Dr. John W. "Jack" Cell

Dr. John W. "Jack" Cell, professor of history at Duke University for almost 40 years, died October 26 in a sailing accident on Kerr Lake. He was 66.
A provocative presence in lecture hall or seminar room, Dr. Cell devoted himself to his students, rewarding hard work with generous, incisive criticism and inspiring many to careers inhistory. Former student Ken Vickery, now professor of history at North Carolina State University said, ""He taught me how to read a book, how to write a clear sentence, how to make sense of the chaos that is historical record. He was my teacher.''
A student of British Colonial history, Dr. Cell published four books and numerous articles. His best-known book, The Highest Stage of White Supremacy: The Origins of Segregation in South Africa and the American South (1982) offers a controversial interpretation of segregation as a distinct system and ideology of race and class division, closely associated with urbanization, industrialization, and modern processes of state and party formation rather than as a continuation of earlier social normsand attitudes. His extensive research took him to England, India, Pakistan, and East Africa, and his works employed a range of methodologies from close analysis of policy administration to historiography to biography.
Born in Illinois in 1935, Jack Cell grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, the son of Mary Louise and John W. Cell, a prominent mathematician at North Carolina State University. He entered Duke as a freshman in 1953, received his B.A. in 1957 and PhD. in 1965.
His entire professional career was spent at Duke. Dr. Ron Witt, his long-time friend and colleague, said ""Jack cared deeply about the intellectual quality of the Department. He relished the clash of ideas, and he took his stand without fear or favor. If he lost a round, he did so with good nature. A team player, always willing to accept any responsibility, he enjoyed the deepest respect of his colleagues.''
A fine natural athlete, Jack starred on two state champion basketball teams at Broughton High School in Raleigh, and continued to play basketball into his fifties. At the time of his death, he was a ""mean tennis player'' andan avid sailor. He loved music, singing Bach with the Durham Civic Choral Society and ""The Wreck of the Old '97'' with his family.
Dr. Cell is survived by his three children Tom, Kate and John; his former wife Gillian T. Cell; his siblings Howard and Mary Linn Cell; and his fiancee Jeanne Vickery and her children Andrew and Claire.
A memorial service will be held at 2 PM, Saturday December 1st, at the Duke University Divinity School's York Chapel.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the Richard L. Watson, Jr. Fellowship Fund, History Dept., Box 90719, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708.