Henry Steele Commager
Henry Steele Commager was a prominent American historian recognized for his significant contributions to the understanding of U.S. history in the twentieth century. Born in 1902 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was raised in Toledo and Chicago before pursuing higher education at the University of Chicago, where he earned multiple degrees in history. Commager's academic career was distinguished by his ability to communicate complex historical topics in an accessible manner, making his works popular among both scholars and the general public. He co-authored the influential book *The Growth of the American Republic* in 1931 and published numerous articles in major periodicals, providing historical insights on contemporary issues.
His notable publications include *The American Mind*, which explores the evolution of American thought and character, and *Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent*, advocating for the right to dissent in society. Commager taught at various prestigious institutions, including New York University and Amherst College, and participated in academic exchanges in Europe. His extensive body of work and engagement in public discourse earned him recognition, culminating in the Gold Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1972. Commager passed away in 1998 at the age of ninety-five, leaving a lasting legacy in American historical scholarship.
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Henry Steele Commager
Historian
- Born: October 25, 1902
- Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Died: March 2, 1998
- Place of death: Amherst, Massachusetts
Biography
Henry Steele Commager was one of the most significant American historians of the twentieth century, writing numerous books for both adults and children that examined the history of the United States. Commager was born in 1902 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to James Williams Commager and Anne Elizabeth Dan Commager. As a youth, his family moved to Toledo, Ohio, before settling in Chicago. Commager attended the University of Chicago, earning his Ph.B., A.M., and Ph.D. in history there. He spent a year in Denmark working on his dissertation; he was interested in Danish history and continued to study this subject throughout his life.
Commager had a remarkable ability to present his academic knowledge in a style that was understandable to the general public. Some of his writing was done collaboratively; in 1931, for example, he and noted historian Samuel Eliot Morison published The Growth of the American Republic. At the time of its publication, the book was acknowledged as the most influential survey of American history. In addition to writing books, Commager contributed book reviews to the New York Herald Tribune and wrote for such major periodicals as Saturday Review, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, The Nation, Harper’s Magazine, and The New York Times Magazine. He wrote more than seven hundred articles, many of which provided an historical context for contemporary issues.
Among his books, Commager wrote a biography of a Unitarian minister, Theodore Parker (1936). He also published Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent (1954) and Freedom and Order: A Commentary on the American Political Scene (1966), in which he supported the right to dissent. The American Mind: An Interpretation of American Thought and Character Since the 1880’s (1950) was an intellectual history of American cultural transformation and the growth of pragmatism from the late-nineteenth century through the early-twentieth century. In this book, he maintained hat America’s national character was not exacting and stereotypical, but intractable and flexible.
During his career, Commager taught history and lectured at many universities in the United States and Europe, including New York University, Columbia University, and Amherst College. He also held positions at Cambridge and Oxford Universities. He wrote, edited, and consulted on hundreds of texts and papers. In 1972, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He died in 1998 at the age of ninety-five.