If you zero in on the awards won, the many accomplishments achieved and the fact that she shaped the DU English department’s curriculum that is still used today, then you might just overlook the essence of Margaret Whitt. At her core, she is simply a woman with an unquenchable appetite for intellectual curiosity with a deep love of southern literature and a desire to share her knowledge of it with others.
Whitt, a retired professor of DU’s English Department, was the keynote speaker of the 16th Annual Women’s Conference, which took place Friday, April 8. She has won many teaching awards, including the Colorado Community College Conference Award in 1990, the 1993 Distinguished Teaching Award, the 2007 Pioneer Award and was the co-recipient of the 2007 United Methodist Scholar Award.
“When you win a teaching award, it’s a confidence booster, but the next day you still have to go prove yourself to your students all over again,” said Whitt.
She has a deep affection for Southern literature and said that she believes reading good books help people shape their version of the world. Her favorite writer is Flannery O’Connor, a Southern writer who often proposed ethical and moral dilemmas through her work. She wrote “Understanding Flannery O’Connor,” published in 1995, as well as “Understanding Gloria Naylor,” published in 1999, which are still in print today. Both books are part of a series on American Literature meant to serve as a guide for students and the general public to understand Southern writers better.
“I first read Flannery O’Connor’s novel in 1977,” said Whitt. “Her vision of the world was so unique and is part of the best literature of the twentieth century.”
Whitt was born in Jacksonville, Fla., and grew up in the South, where people have a certain way of using language and knowledge of the world, she said
“They understand a sense of human limitations and family connections better than the rest of us because they lost the Civil War,” said Whitt.
She said she got into teaching because of her Southern upbringing, where girls were expected to either be a secretary, nurse or a teacher.
“I like to read, write and talk about ideas,” said Whitt. “I wanted to guide students as the middle person standing between books and the student, conveying what the book means.”
Whitt said she loved teaching and never got tired of grading papers. She said she viewed papers as a way to continue the conversation with students.
When asked what her greatest accomplishment was, Whitt referred to her two children, Charley, 38, and Wintry, 35. Her favorite years were when she was an undergraduate at Pfeiffer College, located in Misenheimer, N.C. She said that her personality was shaped there and that she met lifelong friends and became truly intellectually engaged.
“What I learned there still shapes my life today,” said Whitt. “University campuses are sacred places.”
Whitt said that the most important lesson she learned in life was to make sure you have all the right information before speaking because you can’t take it back once the words have been said.
“I also need to slow down,” she said while laughing aloud. “I get a lot of speeding tickets.”
Whitt taught in the DU English department for 27 years, from 1981 to 2008, before retiring to her home in Gerton, N.C. She served as the English Department’s director and helped design courses that provided the foundation for the themes of courses still taught today.
Today Whitt spends her free time leading her local book club, writing grants for non-profit agencies, teaching short, thematic courses to church groups, touring factories and is the president of her local community center.
To read about Whitt’s speech at the Women’s Conference, click here.
