Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes (1930-2012) was a native of Chattanooga, and received his B.A. in history from Yale University in 1953, a master’s degree and his doctorate degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1956. Dr. Hughes began his educational career in 1959, serving for three years at the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. He was appointed headmaster of St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis, in 1962, where he served for more than 11 years. In 1973, Dr. Hughes moved with his wife, the former Buckner (Bucky) Latimore and three children to Chattanooga to be the headmaster of the Girls Preparatory School (GPS), serving in that capacity for the next 14 years. Upon retiring in 1987, Dr. Hughes turned to his passion for history and writing. He authored 35 books, including fiction and non-fiction, and in 2000 was awarded the Charles L. Defour Award for a lifetime of achievement in the historiography of the American Civil War. Dr. Hughes was a member of the Tennessee Historical Society and the Southern Historical Association and was past-president of the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools.