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Carl Neumann Degler

カール・ニューマン・デグラー

Kāru Nyūman Degurā

Aliases: Carl N. Degler

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1921-02-06 （Newark, New Jersey, U.S.）
Died
2014-12-27 （Palo Alto, California, U.S.） age 93
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Poughkeepsie (during tenure at Vassar College) → Palo Alto (Stanford University faculty and retirement residence)

Career

Occupations
Historian, Professor, Scholar
Active Years
1952-1990
Affiliations
Vassar College, Stanford University, American Historical Association (AHA), Organization of American Historians, Southern Historical Association, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society
Memberships
American Historical Association (AHA), Organization of American Historians, Southern Historical Association, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society

Education

Upsala College
History
Degree: BA
Country: United States
Columbia University
Political Science (PhD dissertation field)
Degree: PhD
Year of Graduation: 1952
Country: United States
PhD awarded in 1952. Dissertation: "Labor in the Economy and Politics of New York City, 1850–1860."

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for History
1972
Work: Neither Black Nor White: Slavery and Race Relations in Brazil and the United States
Category: 歴史
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Out of Our Past: The Forces That Shaped Modern America

1959 American history (textbook / general history)

A synthetic study outlining the forces that shaped modern America; used widely as a high school and college textbook.

American historyHistorical pedagogy

Neither Black Nor White: Slavery and Race Relations in Brazil and the United States

1971 Comparative history / Race relations

A comparative study of slavery and subsequent race relations in Brazil and the United States; analyzes racial structures and social consequences. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

SlaveryRace relationsComparative history

Affluence and Anxiety

1968 Social history

Examines how affluence and accompanying anxieties shaped American society.

Social changeEconomic history

The Other South: Southern Dissenters in the Nineteenth Century

1974 Southern history

Studies dissenters and oppositional figures in the nineteenth-century South, illustrating the region's internal diversity.

Southern historySocial movements

At Odds: Women and the Family in America from the Revolution to the Present

1981 Women's history / Family history

Surveys the history of women and the family in America and contributed to the development of women's history.

Women's historyFamilyGender

In Search of Human Nature: The Decline and Revival of Darwinism in American Social Thought

1991 Intellectual history / History of ideas

An intellectual history tracing the decline and revival of Darwinism in American social thought.

Intellectual historyScience and society

Bibliography

  • Out of Our Past: The Forces That Shaped Modern America (1959)
  • The Third American Revolution (1959)
  • Affluence and Anxiety (1968)
  • Neither Black Nor White: Slavery and Race Relations in Brazil and the United States (1971/1972)
  • The Other South: Southern Dissenters in the Nineteenth Century (1974)
  • Place Over Time: The Continuity of Southern Distinctiveness (1977)
  • At Odds: Women and the Family in America from the Revolution to the Present (1981)
  • In Search of Human Nature: The Decline and Revival of Darwinism in American Social Thought (1991)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Scholarly, comparative-historical approachClear, pedagogical prose
Recurring Motifs
Comparisons of race relations and slaverySouthern distinctivenessWomen's and family history

Legacy

Degler was a leading American historian known for his comparative-historical perspective and clear prose; a Pulitzer Prize winner. He contributed to social, women's and Southern history and left a significant legacy as a teacher.

Academic Societies

  • American Historical Association
  • Organization of American Historians
  • Southern Historical Association
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • American Philosophical Society

Archives

  • Stanford University Archives (related collections)

Quotes

  • a scholarly champion of the common man and woman in American history
    Source: Stanford Report (obituary) (2015)

Trivia

  • Served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II (1942–1945).
  • One of only two male founding members of the National Organization for Women.
  • Taught at Vassar College for 16 years and joined Stanford faculty in 1968.
  • Died in Palo Alto on December 27, 2014, at age 93.