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Stanley M. Elkins

スタンリー・M・エルキンス

Stanley M. Elkins

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1925-04-27 （Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.）
Died
2013-09-16 （Leeds, Massachusetts, U.S.） age 88
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism

Career

Occupations
Historian, University Professor
Active Years
1950-2013
Affiliations
Smith College, University of Chicago, Institute for Advanced Study (visitor)
Influenced By
Richard Hofstadter, Bruno Bettelheim (referenced research)
Influenced
Historians of slavery and race in America, Eric McKitrick (collaborator)

Education

Harvard University
Department of History
Degree: A.B.
Period: 1945-1949
Year of Graduation: 1949
Country: United States
Attended on the GI Bill
Columbia University (Graduate School)
Department of History
Degree: M.A., Ph.D.
Period: 1949-1958
Year of Graduation: 1958
Country: United States
Studied under Richard Hofstadter

Awards

Bancroft Prize
1994
Work: The Age of Federalism
Organization: Columbia University / Bancroft Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
1970
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: フェロー
Rockefeller Foundation Fellow/Grant
1954
Organization: Rockefeller Foundation
Result: フェロー/助成
National Endowment for the Humanities Grant
1967
Organization: National Endowment for the Humanities
Result: 助成
Order of Cincinnatus Prize
1995
Organization: Order of Cincinnatus
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life

1959 Scholarly history 336 pages

Based on Elkins's doctoral dissertation, this study analyzes slavery in North America from institutional and intellectual perspectives. It argues that the structure of slavery produced long-term effects on black social and cultural identity and controversially compares aspects of antebellum slavery to conditions observed in Nazi concentration camps.

SlaveryInstitutional historyRace relationsAssessment of abolitionism

The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788–1800

1993 Political history / Early American history 712 pages

Co-authored with Eric McKitrick, this book provides a detailed analysis of the Federalist era, the key figures and parties, and the administrations of George Washington and John Adams, reconstructing the political culture of the early American republic.

FederalismEarly republicPolitical leadership

Bibliography

  • Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life (1959, 1963, 1976 editions)
  • Stanley M. Elkins; Eric L. McKitrick (eds.) The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788–1800 (1993)
  • Various scholarly articles (1950s–1960s)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Scholarly and analyticalComparative historical approach
Recurring Motifs
Dynamics of institutionsInteraction of race and social structureRole and limits of the abolitionist movement

Legacy

Elkins introduced provocative perspectives on the study of slavery that influenced American historiography from the 1960s onward. However, his comparisons to Nazi concentration camps and certain characterizations drew substantial criticism, making his work the subject of long-standing debate in the field.

Museums

  • Smith College Archives (holds related materials) Northampton, Massachusetts (Smith College)

Academic Societies

  • American Historical Association

Archives

  • Held in Smith College faculty archives

Trivia

  • Served in the U.S. Army during World War II (enlisted 1943).
  • Educated at Harvard University (A.B. 1949) and Columbia University (M.A. 1951, Ph.D. 1958).
  • Co-authored The Age of Federalism with Eric McKitrick and won the Bancroft Prize in 1994.
  • Slavery was influential on publication but later drew strong criticism for certain comparisons and characterizations.