John Ray Skates Jr. (October 14, 1934 – February 18, 2009) was an American historian in Mississippi.
[2] He also wrote a book about planning for an invasion of Japan towards the end of World War II arguing it was not the preferred alternative to an atomic bomb attack and that justifying the bombing by setting it against such an invasion as the other alternative is ahistorical.
[3][4][5] Skates was born in Catchings, Mississippi in Sharkey County on October 14, 1934.
[8] Skates earned his PhD from Mississippi State University where he wrote his thesis on Frederick Sullens and the Jackson Daily News.
[10][11][12][13][14] He occasionally collaborated with David G. Sansing, another Mississippi historian, whom he'd taught as a grad student.