Charlotte J. Erickson (October 22, 1923 in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated ...

– July 9, 2008 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

) was an American historian."Professor Charlotte Erickson: Meticulous historian of migration"
''The Independent'', Negley Harte, July 16, 2008

Life

Erickson was born in

a suburb of Chicago, where her father was a Swedish Lutheran minister. She graduated from Augustana College at Rock Island, Illinois in 1945, and from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

with a MA and a PhD. In 1944, when she attended the summer seminar of the Institute of World Affairs. She studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

, between 1948 and 1950, under the guidance of Professor T.S. Ashton and under Professor

David Glass David Glass may refer to: *David Glass (businessman) (1935–2020), American executive *David Glass (Canadian politician) (1829–1906), Canadian lawyer and political figure * David Glass (Israeli politician) (1936–2014), Israeli politician *Davi ...

. In 1950 to 1952, she taught at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

. She returned to England in 1952 to marry Louis Watt; they had two sons, Tom and David; but their marriage was dissolved in 1992. In 1976–78, she was Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. In 1982, she was the Paul Mellon chair of American History at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. From 1983 to 1986 she was chair of the British Association for American Studies.

Awards

* 1966–67

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

in Washington D.C. * 1990 MacArthur Fellows Program

Works

* ''American Industry and the European Immigrant, 1860-5'', Harvard University Press, 1957 *''British industrialists: steel and hosiery, 1850-1950'' University Press, 1960 * ''Invisible Immigrants: the adaptation of English and Scottish immigrants in 19th-century America'' London School of Economics and Political Science; Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972, *''Leaving England: essays on British emigration in the nineteenth century'', Cornell University Press, 1994,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erickson, Charlotte 1923 births 2008 deaths Writers from Oak Park, Illinois American expatriates in England MacArthur Fellows Augustana University alumni Cornell University alumni Vassar College faculty California Institute of Technology faculty Academics of the London School of Economics 20th-century American historians American people of Swedish descent Paul Mellon Professors of American History American women historians 20th-century American women writers Historians from Illinois 21st-century American women