On July 26, 2022, our dear colleague Carey Harvey Latimore IV passed away in San Antonio, Texas. Carey was born on October 10, 1975, in Middlesex County, Virginia, to Carey H. Latimore III and Ann B. Stephens Latimore. He attended Rappahannock Community College before earning his bachelor of arts in history from the University of Richmond and his doctorate from Emory University.

Carey joined the history department at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, in 2004. He was a gifted scholar and an award-winning teacher of African American history. His first book, The Role of Southern Free Blacks during the Civil War Era: The Life of Free African Americans in Richmond, Virginia, 1850 to 1876 (Edwin Mellen Press, 2014), drew on extensive research to chart the evolution of the free Black community in Richmond from the antebellum period through Reconstruction. He published articles on this topic, including “Surviving War and the Underground: Richmond Free Blacks and Criminal Networks during the Civil War” (Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 2009). He also was a featured historian in a History Channel documentary series on Abraham Lincoln as well as a documentary on Juneteenth.

Carey’s research provided deep insight into the African American experience, which he brought into the classroom, leading rich, engaging discussions with thousands of students over his career. His mentorship was legendary; his office was always open and filled with students, and he served as a trusted advisor to the Black Student Union and as a mentor to several summer undergraduate research fellows. In 2021, Trinity recognized Carey with its most prestigious award, the Z. T. Scott Faculty Fellowship, to celebrate his outstanding teaching and mentorship. Carey mentored numerous students, many of whom have gone on to doctoral studies and into academic positions.

For nine years, Carey served as chair of the history department. He was a leader not only in the department but across the university. He served on numerous committees during his almost two decades at Trinity. Carey was also instrumental in bringing the Claude and ZerNona Black Papers, 1890–2009, to the Trinity University Archives, which document civil rights activism in San Antonio in the 20th century.

During his time at Trinity, Carey developed his expertise in public and oral history methods and worked with the Bexar County Historical Commission, the Mayor’s Council on Police and Community Relations, the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, and the Alamo Museum Planning Committee. The Alamo Trust and City of San Antonio recognized Carey for his expertise by involving him closely in their efforts to reinterpret the Alamo, commissioning him to write Civil Rights in San Antonio, a key report that has shaped discussions about the future of Alamo Plaza. He also drew on this work to spearhead the foundation of a center for African American history and culture in San Antonio; work on this initiative continues. His research for these projects was based in part on the extensive oral history interviews he had been conducting and that he intended to form the basis of a new book, tentatively titled Neither Quite Southern nor Western: African Americans during the Civil Rights Era in San Antonio, 1937–1978.

An ordained minister, Carey served as associate pastor at Mt. Zion First Baptist Church in San Antonio. Most recently, Carey published Unshakable Faith: African American Stories of Redemption, Hope, and Community (Our Daily Bread Publishing, 2022). The book blends the history of African American activism and faith with Christian devotional lessons, and in many ways, it reflects the facets of Carey’s life and career: a Baptist minister and a historian who committed himself fully and joyfully to his students, colleagues, community, and the public.

A pillar of the Trinity history department and of the broader San Antonio community, Carey is deeply missed. As well as colleagues, friends, and the many students he mentored, he leaves behind his wife, Almie Pachoco Latimore; his father, Carey Latimore III; his sisters, Kim McCarther and Kerri Latimore; his mother-in-law, Milagros Pachoco; and many other family members.