Robert S. McElvaine
Encyclopedia
Robert S. McElvaine is Elizabeth Chisholm Professor of Arts and Letters and Chair of the Department of History at Millsaps College
in Jackson, Mississippi
, where he has taught for thirty-five years. He is the author
of seven books and the editor of three.
He is considered one of the world's leading historians of the Great Depression
. His first two books on the Depression era have become standards in the field. The Great Depression: America, 1929–1941, which came out in a new edition in 1993 and again in 2009, has been called "the best one-volume overview of the Great Depression." Two of his books have been named among the "Notable Books of the Year" by the New York Times Book Review, and three have been listed among the Editor's Choice "Bear in Mind" books in that publication.
McElvaine's articles and opinion pieces appear frequently in such publications as the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times
, Wall Street Journal, New York Times Book Review, Newsweek
and The Nation. More than 100 of his articles have been published, some 60 of them in major national publications. He has been a guest on approximately 75 television and radio programs, including NBC's Today, ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, NBC Nightly News
, National Public Radio's All Things Considered
and Morning Edition
, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, BBC
television and radio, and the Studs Terkel Show. McElvaine is a contributing blog
ger at The Huffington Post
.
Professor McElvaine has served as historical consultant for several television programs, including the seven-episode PBS series The Great Depression. He has received many awards for his teaching, including a silver medal in the national Professor of the Year program of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and being named Millsaps College's Distinguished Professor in 2001 and won the Carnegie Endowment Professor of the Year Award in Mississippi in 2002.
McElvaine has read widely in fields including anthropology
, human evolution
, ancient history
, and women's history, in order to offer a reinterpretation of the significance of sex in the unfolding of human history. For the past decade he has taught a course at Millsaps College titled "Sex, Religion, and Prehistory." He has lectured in the United States, Europe, Africa, and Australia on his ideas about the central influence on human history of various misconceptions and metaphors about sex that form the basis of Eve's Seed. The book has been favorably received by both general readers and academics. His ideas were also featured in a feature article in the Arts & Ideas section of the New York Times.
McElvaine’s latest book, Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America (Crown
, 2008) is described by the publisher as "a passionate and often hilarious wake-up call to Christians to reject the 'Right Reverends' who have stolen Jesus from Christianity and replaced His true message with 'ChristianityLite,' an easy, feel-good scheme that promises salvation without sacrifice."
In 2007, he wrote an extensive analysis of the economic conditions in comparison with those of the 1920s, "If (Economic) History Doesn't Repeat Itself, Does It Rhyme?" in which he predicted a coming collapse similar to what had happened in 1929. In 2009, Three Rivers (Crown) published a 25th anniversary edition of The Great Depression: America, 1929–1941 with a comprehensive new introduction comparing the economic collapse of 2008 with that of 1929.
Millsaps College
Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college located in Jackson, Mississippi. Founded in 1890, the college is recognized as one of the country's best private colleges dedicated to undergraduate teaching and educating the whole individual. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Millsaps...
in Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
, where he has taught for thirty-five years. He is the author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of seven books and the editor of three.
He is considered one of the world's leading historians of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. His first two books on the Depression era have become standards in the field. The Great Depression: America, 1929–1941, which came out in a new edition in 1993 and again in 2009, has been called "the best one-volume overview of the Great Depression." Two of his books have been named among the "Notable Books of the Year" by the New York Times Book Review, and three have been listed among the Editor's Choice "Bear in Mind" books in that publication.
McElvaine's articles and opinion pieces appear frequently in such publications as the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Wall Street Journal, New York Times Book Review, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
and The Nation. More than 100 of his articles have been published, some 60 of them in major national publications. He has been a guest on approximately 75 television and radio programs, including NBC's Today, ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
, National Public Radio's All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
and Morning Edition
Morning Edition
Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television and radio, and the Studs Terkel Show. McElvaine is a contributing blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger at The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
.
Professor McElvaine has served as historical consultant for several television programs, including the seven-episode PBS series The Great Depression. He has received many awards for his teaching, including a silver medal in the national Professor of the Year program of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and being named Millsaps College's Distinguished Professor in 2001 and won the Carnegie Endowment Professor of the Year Award in Mississippi in 2002.
McElvaine has read widely in fields including anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, human evolution
Human evolution
Human evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
, ancient history
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
, and women's history, in order to offer a reinterpretation of the significance of sex in the unfolding of human history. For the past decade he has taught a course at Millsaps College titled "Sex, Religion, and Prehistory." He has lectured in the United States, Europe, Africa, and Australia on his ideas about the central influence on human history of various misconceptions and metaphors about sex that form the basis of Eve's Seed. The book has been favorably received by both general readers and academics. His ideas were also featured in a feature article in the Arts & Ideas section of the New York Times.
McElvaine’s latest book, Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America (Crown
Crown Publishing Group
-External links:*...
, 2008) is described by the publisher as "a passionate and often hilarious wake-up call to Christians to reject the 'Right Reverends' who have stolen Jesus from Christianity and replaced His true message with 'ChristianityLite,' an easy, feel-good scheme that promises salvation without sacrifice."
In 2007, he wrote an extensive analysis of the economic conditions in comparison with those of the 1920s, "If (Economic) History Doesn't Repeat Itself, Does It Rhyme?" in which he predicted a coming collapse similar to what had happened in 1929. In 2009, Three Rivers (Crown) published a 25th anniversary edition of The Great Depression: America, 1929–1941 with a comprehensive new introduction comparing the economic collapse of 2008 with that of 1929.
Books
- Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the "Forgotten Man" (1983, 2008)
- The Great Depression: America, 1929–1941 (1984, 1993, 2009)
- The End of the Conservative Era: Liberalism After Reagan (1987)
- Mario Cuomo: A Biography (1988)
- What's Left?: A New Democratic Vision for America (1996)
- The Great Depression: A History in Documents (2000)
- Eve's Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of HistoryEve's Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of HistoryEve's Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of History is a 2001 book by noted American historian and writer Robert S. McElvaine that introduced the new field of "biohistory" and presents a major reinterpretation of the human experience. This "provocative study" is history on the grandest scale...
(2001) - Franklin Delano Roosevelt (2002)
- The Encyclopedia of the Great Depression (2004)
- Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America (2008)