Edward Channing

Edward Channing (June 15, 1856 in Dorchester, Mass. - January 7, 1931 in Cambridge [check], Mass.) was an American historian and an author of a monumental History of the United States in six volumes, for which he won the Pulitzer prize in 1926. His thorough research in printed sources and judicious judgments made the book a standard reference for scholars. Channing taught at Harvard 1883-1929.

Life and works

Edward Channing was the fifth child of Ellen Kilshaw Fuller (1820-56), a sister of Margaret Fuller, and William Ellery Channing (1818-1901), the friend and walking companion of Henry David Thoreau. Some months after his birth, his mother died, and his father obviously did not care much about his children. (A fact that had some meaning for Channings 'neglect' of literature and culture in his national history.)

The first years of his life, Channing lived with a shoemaker and his wife in Abington, Mass. Some time around 1860, his paternal grandfather William Channing and his daughter took care of him. Till 1876, they lived at different places in Boston. Yound Edward Channing visited a private school and entered Harvard University in autumn 1874. He finished his studies in history with a magna cum laude. In 1880, his grandfather died, who left him with an inheritance of $300. After his Ph.D. exmanination, Channing applied without success for a teaching position at Harvard University. This, and his grandfather's inheritance, enabled him to start on a nine-months tour through Europe, which led him also to the Near East and North Africa. After he returned, he wrote geographical articles for Science, for example about the Sudan and geography-instruction at German schools. In 1883, he became an instructor of history at Harvard University and an assistent for professor Torrey. In the same year, he received a prize and a sum to the amount of $150 for his work "Town and County Government in the English Colonies of North America". This work also brought him the membership in the Massachusetts Historical Society and was the basis of the first paper given at the first meeting of the American Historical Association in 1884 in Saratoga, N.Y.

On July 22, 1886, he married the sister-in-law of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Alice Thacher. On May 12, 1888, their daughter Alice was born, and on January 9, 1892, their second daughter Elizabeth Torrey.

In 1887 Edward Channing became assistant professor, in 1897 professor, and in 1912 McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History (one of the oldest professorships for secular history in the United States, once held by Jared Sparks). In January 1929, Channing asked the President and Fellows of Harvard University for a release from his teaching duties, which was granted on August 31. He died early in 1931 because of a cerebral haemorrhage.

In 1919, he was elected for president of the AHA, and in 1926 he became a member of the American Academy. In 1921 and 1926 respectively, he received honorary doctorates by the Michigan University and the Columbia University.