Ben Wynne

A native of Florence, Mississippi, Ben Wynne earned an undergraduate degree from Millsaps College, a master's degree in history from Mississippi College, and a doctorate in history from the University of Mississippi. He currently serves as professor of history at the University of North Georgia in Gainesville, Georgia, where he specializes in the American South, antebellum American studies, and American popular culture. He is the author of several books, including: A Hound Dog Tale: Big Mama, Elvis, and the Song That Changed Everything (LSU Press, 2024), Something in the Water: A History of Music in Macon, Georgia, 1823-1980 (Mercer University Press, 2021), The Man Who Punched Jefferson Davis: The Political Life of Henry Stuart Foote, Southern Unionist (LSU Press 2018), and In Tune, Charley Patton, Jimmie Rodgers and the Roots of American Music (LSU Press 2014).