Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 33 (1968) Winner
Robert Coles
ロバート・コールズ
Robert Coles
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1929-10-12 （Boston, Massachusetts, United States）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Boston (birthplace) → New Orleans (residence and clinical work) → Cambridge, MA (teaching at Harvard University)
Career
- Occupations
- Child psychiatrist, Author, University professor (professor emeritus)
- Active Years
- 1954-
- Affiliations
- Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital
- Memberships
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Medicine
- Influenced By
- William Carlos Williams, Erik Erikson, Dorothy Day, Walker Percy
- Influenced
- Generations of Harvard students
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard College | Faculty of Arts and Sciences (English Literature) | Department of English | A.B. (magna cum laude) | 1946–1950 | United States |
| Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons | Medical School | Medicine (with specialization toward psychiatry) | M.D. | 1950–1954 | United States |
Harvard College
Faculty of Arts and Sciences (English Literature)
/ Department of English
Degree:
A.B. (magna cum laude)
Period:
1946–1950
Year of Graduation:
1950
Country:
United States
Graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa; interviewed William Carlos Williams for senior thesis
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Medical School
/ Medicine (with specialization toward psychiatry)
Degree:
M.D.
Period:
1950–1954
Year of Graduation:
1954
Country:
United States
Medical degree; later specialized in psychiatry
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction | Children of Crisis (vols. 2 and 3) | — | The Pulitzer Prizes | 受賞 |
| 1981 | MacArthur Fellowship | — | — | MacArthur Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1998 | Presidential Medal of Freedom | — | — | Office of the President of the United States | 受賞 |
| 2001 | National Humanities Medal | — | — | National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) / U.S. government | 受賞 |
| 1971 | Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences | — | — | American Academy of Arts and Sciences | 選出 |
| 1998 | National Magazine Award (General Excellence) | DoubleTake (co-founded magazine) | — | National Magazine Awards | 受賞 |
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
1973
Work:
Children of Crisis (vols. 2 and 3)
Organization:
The Pulitzer Prizes
Result:
受賞
MacArthur Fellowship
1981
Organization:
MacArthur Foundation
Result:
受賞
Presidential Medal of Freedom
1998
Organization:
Office of the President of the United States
Result:
受賞
National Humanities Medal
2001
Organization:
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) / U.S. government
Result:
受賞
Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1971
Organization:
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Result:
選出
National Magazine Award (General Excellence)
1998
Work:
DoubleTake (co-founded magazine)
Organization:
National Magazine Awards
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
1 appearances
-
Edition 13 (1973) Winner
Works
Major Works
Children of Crisis
1967 Non-fiction (reportage / social documentary)A multi-volume series based on long-term observation and interviews with children and families in New Orleans and other parts of the United States, documenting how children deal with poverty, racial conflict, and social change. The series examines moral and psychological development and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973.
Moral and psychological development of childrenPoverty and social injusticeRacial discrimination and school desegregation
The Story of Ruby Bridges
1995 Children's non-fictionA children's book recounting the experience of six-year-old Ruby Bridges integrating a New Orleans public school. A popular retelling based on Coles's earlier reportage.
School desegregationCourage and fearChildren's perspective
Bibliography
- A Study in Courage and Fear
- Dead End School
- Children of Crisis
- The Mind's Fate
- The Story of Ruby Bridges
- Bruce Springsteen's America
- The Moral Life of Children
- The Spiritual Life of Children
- Doing Documentary Work
- The Call of Service
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Descriptive reportage blending observational record with clinical interpretationDocumentary techniques relying heavily on quoted conversationsA mix of poetic insight and scholarly analysis
- Recurring Motifs
- Children's perspectiveDevelopment of morality and conscienceDocumenting poverty and social injustice
Legacy
Through decades of observation and writing on children's moral and social development, Coles has had a significant impact on American social science and literary nonfiction. His Children of Crisis series won the Pulitzer Prize and is widely cited in discussions of education, medicine, and public ethics. His long teaching career at Harvard influenced generations of students.
Academic Societies
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- National Academy of Medicine
Archives
- Inventory of the Robert Coles Papers, Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill
In Popular Culture
- The Story of Ruby Bridges is widely read as a children's book and referenced as an emblematic story of civil rights and school desegregation
Quotes
-
“to blend poetic insight with a craft and unite ultimately the rational and the intuitive, the aloof stance of the scholar with the passion and affection of the friend who cares and is moved.”
Source: The Mind's Fate (1975) (1975)
Trivia
- Authored more than eighty books and over 1,300 articles
- Co-founded the magazine DoubleTake, which won a National Magazine Award in 1998
- His support of Ruby Bridges in New Orleans was a catalyst for the Children of Crisis series