Colonel Robert Selph Henry (October 20, 1889 – August 19, 1970) was an American lawyer, railroad executive and historian. He was an executive of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway from 1921 to 1934, and the vice president of the Association of American Railroads from 1934 to 1958. He was the author of several books about the history of the Southern United States, including the American Civil War and the Mexican–American War, as well as railroads. He was the 1957 president of the Southern Historical Association. A veteran of World War I, he was a reservist until his 1952 retirement as a colonel.

Early life
Robert Selph Henry was born on October 20, 1889, in Clifton, Tennessee. He graduated from Vanderbilt University, where he earned an L.L.B. in 1910 and a BA in 1911. During World War I, he served as a Captain of Field Artillery in the United States Army.

Career
Henry started his career as a journalist in Nashville from 1907 to 1913. He was a secretary to Tennessee Governor Ben W. Hooper from 1913 to 1915. He practised the law in Nashville from 1915 to 1921.

Henry was Director of Public Relations for the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway from 1921 to 1928; Assistant to the Vice President of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railrway from 1928 to 1934; and vice president of the Association of American Railroads from 1934 to 1958.

Henry was the author of several books about the American Civil War, the Mexican–American War and the railroad industry. He was the president of the Southern Historical Association in 1957.

Henry served on the board of trust of his alma mater, Vanderbilt University. He was also the president of the Vanderbilt Alumni Association.

Henry served in the United States Army Reserve until his retirement as Colonel in 1952.

Personal life and death
With his wife Lura Temple, Henry had two daughters. He died on August 19, 1970, in Alexandria, Virginia, and he was buried in Nashville.

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1889 births
1970 deaths
People from Wayne County, Tennessee
People from Nashville, Tennessee
Vanderbilt University alumni
United States Army personnel of World War I
Tennessee lawyers
Businesspeople from Tennessee
20th-century American railroad executives
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
United States Army reservists
United States Army colonels
20th-century American lawyers
20th-century American male writers