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John Putnam Demos

ジョン・パットナム・デモス

John Putnam Demos

Profile

Gender
Male
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Tyringham, Massachusetts

Career

Occupations
Historian, Author, Professor
Active Years
2008
Affiliations
Yale University, Department of History (Samuel Knight Professor)

Education

Harvard University
Country: United States

Awards

Bancroft Prize
Work: Entertaining Satan
Organization: Columbia University (Bancroft Prize)
Result: 受賞
Francis Parkman Prize
1995
Work: The Unredeemed Captive
Organization: Society of American Historians
Result: 受賞
Ray Allen Billington Award
Work: The Unredeemed Captive
Organization: Organization of American Historians
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England

1982 History/Non-fiction

A scholarly study examining the culture of witchcraft and witch trials in early New England through close analysis of primary sources, exploring connections among community, religion, and family.

Witch huntsReligion and societyEarly America

A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony

History/Non-fiction

A study detailing family life and kinship in Plymouth Colony.

Family historyColonial society

The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America

History/Non-fiction

Through a single family's experience, the book illuminates cultural conflict, captivity issues, and religious contexts in colonial America.

Family narrativeCaptivity and bordersReligious conflict

The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World

Historical survey

A broad survey of two millennia of witch-hunting in the Western world, discussing its evolution and social significance.

History of witch-huntsSocial history

Editor, Remarkable Providences

Edited primary sources

Editing and annotating primary accounts of events in early America.

Source studiesEarly America

Past, Present, and Personal: The Family and the Life Course in American History

History/Family history

Discusses changes in family life and life course in American history.

Family historyLife course

The Heathen School: A Story of Hope and Betrayal in the Age of the Early Republic

History/Educational history

Through a story of education and missionary work in the early republic, it explores themes of hope and betrayal.

Educational historyMissionary contact

Bibliography

  • Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England (1982)
  • A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony
  • The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America
  • The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World
  • Remarkable Providences (editor)
  • Past, Present, and Personal: The Family and the Life Course in American History
  • The Heathen School: A Story of Hope and Betrayal in the Age of the Early Republic

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Scholarly, source-based detailed analysisAcademic yet readable prose
Recurring Motifs
Culture of witch-huntsFamily histories and personal narrativesInteraction of religion and social structure

Legacy

John Putnam Demos is a historian known for meticulous studies of witch-hunts and family history in early America. His work combines rigorous source analysis with readable narrative and has been recognized with major awards, influencing scholarship on early American history.

Academic Societies

  • American Historical Association
  • Yale University academic community

Archives

  • Yale University Library Archives (possible repository)

Trivia

  • He discovered an ancestor, John Putnam Senior, who was a member of the Putnam family prominent in the Salem witch trials.
  • Served as Samuel Knight Professor at Yale University and retired in December 2008.