellow in History at Harvard in the Spring semester 1946; and

WHEREAS, it was the State of Mississippi's good fortune that on September 1, 1946, George Anthony Carbone became Acting Associate Professor of History at the University of Mississippi, rising to Associate Professor of History on June 2, 1947, and full Professor of History on September 1, 1949. Professor Carbone left Ole Miss at the end of the 1961 academic year, having enriched the minds and understanding of a special generation of young Mississippians; and

WHEREAS, through his years at Ole Miss, Professor Carbone taught a broad spectrum of courses in the History of Western Civilization, beginning with his annual offerings in History 101 -- From the Decline of the Roman Empire through 1688 and the Glorious Revolution in England; and then in the second semester, History 102, beginning with the English Bill of Rights and focusing on European History from 1689 through the then present. Professor Carbone's freshman history survey courses occasioned a great awakening for so many who returned for his upper level courses in Revolutionary Europe, 1789-1848, European Diplomacy, 1848-1914, Russian History, and Greek and Roman History; and

WHEREAS, as a function of his eminence as a Scholar in Russian History, Professor Carbone served as host for a remarkable 1947 visit to the University of Mississippi by Alexander Kerensky, leader of the Russian Provisional Government following the fall of Tsar Nicholas II in February of 1917, only to see his hopes for a democratically elected constituent assembly in Russia dashed with the Bolshevik takeover in 1917; and

WHEREAS, Professor Carbone served as faculty advisor to foreign students attending Ole Miss, mentoring so many coming to this country for the first time. Notably, in March of 1957, Professor Carbone welcomed John G. Adler and Charles Tilly, each a refugee from Soviet repression in their native Hungary the year before. Adler became Chairman of Adaptec, Inc., and has endowed a scholarship at the University of Mississippi School of Engineering; and

WHEREAS, during his years at the University of Mississippi, Professor Carbone was a member of History Honor Society, Language Honor Society, American Historical Association, Pi Mu Iota, American Association of University Professors, I.R.C., Southern Historical Society and other professional organizations; and

WHEREAS, George Anthony Carbone has ever cherished his Italian heritage. In his credentials offered to the University of Mississippi in 1946, to show fitness for his new position, Professor Carbone listed that he was a Reader in Italian and Diplomatic History. He flourished in special opportunities for study and teaching in the land of his forbears. For the 1949-1950 academic year, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Italy, while on leave from the University of Mississippi. For the 1955-1956 academic year, he was a Fulbright Lecturer in Political History at the Institute of European Studies at the University of Turin in Turin, Italy. His imposing appearance in the classroom, punctuated by premature baldness, generated the occasional freshman speculation that he bore a resemblance to Benito Mussolini, always drawing a smile followed by a gentle but unequivocal assurance that he was no admirer of the fascist dictator of Italy, no matter how punctual the trains may have been; and

WHEREAS, in 1961, George Anthony Carbone felt the call of his family and home. He accepted a position at what is now Portland State University because of "his desire to be closer to his children and elderly parents"; and so in the Fall of 1961, he joined the history faculty at Portland State University, where he remains Professor of History Emeritus in the Department of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and

WHEREAS, students of Professor George Anthony Carbone for those 15 years at the University of Mississippi have grown to maturity, pursued their diverse career and life patterns in all parts of America, but many at home in Mississippi. The many who remain look back and know that Professor Carbone enabled their minds to grow; and

WHEREAS, Professor George Anthony Carbone lost his wife of 60 years in 2000, having previously lost his son, Edward, in 1989 at the age of 46. On the brighter side, Professor Carbone enjoys his daughter, Karen, three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. As he recently wrote to a former student, "Another memory I cherish is the basic courtesy and common decency of Mississippi students. I hope this hasn't changed":

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby express our appreciation and gratitude for the gift of fifteen years of the life of Professor George Anthony Carbone, which enriched the minds and ennobled the lives of his many students who, in turn, have made this state and nation a better place to live.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That by this means the people of Mississippi extend their every good wish as his 90th birthday approaches, with the hope that his sunset years will ever carry fond memories of his days among us.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this Resolution be presented to Professor George Anthony Carbone, and be made available to the Chancellor of the University of Mississippi and the Capitol Press Corps.