EDWARDS, Dr. Paul Madison
EDWARDS, SMITH, COBB, HIGDON
Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 1/11/2016 at 14:48:43
BIOGRAPHY of DR. PAUL MADISON EDWARDS
Graceland University, Lamoni, Decatur County, IowaPaul Madison Edwards was born in 1933, the son of Francis Henry and Alice Myrmida (Smith) Edwards, and the grandson of Frederick Madison and Ruth Lyman (Cobb) Smith.
Dr. Paul M. Edwards earned his doctorate from St. Andrew University in Scotland. He joined Graceland's faculty in 1960 where he was a professor of philosophy and history courses. In 1970, Dr. Edwards and Barbarfa Higdon joined the nine-member editorial committee for newly created the quarterly journal Courage: A Journal of History, Thought, and Action. Dr. Edwards also contributed articles for this journal.
Dr. Edwards served on a committee that resulted in the creation of Graceland's Experimental Curriculum which began in the 1970-71 school year. He assumed the position of department head of Social Studies in 1972.
Dr. Edwards was vice-president of Graceland University; the past director of the RLDS Temple School in Independence, Missouri; professor of philosophy at Park University, Kansas City, Missouri; president of John Whitmer Historical Association; president of the Mormon History Association; and founder (1989) and director of Graceland's Center for the Study of the Korean War, Independence campus.
Dr. Edwards has authored and edited numerous books regarding the Korean War, which include: General Matthew B. Ridgway: An Annotated Bibliography (1993, CN: Greenwood Press); The Pusan Perimeter, Korea 1950 (1993, CN: Greenwood Press); The Inchon Landing: Korea 1950 (1994, CN: Greenwood Press); The Hermit Kingdom: Poems of the Korean War (1995, Iowa: Kendall Hunt); A Guide to Films of the Korean War (1997, CN: Greenwood Press); The Korean War: An Annotated Bibliography (1998, CN: Greenwood Press); The Korean War: A Documentary History (1999, FL: Kendall Press); To Acknowledge a War: Remembering Korea (2000, CN: Greenwood Press); and, The Korean War: A Historical Dictionary (2003, London: Scarecrow Press).
Dr. Edwards also authored The Hilltop Where. . . . An Informal History of Graceland College (1972, Venture Foundation; The Chief: An Administrative Biography of Fred M. Smith (1988, Herald House); and Our Legacy of Faith: A Brief History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (1991, Herald House).
Dr. Edwards created Toom Taggart, a clerical detective and introduced him with the publication of The Angel Acronym: A Mystery Introducing Toom Taggart ( 2003, Sginature Books). Toom Taggart also appeared in Murder by Sacrament: Another Toom Taggart Mystery (2014, Signature Books).
Many former Graceland students fondly remember Dr. Edwards for his keen insight and generous sense of humor.
SOURCES:
Edwards, Paul M. "The Hilltop Where. . . An Informal History of Graceland College." Pp. 134, 1938. Venture Foundation. Lamoni IA. 1972.
detecs.org/taggart.html
Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2016
Decatur Biographies maintained by Constance McDaniel Hall.
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