World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Geoffrey C. Ward

ジェフリー・C・ワード

Jefurī C. Wādo

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1940-01-01 （Newark, Ohio, United States）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
India (boyhood) → New York, NY (long-term) → Walpole, New Hampshire

Career

Occupations
editor, author, historian, screenwriter (documentary)
Active Years
1962-
Influenced By
David Attenborough, Ken Burns (collaborator)
Nominations
Pulitzer Prize (finalist)

Education

Oberlin College
Art
Degree: BA
Period: 1958-1962
Year of Graduation: 1962
Country: United States
Majored in art. Moved into editing and writing after graduation.

Awards

Emmy Award
1991
Work: The Civil War (documentary)
Organization: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences / relevant broadcasters
Result: winner
Emmy Award
1992
Work: The Kennedys (documentary)
Organization: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences / relevant broadcasters
Result: winner
Emmy Award
1995
Work: Baseball (documentary)
Organization: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences / relevant broadcasters
Result: winner
Emmy Award
1996
Work: TR (Theodore Roosevelt documentary)
Organization: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences / relevant broadcasters
Result: winner
Emmy Award
2005
Work: Unforgivable Blackness (Jack Johnson)
Organization: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences / relevant broadcasters
Result: winner
Emmy Award
2007
Work: The War (documentary)
Organization: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences / relevant broadcasters
Result: winner
Emmy Award
2011
Work: Prohibition (documentary)
Organization: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences / relevant broadcasters
Result: winner
Writers Guild of America Award
2005
Work: Unforgivable Blackness (screenplay)
Organization: Writers Guild of America
Result: winner
William Hill Sports Book of the Year
2006
Work: Unforgivable Blackness (book)
Organization: William Hill
Result: winner
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
2005
Work: Unforgivable Blackness (biography)
Category: 伝記部門
Organization: Anisfield-Wolf
Result: winner
National Book Critics Circle Award
1990
Work: A First Class Temperament (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: winner
Francis Parkman Prize
1990
Work: A First Class Temperament (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
Organization: Society of American Historians
Result: winner
Friend of History Award
2006
Organization: Organization of American Historians
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

A First Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt

1989 biography / history

A biography tracing Franklin D. Roosevelt's emergence from youth to national leadership, praised for its research-based narrative.

American historyleadershippolitics

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

2004 biography / sports history

A biography of boxer Jack Johnson exploring race and American society; acclaimed both as a book and as a documentary screenplay.

raceAmerican culturesports history
Adaptations
  • [TV documentary] Unforgivable Blackness (documentary) / Ken Burns (2005)

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

2014 history / documentary

Companion book to the multi-part documentary about Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt, exploring private and public lives.

family historypolitical historyleadership
Adaptations
  • [TV documentary] The Roosevelts (documentary) / Ken Burns (2014)

Jazz: A History of America's Music

2000 music history / cultural history

A history of jazz as American music and its social significance; companion to the Ken Burns documentary.

jazzAmerican culturerace and the arts
Adaptations
  • [TV documentary] Jazz (documentary) / Ken Burns (2001)

The Vietnam War: An Intimate History

2017 modern history / documentary

Companion to the major documentary on the Vietnam War, emphasizing testimony and archival materials.

war historymemory and testimonyinternational relations

Bibliography

  • Lincoln's Thought and the Present (1976)
  • Treasures of the World: The Maharajas (1983)
  • Before the Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1905 (1985)
  • A First Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt (1989)
  • The Civil War: An Illustrated History (1990)
  • American Originals: The Private Worlds of Some Singular Men and Women (1991)
  • Tiger-Wallahs: Encounters with the Men Who Tried to Save the Greatest of the Cats (1993)
  • Baseball: An Illustrated History (1994)
  • Closest Companion: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley (1995)
  • The West: An Illustrated History (1997)
  • The Year of the Tiger (1998)
  • Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (1999)
  • Jazz: A History of America's Music (2000)
  • Mark Twain (2001)
  • Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004)
  • The War: An Intimate History (2007)
  • Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life (2008)
  • A Disposition to be Rich (2012)
  • The Roosevelts: An Intimate History (2014)
  • The Vietnam War: An Intimate History (2017)

Adaptations

  • Many works adapted as companion books and scripts for Ken Burns's television documentaries

Style & Themes

Literary Style
clear, explanatory narrative non-fictionchronological structure using archival materials and testimony
Recurring Motifs
leadership and powerrace and societymusic, especially jazz

Health

  • poliomyelitis
    幼年期（9歳時に罹患）
    Contracted poliomyelitis at age nine; uses leg braces. Cited as a personal factor in life and work.

Legacy

Geoffrey C. Ward is a writer and screenwriter who brought American history to wide audiences through archival research and accessible narrative. Through collaborations with Ken Burns he became a major figure in public-television history, earning multiple Emmys and literary awards.

Academic Societies

  • Society of American Historians (associated)
  • Organization of American Historians (associated)

Archives

  • PBS / Florentine Films archives
  • personal and family papers (private archives)

In Popular Culture

  • Widely known as principal writer for many Ken Burns large-scale documentaries

Quotes

  • David Attenborough is the best television writer in the history of the medium.
    Source: Interview (e.g., Max Raskin interview) (2021)
  • I think jazz music is so important to this country... (referring to figures like Louis Armstrong)
    Source: New York Times interview (2001)

Trivia

  • Contracted polio at age nine and uses leg braces.
  • Great-grandfather was Ferdinand Ward, a Gilded Age swindler; Ward wrote about him.
  • Known for long collaboration with Ken Burns and multiple Emmy wins for documentary scripts.
  • Many books serve as companion volumes to television documentaries.