Rowland Berthoff
Encyclopedia
Rowland Tappan Berthoff was an American historian
, working in the fields of immigration and social life in the USA. He is best known for his 1971 book An Unsettled People: Order and Disorder in American Life.
He was born in Toledo, Ohio
, attended Oberlin College
, did graduate work at Harvard University
where he received a doctorate in 1952, as a student of Oscar Handlin
. Berthoff was an Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University
from 1953, and then a Professor of History at Washington University in St. Louis
, from 1962. He was made chairman of Washington University's history department and named William Elliott Smith Professor of History in 1971.
He promoted social history
and ethnic history
. His 1960 article on "The American Social Order: A Conservative Hypothesis," called for a conservative interpretation of American history.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, working in the fields of immigration and social life in the USA. He is best known for his 1971 book An Unsettled People: Order and Disorder in American Life.
He was born in Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, attended Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, did graduate work at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
where he received a doctorate in 1952, as a student of Oscar Handlin
Oscar Handlin
Oscar Handlin was an American historian. As a professor of history at Harvard University for over 50 years, he directed 80 PhD dissertations and helped promote social and ethnic history...
. Berthoff was an Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
from 1953, and then a Professor of History at Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
, from 1962. He was made chairman of Washington University's history department and named William Elliott Smith Professor of History in 1971.
He promoted social history
Social history
Social history, often called the new social history, is a branch of History that includes history of ordinary people and their strategies of coping with life. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments...
and ethnic history
Ethnic history
Ethnic history is a branch of social history that studies ethnic groups and immigrants. Barkan argues that the field allows historians to use alternate models of interpretation, unite qualitative and quantitative data, apply sociological models to historical patterns, examine more deeply...
. His 1960 article on "The American Social Order: A Conservative Hypothesis," called for a conservative interpretation of American history.
Further reading
- Berthoff, Rowland. "The American Social Order: A Conservative Hypothesis," American Historical Review, April 1960, Vol. 65 Issue 3, pp 495-514 in JSTOR