George Wilson Pierson
Encyclopedia
George Wilson Pierson was an American
academic, historian, author and Larned Professor of History at Yale University. He was the first official historian of the university.
In 1936, he brought a new bride to New Haven. In the early 1960s, he and his wife celebrated the marriage of two daughters, Laetitia and Nora. According to a granddaughter, he was a man "with glittering eyes and a sly sense of humor."
in the United States. It won the distinguished John Addison Porter
Prize from the university for best work of scholarship that year.
As an Assistant Professor in the Department of History in 1938, Pierson translated and quoted from several of the letters in a book he wrote about Tocqueville in America; but he viewed them as primary source documents rather than as an epistolary accomplishment. The value of this early scholarship assumed greater importance as general public interest in Tocqueville's writing has evolved.
Pierson was named to an endowed professorship in 1946. He remained active in teaching and as an administrator until his retirement in 1973.
Pierson had climbed the academic ladder to become the chairman of the History Department in the late-1950s and early-1960s.
Among his achievements was recruiting noted historians Arthur F. Wright
and Mary C. Wright to teach Chinese history and John Whitney Hall
to teach Japanese history.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
academic, historian, author and Larned Professor of History at Yale University. He was the first official historian of the university.
Family life
Pierson was a descendant of Yale's first rector; and he was related to the college's first student. He was the son of Charles Wheeler Pierson, a New York lawyer who had been valedictorian of the Class of 1886. Like his father, Pierson was at the top of his undergraduate class in 1926.In 1936, he brought a new bride to New Haven. In the early 1960s, he and his wife celebrated the marriage of two daughters, Laetitia and Nora. According to a granddaughter, he was a man "with glittering eyes and a sly sense of humor."
Education
Pierson earned a B.A. at Yale in 1926; and he was awarded a Ph.D. in history from Yale in 1933. His dissertation was "Two Frenchmen in America, 1831-1832," a study of the experiences of Alexis de Toqueville and Gustave de BeaumontGustave de Beaumont
Gustave de Beaumont was a French magistrate, prison reformer, and travel companion to the famed philosopher and politician Alexis de Tocqueville...
in the United States. It won the distinguished John Addison Porter
John Addison Porter
John Addison Porter was an American Professor of Chemistry. He was born in Catskill, New York and died in New Haven, Connecticut...
Prize from the university for best work of scholarship that year.
Career
Pierson's entire academic career unfolded at Yale, beginning in 1926.As an Assistant Professor in the Department of History in 1938, Pierson translated and quoted from several of the letters in a book he wrote about Tocqueville in America; but he viewed them as primary source documents rather than as an epistolary accomplishment. The value of this early scholarship assumed greater importance as general public interest in Tocqueville's writing has evolved.
Pierson was named to an endowed professorship in 1946. He remained active in teaching and as an administrator until his retirement in 1973.
Pierson had climbed the academic ladder to become the chairman of the History Department in the late-1950s and early-1960s.
Among his achievements was recruiting noted historians Arthur F. Wright
Arthur F. Wright
Arthur Frederick Wright was an American academic, sinologist, editor and professor of history at Yale University. He specialized in Chinese social and intellectual history of the pre-modern period.- Early life:...
and Mary C. Wright to teach Chinese history and John Whitney Hall
John Whitney Hall
John Whitney Hall , the Tokyo-born son of missionaries in Japan, grew up to become a pioneer in the field of Japanese studies and one of the most respected historians of Japan of his generation. His life work was recognized by the Japanese government...
to teach Japanese history.
Selected works
Pierson's published writings encompass 38 works in 53 publications in 2 languages and 3,904 library holdings.- Tocqueville and Beaumont in America (1938)
- The Frontier and Frontiersmen of Turner's Essays: a Scrutiny of the Foundations of the Middle Western Tradition (1940)
- American Historians and the Frontier Hypothesis in 1941 (1942)
- Yale: College and University : 1871-1937. (1952)
- The M-factor in American History (1962)
- Tocqueville in America (1969)
- The Education of American Leaders; Comparative Contributions of U.S. Colleges and Universities (1969)
- The moving American (1973)
- Lettres d'Amérique by Gustave de Beaumont, edited by George Pierson. (1973)
- Yale: a Short History (1976)
- Tocqueville's Visions of Democracy (1976)
- Yale Book of Numbers: Historical Statistics of the College, , 1701-1976 (1983)
- The Founding of Yale : the Legend of the Forty Folios (1988)
Further reading
- Friend, Tad. (2009). Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, And the Last Days of Wasp Splendor. New York: Little, Brown and Co. 13-ISBN 9780316003179/10-ISBN 0316003174; 13-ISBN 9780316003186/10-ISBN 0316003182; OCLC 310097122