Kenneth M. Stampp, 1912-2009

This morning's New York Timesbrings the sad news that Kenneth M. Stampp, a towering figure in American history, has passed away.  Stampp was best known for his 1956 book The Peculiar Institution.  Though published more than fifty years ago, the book still sparkles--I return to it frequently for guidance about how to talk about slavery.  Though the first book that I read by Stampp was his 1990 book, America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink.  That book first opened me to the idea that limited time periods -- like a year in that case, or even a day -- might be really good ways of organizing our thoughts about history.  Stampp also wrote an important early study of Thomas Dew, a person who looms large in my current work.

This has been a hard year for historians--with David Donald and Ernest May passing away.

Comments

[anon]

John Hope Franklin, as well.

[Alfred Brophy]

Of course, John Hope Franklin. How could I have forgotten?
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2009/03/john-hope-franklin-19152009.html

I was just at his memorial service:
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2009/06/stranger-in-a-strange-land.html

This is, indeed, a tough year for historians.