Edwin Mims (1872–1959) was an American academic and professor of English literature who played a significant role in the intellectual development of the American South. He is best known for his long tenure at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he served as the chair of the English Department for three decades, spanning from 1912 to 1942. As an educator, Mims had a profound impact on the next generation of writers. During his time at Vanderbilt, he taught many students who would go on to form the Fugitives and the Southern Agrarians, two pivotal literary movements that reshaped the region's poetry, criticism, and cultural identity. His classroom served as a foundational space for these emerging voices. In addition to his academic career, Mims was known for his strong personal convictions. He was a practicing Methodist and a staunch, outspoken opponent of lynching, taking a firm moral stance against racial violence during a turbulent era in Southern history.
