Bernard Bellush (November 15, 1917 – December 20, 2011) was an American historian and journalist. He taught at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

Biography

Bellush was born in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on November 15, 1917. He graduated from

CCNY The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, City ...

in 1941. He entered

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1941 for graduate training in history. He completed a master's degree with a thesis on

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate of the Soc ...

, and two days after submission in November 1942 he was inducted into the United States Army. During the war he served with the 616th Ordnance Ammunition Company, and as part of the 5th

Engineer Special Brigade Engineer Special Brigades were amphibious forces of the United States Army developed during World War II. Initially designated engineer amphibian brigades, they were redesignated engineer special brigades in 1943. The 1st, 5th, and 6th Engine ...

he landed on

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

, June 6, 1944. Returning to the United States and demobilized after the war, he attended Columbia University's doctoral program in history and received his Ph.D. in 1951 under the direction of

Allan Nevins Joseph Allan Nevins (May 20, 1890 – March 5, 1971) was an American historian and journalist, known for his extensive work on the history of the Civil War and his biographies of such figures as Grover Cleveland, Hamilton Fish, Henry Ford, and J ...

. He subsequently taught at his alma mater, the City College of New York, for the remainder of his academic career.

Scholarly impact

Bellush's work is remembered through several memorial awards. The City College of New York History Department awards undergraduates the Bellush Service Award to a student for social service as well as scholarship. In commemoration of Bellush's influence on the field of labor history, the New York Labor History Association established the Bernard Bellush Prize in his honor to be given for a student research paper in the field of labor and work history.http://newyorklaborhistory.org/

Bibliography

*''Franklin D. Roosevelt as Governor of New York'' (1955) *''He Walked Alone: A Biography of John G. Winant'' (1968) *''The Failure of the N.R.A.'' (1975) *''Union Power and New York: Victor Gotbaum and District Council 37'' (with Jewel Bellush) (1984)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellush, Bernard 1917 births 2011 deaths City College of New York alumni City College of New York faculty Columbia University alumni Historians of the United States