Scott Sandage
Encyclopedia
Scott A. Sandage is a cultural historian
at Carnegie Mellon University
. He is best known as the author of Born Losers: A History of Failure in America, which was selected as an "Editor's Choice" book by Atlantic Monthly, and was awarded the 34th Annual Thomas J. Wilson Prize, for the best "first book" accepted by Harvard University Press
. He was recently named as one of America's Top Young Historians by the History News Network
.
Sandage was born in 1964 in Mason City, Iowa
. He graduated from the University of Iowa
(B.A., 1985) and from Rutgers University
(M.A., 1992; Ph.D., 1995) in New Brunswick, New Jersey
He has been a consultant to the Smithsonian Institution
, the National Archives
, the National Park Service
, an off-Broadway play, and film and radio documentaries. He is on the board of directors for the Abraham Lincoln Institute
and he's an expert on the Lincoln Memorial
.
His commentaries have appeared in The New York Times
, The Washington Post
, The Industry Standard
, Fast Company
magazine, and other periodicals. He contributed an essay on "loserdom" to the 2004 Whitney Biennial
exhibition catalog.
In 2010, his work-in-progress book project was entitled Half-Breed Creek: A Tall Tale of Race on the Frontier, 1804–1941 which is a study of mixed race identity in Nebraska
.
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
at Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
. He is best known as the author of Born Losers: A History of Failure in America, which was selected as an "Editor's Choice" book by Atlantic Monthly, and was awarded the 34th Annual Thomas J. Wilson Prize, for the best "first book" accepted by Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
. He was recently named as one of America's Top Young Historians by the History News Network
History News Network
History News Network is a project of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Although the HNN resides on GMU's server, it operates independently of the university as a non-profit corporation registered in Washington State...
.
Sandage was born in 1964 in Mason City, Iowa
Mason City, Iowa
Mason City is the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 28,079 in the 2010 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Gordo and Worth counties....
. He graduated from the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
(B.A., 1985) and from Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
(M.A., 1992; Ph.D., 1995) in New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
He has been a consultant to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, the National Archives
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
, the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, an off-Broadway play, and film and radio documentaries. He is on the board of directors for the Abraham Lincoln Institute
Abraham Lincoln Institute
The Abraham Lincoln Institute , founded in 1997, is a non-profit organization promoting scholarly research on the subject of Abraham Lincoln. The institute utilizes dissertation prizes, book awards, and an annual Lincoln symposium to encourage research and scholarship on the life and legacy of...
and he's an expert on the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
.
His commentaries have appeared in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, The Industry Standard
The Industry Standard
The Industry Standard is a news web site dedicated to technology business news, part of InfoWorld, a news web site covering technology in general...
, Fast Company
Fast Company (magazine)
Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...
magazine, and other periodicals. He contributed an essay on "loserdom" to the 2004 Whitney Biennial
Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennale exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932, the first biennial was in 1973...
exhibition catalog.
In 2010, his work-in-progress book project was entitled Half-Breed Creek: A Tall Tale of Race on the Frontier, 1804–1941 which is a study of mixed race identity in Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
.
Books
- Sandage, Scott A. Born Losers: A History of Failure in America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, 2005. ISBN 0-674-01510-X, ISBN 0-674-02107-X - Sandage, Scott A. (editor) Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, abridgement with annotations and introduction (New York: HarperPerennial, 2007).
Articles
- "The Gilded Age", in A Companion to American Cultural History, ed. Halttunen (London: Blackwell, 2008).
- "The L on Your Forehead", thematic essay about art and failure, Catalog of the 2004 Biennial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2004), 94-101.
- James Longhurst and Scott Sandage, "Appropriate Technology and Journal Writing: Structured Dialogues that Enhance Learning", College Teaching 45 (Spring 2004): 1-6.
- "Gender and the Economics of the Sentimental Market in Nineteenth-Century America", Social Politics vol. 6, no. 2 (Summer 1999), 105-130.
- "The Gaze of Success: Failed Men and the Sentimental Marketplace, 1873-1893", in Sentimental Men: Masculinity and the Politics of Affect in American Culture, ed. Chapman and Hendler (University of California Press, 1999).
- "A Marble House Divided: The Lincoln Memorial, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Politics of Memory, 1939-1963", Journal of American History, vol. 80, no. 1 (June 1993), pp. 135–167; reprinted in Race and the Production of Modern American Nationalism, ed. Scott-Childress, (Garland Press, 1998), 273-311; and Charles Payne and Adam Green, eds., Time Longer than Rope: A Century of African-American Activism (NYU Press, 2003), 492-535.
- “Sorting the War Dead into Winners and Losers”, History News Network, 11 September 2006.
- “Dead End for the Freedom Trail” (2002), National Coalition to Save Our Mall, Washington, D.C.
- “Old Rags, Some Grand”, Cabinet Magazine (Summer 2002): 88-89.
- "'Help' Wanted: Begging Letters to John D. Rockefeller", Research Reports from the Rockefeller Archive Center (Spring 2000)
- “Why One Gay Professor Would Leave Pennsylvania”, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, OpEd Section, 21 November, reprinted in Philadelphia Gay News 3–9 December 1999, pp. 10, 12.
- "Marian Anderson" and "Abraham Lincoln", in The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, ed. Andrews (Oxford, 1997); both selected for inclusion in The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature (Oxford, 2001).
- “From Puritan to Yankee Doodle Dandy”, review essay on Richard L. Bushman, The Refinement of America, American Quarterly, vol. 46, no. 4 (December 1994), 605-611.
External links
- Born Losers book website
- Scott Sandage faculty profile page - Department of History, Carnegie Mellon University