Carl Neumann Degler (February 6, 1921 – December 27, 2014) was an American historian andPulitzer Prize-winning author. He was the Margaret Byrne Professor of American HistoryEmeritus atStanford University.[1]
Degler was born on February 6, 1921, inNewark, New Jersey. He served in theU.S. Army Air Force from 1942 to 1945. He earned a BA in history fromUpsala College, and master's and doctoral degrees fromColumbia University.[2] His 1952 PhD dissertation in political science was "Labor in the Economy and Politics of New York City, 1850–1860: A Study of the Impact of Early Industrialism." It was never published as a whole, but several chapters became articles.[3]
Degler taught history atVassar College for 16 years (1952–1968). In 1968 he joined the Stanford faculty and taught there for the rest of his career, retiring as Emeritus Professor in 1990. In 1986 Degler was elected President of theAmerican Historical Association. He also served as president of the Organization of American Historians and the Southern Historical Association.[2]
In 1972 Degler was awarded thePulitzer Prize for History for his bookNeither Black nor White (1971), a work comparingslavery and race relations inBrazil and theUnited States. He earlier wroteOut of Our Past (1959), a study of United States history that was used in high school and college classrooms.
He has been described as "a scholarly champion of the common man and woman in American history" and as "a founding feminist". He was one of only two male founding members of theNational Organization for Women.[2]
In 1973–1974 he was theHarold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of American History atOxford University. He was a member of both theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences and theAmerican Philosophical Society.[4][5]
Degler was married to Catherine Grady, whom he met at Columbia, for nearly 50 years until her death. He was married to Teresa Baker Degler for the last 14 years of his life. He had two children and four grandchildren.
He died inPalo Alto, California, on December 27, 2014, at the age of 93.[2]
Degler's works include:[6]
Pulitzer Prize forHistory (1951–1975) | ||
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