Dr. Vernon Lane Wharton was born 29 September 1907 in Handsboro, Mississippi, the son of Guy Vernet Wharton and Fannie Henningham Lane. He was married to Beverly Dickerson of McComb, Mississippi and they had 2 sons. Wharton died 7 September 1964 and is buried at the Hollywood Cemetery in McComb, Mississippi

Wharton earned a Bachelor’s degree in English at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi in 1928. He received his Master’s degree and Doctorate in History at the University of North Carolina. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He taught at Millsaps College from 1935 to 1952 and chaired the Department of Sociology. He was the Dean of College and Graduate School at Texas State College of Women from 1952-1956 and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) from 1956 until his death.

Wharton had scholarly interests in historical, social, political, and economic issues. His dissertation was the influential work The Negro in Mississippi. As an educator, Dr. Wharton was a member of distinguished academic societies such as Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Pi Kappa Delta, and Theta Chi.