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David Brion Davis

デイヴィッド・ブリオン・デイヴィス

Deividdo Burion Deivisu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1927-02-16 （Denver, Colorado, U.S.）
Died
2019-04-14 （Guilford, Connecticut, U.S.） age 92
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism Baptized in 2008
Residence History
Denver, Colorado → California (childhood) → New York (Cornell University) → Connecticut (Yale University, later life) → Washington state (youth)

Career

Occupations
historian, university professor, cultural historian, intellectual
Active Years
1953-2019
Affiliations
Cornell University, Yale University, Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition (Yale)
Memberships
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow, American Antiquarian Society, Fellow, American Philosophical Society
Influenced
Sean Wilentz, Edward Ayers, T. J. Jackson Lears, Steven Mintz, Jonathan Sarna

Education

Dartmouth College
Philosophy
Degree: AB
Period: 1946–1950
Year of Graduation: 1950
Country: United States
Harvard University
History (PhD program)
Degree: PhD
Period: 1950–1956
Year of Graduation: 1956
Country: United States
Earned PhD

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
1967
Work: The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture
Category: 一般ノンフィクション
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: 受賞
Bancroft Prize
1976
Work: The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution
Organization: Columbia University
Result: 受賞
National Book Award (History and Biography)
1976
Work: The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution
Category: 歴史・伝記
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Humanities Medal
2014
Organization: U.S. Government / National Endowments
Result: 受賞（オバマ大統領より授与）
National Book Critics Circle Award (General Nonfiction)
2015
Work: The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation
Category: 一般ノンフィクション
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: 受賞
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Lifetime Achievement)
2015
Category: 生涯功績
Organization: Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture

1966 History / Nonfiction

A groundbreaking study of the origins and ideological underpinnings of slavery in Western culture, examining institutional and intellectual dimensions; awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1967.

slaveryideologymorality and religion
Translations
  • Spanish and Italian translations

The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770–1823

1975 History / Nonfiction

Examines the development of slavery and antislavery movements during the age of revolution from an international and comparative perspective. Winner of the Bancroft Prize and National Book Award in 1976.

revolution and slaverycomparative historyemancipation movements

Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World

2006 History / Nonfiction

A comprehensive history outlining the formation, transformation, and decline of slavery in the New World.

New World slaveryinstitutional changeeconomy and race

The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation

2014 History / Nonfiction

The final volume of his trilogy analyzing intellectual and political debates and social transformations during the age of emancipation. Winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award.

ideas of emancipationpolitics and lawsocial transformation

Homicide in American Fiction, 1798–1860: A Study in Social Values

1957 History / Literary history

An early study that discusses social values through representations of homicide in early American fiction.

literature and societyrepresentations of violencecultural history

Bibliography

  • Homicide in American Fiction, 1798–1860: A Study in Social Values (1957)
  • The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture (1966)
  • The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770–1823 (1975)
  • Antebellum American Culture: An Interpretive Anthology (1979)
  • Slavery and Human Progress (1984)
  • Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World (2006)
  • The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation (2014)

Translations of Works

  • The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture — translations into Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, etc.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
interdisciplinary style combining intellectual and cultural historycomparative, conceptual-historical approach
Recurring Motifs
slavery and emancipationideology and moralitypublic debate and the role of religion

Legacy

David Brion Davis was a major historian who redefined the study of slavery and abolition in Western and Atlantic history, influencing both scholarship and public understanding. He received numerous awards and honors and trained generations of scholars through his teaching and institutional leadership at Yale.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • American Antiquarian Society
  • American Philosophical Society
  • Organization of American Historians (former president)

Archives

  • David Brion Davis Papers (MS 1790), Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library

Quotes

  • He described himself as a "leftish Democrat."
    Source: Interview (e.g., Times of Israel blog) (2005)
  • Ideology is not a deliberate distortion of reality but the conceptual lens through which people perceive the world.
    Source: Summation from his writings and essays (1968)

Trivia

  • Drafted into the U.S. Army in June 1945 and served in the occupation of Germany (1945–46).
  • Served as Sterling Professor of History at Yale and taught at Yale from 1970 to 2001.
  • Authored or edited 17 books.
  • Began conversion to Judaism in 1987 and had a Bar Mitzvah in 2008.
  • His father was journalist and novelist Clyde Brion Davis.