Allison Rash Ensor, Jr.

Allison Rash Ensor, 88, Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Tennessee, died August 10, 2024. A native of Cookeville, he graduated from Central High School there in 1953 and completed a B.A. in English at Tennessee Tech in 1957. He received his M.A. degree at the University of Tennessee in 1959, writing a thesis on Shakespeare. His 1959-60 academic year was spent as a Rockefeller Fellow at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he did his field work at the nearby Riverside Church. His Ph.D. was earned at Indiana University, where he wrote his dissertation on Mark Twain.

He began teaching at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in the summer of 1965 and taught his last class in the fall semester of 2007. In the summer of 1998 he was a visiting professor at Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA. While at UTK he served five years as Director of Freshman English, 1971-1976, and six years as Director of Undergraduate Studies in English, 1988-1994.

For several years he edited Tennessee Studies in Literature, then a journal published by the UT Press. He served for a number of years on the editorial board of Border States and three years on the editorial board of the South Atlantic Review. Following retirement he taught nine American literature courses for the Oak Ridge Institute for Continuing Learning (ORICL).

He served as president and later archivist of the Tennessee Philological Association and was twice president of the Kentucky-Tennessee American Studies Association. For twenty years he was secretary-treasurer of the Tennessee College English Association. During his career he read papers at meetings of the Modern Language Association, South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Tennessee Philological Association, Kentucky-Tennessee American Studies Association, Tennessee Historical Society, the East Tennessee Historical Society, and the Mildred Haun Appalachian studies conference. He twice lectured at the Center for Mark Twain Studies in Elmira, NY, where he also read five papers at the quadrennial international conferences on the state of Mark Twain studies sponsored by Elmira College. Much of his scholarly writing concerned Mark Twain; his Norton Critical Edition of Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was in print for at least twenty-five years. A long-time member of the Knoxville Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, he for a number of years wrote the chapter's news for the national magazine, The American Organist.

As a member of Church Street United Methodist Church, he sang in the Parish Adult Choir for over fifty years and was for a number of years a member of the Church Council. He was a member of the Friends in Christ Sunday School class. He also served on the committees on history, worship, education, and missions. From time to time he taught Sunday school classes, his own as well as others.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Allison and Rosenell Ensor of Cookeville. Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Anne Lovell Ensor; two children, Elizabeth "Beth" Ensor (Jeff Byrd) of Knoxville and Edward "Eddie" Ensor (Julie) of Shelbyville, TN; and five grandchildren, Ethan Ensor-Gibson, Emily Ensor-Gibson, Nathaniel Ensor, Catherine Ensor, and Solomon Ensor.

Memorial service will be held at Church Street United Methodist Church on Saturday, August 17, 2024 at 2:00 p.m., with Rev. Catherine Nance officiating. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the music program or the Master Arts Series at Church Street United Methodist Church, 900 Henley Street, Knoxville, TN 37902.