elijah wilson lyon was born in heidelberg, mississippi, in 1904. lyon had planned on becoming a journalist, but history drew his interest later on in life. later, lyon would go on to attend the university of mississippi. as a result of his great academic rigor, his tenure as senior class president, and editor of the college newspaper, he won a rhodes scholarship to st. john's college, oxford. when he returned to the united states, he became an assistant professor of history at louisiana polytechnic institute, then at colgate university. he was named head of the history department in 1934 at colgate.