David Henry Burton was an American historian and professor of history at

St. Joseph’s University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh olde ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Life and education

Burton was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

combat veteran in the Army's 334th Infantry and was awarded both the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

and the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

. After the war, he earned a degree in history from University of Scranton, before earning both an MA and a PhD in history from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. He joined the faculty of St. Joseph's University in 1953 where he taught for over 50 years and chaired the history department for 24 years.

Career and legacy

A historian of American presidents and the Progressive Era, Burton wrote over 17 books, including biographies of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist and legal scholar who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932.Holmes was Acting Chief Justice of the Un ...

and

Clara Barton Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very ...

. In his work, he argued for a cross-cultural approach to the study of American history, often contextualizing notable historical figures in American history via their contemporaries. During his career, Burton was awarded fellowships by the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

and the Earhart Foundation and was also a Winston Churchill Traveling Fellow of the English-Speaking Union. His edited volume, ''American history--British historians: a cross-cultural approach to the American experience'', was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1976, and his book, ''The Learned presidency: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson'', was named one of the outstanding academic books of 1988 by a division of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

. St. Joseph's University established the David H. Burton Postdoctoral Fellowship in recognition of his contribution to the History department over his 50 years as a professor there. David Burton is the father of the noted historian of British history and empire,

Antoinette Burton Antoinette M. Burton is an American historian, and Professor of History and Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Along with Catherine Hall, Mrinalini Sinha, and Tony Ballantyne h ...

Selected books

* 1968. ''Theodore Roosevelt: Confident Imperialist'', University of Pennsylvania Press * 1972. ''Theodore Roosevelt''. New York: Twayne Publishers. * 1973. ''Theodore Roosevelt and his English correspondents: a special relationship of friends''. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. * 1977. ''Saint Joseph's College: a family portrait, 1851-1976''. Philadelphia: Saint Joseph's College Press.(With Frank Gerrity). * 1978. ''American history--British historians: a cross-cultural approach to the American experience''. Chicago: Nelson-Hall. * 1979. ''Oliver Wendell Holmes, what manner of liberal?'' Huntington, N.Y.: R. E. Krieger Pub. Co * 1986. ''William Howard Taft, in the public service''. Malabar, Fla: R.E. Krieger Pub. Co. * 1989. ''The Learned presidency: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson''. Rutherford tc Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. * 1990. ''An Anglo-American Plutarch''. Lanham, Md: University Press of America. * 1995. ''Clara Barton: in the service of humanity''. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. * 1997. ''Theodore Roosevelt, American politician: an assessment''. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. * 2007. ''Animating history: the biographical pulse''. Philadelphia, Pa: Saint Joseph's University Press.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, David H. Year of birth missing 2016 deaths People from Oil City, Pennsylvania University of Scranton alumni Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences alumni Historians of the United States United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers Saint Joseph's University faculty