This year marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Chris Fullerton, a Southern Studies alumnus. To honor his memory and his contributions to the Center, his friends announce plans to raise funds for a new scholarship in his name. The Fullerton Graduate Fellowship will be given to a student pursuing a master’s degree in Southern Studies, focusing on documentary studies, African American Studies, or sports history. 
A native of Woodbridge, Virginia, Fullerton received a bachelor’s degree in history from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He worked for the Museum of the Confederacy before entering the master’s program at the University in the fall of 1992. During his time as a graduate student, he worked at the University Museums and served for a year as the assistant curator of Rowan Oak, William Faulkner’s home.
Fullerton focused much of his research in the Southern Studies Program on the history of baseball and race relations. His master’s thesis, “Striking Out Jim Crow: The Birmingham Black Barons,” examined the role Birmingham’s Negro League team played in resisting discrimination in that city and eventually providing a forum for eliminating segregation. Fullerton’s passion for history and for the subject of baseball carried over into his extracurricular activities. His friends remember him fondly as the catalyst for the first Southern Studies softball team, whose poor win record did not accurately reflect the importance of the games for team members. “Chris really pulled my class of students together with that softball team. We became more than just fellow students, but also great friends,” says fellow alum Aimée Schmidt. “The master’s program was just gaining respect when our class began at Ole Miss, and Chris was really the glue that held us together. He was tremendously funny and amidst the tragedy that often looms over the study of the South, Chris always made everyone laugh.”
Baseball remained Fullerton’s singular love. In the fall of 1996, he returned to Birmingham, site of his many research trips, to become executive director of the Friends of Rickwood, a group devoted to the restoration of Rickwood Park, home of the Birmingham Barons and Black Barons and the nation’s oldest baseball park. In addition to directing fundraising efforts to preserve the park, Fullerton oversaw the planning and promotion of the Rickwood Classic, created a Rickwood Field traveling exhibition, and scheduled baseball events at the park. He was developing a long-range plan to build a Museum of Southern Baseball History at Rickwood. 

“Chris Fullerton brought to the project an enthusiasm and a passion for the history of baseball,” said Coke Matthews III, chairman of the Friends of Rickwood. “That passion was very much contagious with everybody who came into contact with him. He loved to refer to Rickwood as the mother church of baseball, and he certainly was the preacher.”
Fittingly, the new scholarship also marks the 25th anniversary of the Center’s work. Fullerton’s friends believe it appropriate to continue to support the institution that provided him an academic home. They encourage all alumni to become Friends of the Center in Fullerton’s memory and, more importantly, to contribute to the new scholarship in his name. Gifts can be sent to the Center, noting the Fullerton Fellowship.

Susan M. Glisson