David Hamilton Golland (born 1971) is an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

of the 20th-century United States at

Governors State University Governors State University (Governors State or GOVST) is a public university in University Park, Illinois. The campus is located south of Chicago, Illinois. GSU was founded in 1969. It is a public university offering degree programs at the und ...

with a focus on the history of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, and

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Early life and education

Golland was born in 1971 in

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 ...

and raised on

Union Square Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The son of a psychologist and professor of early childhood education, he was raised in a

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

household. He attended public schools in Manhattan, including

LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia, is a public high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Center in the Lincoln Square n ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

and was stationed at

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri Fort Leonard Wood is a U.S. Army training installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of The City of St. Robert. The post was created in December 1940 and named in honor of General Leonard Woo ...

and in Germany at Artillery Kaserne,

Neckarsulm Neckarsulm () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, near Heilbronn, and part of the district of Heilbronn. , Neckarsulm had 26,800 inhabitants. The name Neckarsulm derives from the city's location where the Neckar and Sulm rivers ...

. Golland received a BA in comparative American and European history at

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the college operates und ...

, where he worked with

Cynthia Whittaker Cynthia Hyla Whittaker (born 1942) is an American academic and author. As a historian, she specializes in the history of Eastern Europe, especially the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. She built her career while teaching courses in the sub ...

Carol Berkin Carol Ruth Berkin (born October 1, 1942) is an American historian and author specializing in women's role in American colonial history. Biography She was born in Mobile, Alabama. She is divorced with two children. She graduated from Barnard C ...

Catherine Clinton Catherine Clinton is the Denman Professor of American History at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She specializes in American History, with an emphasis on the history of the South, the American Civil War, American women, and African Americ ...

Wendell Pritchett Wendell Eric Pritchett is an American lawyer, legal scholar, professor, and university administrator. He is currently the James S. Riepe Presidential Professor of Law and Education at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Since February 202 ...

, Jane Clement Bond, and Myrna Chase. He took his MA in American history at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, studying with Michael Holt, Ed Ayers, and

Gary Gallagher Gary William Gallagher is an American historian specializing in the history of the American Civil War. Gallagher is currently the John L. Nau, John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia. He ...

. He completed his

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

and

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in United States history (with a minor field in Latin American history) at the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the Ci ...

, working with

Clarence Taylor Clarence Taylor is professor emeritus of History at Baruch College in New York City and author of books on racism, religion, and civil rights in 20th-century America. Background Clarence Taylor was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended t ...

Joshua Freeman Joshua B. Freeman (born 1949) is an author and professor of history at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY) and the CUNY Graduate Center.Laird Bergad Laird W. Bergad is an American historian of Latin America and the Caribbean, currently a Distinguished Professor and founding Director of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of ...

, and Martin Burke.

Academic career

Golland's first book, ''Constructing Affirmative Action: The Struggle for Equal Employment Opportunity'', was published by the University Press of Kentucky in 2011. Based on his doctoral dissertation, the book focused on the origins of affirmative action in the building construction trades. Positively reviewed in the ''

American Historical Review ''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal and the official publication of the American Historical Association. It targets readers interested in all periods and facets of history and has often been described as the ...

'' and ''

Journal of American History ''The Journal of American History'' is the official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', the official jo ...

'', among others, it was the subject of a panel discussion at the 40th Annual Conference of the National Association for Ethnic Studies in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2012. Discussants included

and David Colman. Golland's second book, ''A Terrible Thing to Waste: Arthur Fletcher and the Conundrum of the Black Republican'', was published in 2019 by the University Press of Kansas. This biography of "the most important civil rights leader you've (probably) never heard of" tells how, in the second half of the 20th century, the Republican Party gradually abandoned the civil rights principles it had long espoused. Positively reviewed in the ''

'' and ''

Journal of Southern History The Southern Historical Association is a professional academic organization of historians focusing on the history of the Southern United States. It was organized on November 2, 1934. Its objectives are the promotion of interest and research in Sout ...

'', among others, it was the 2020 iRead (freshman common read) at Washburn University. In addition to his books, Golland has published essays in ''California History'', ''Critical Issues in Justice and Politics'', the ''Claremont Journal of Religion'', ''Estudios Interdisciplinarios de America Latina y el Caribe'', and ''Perspectives on History'', and reviews in the ''

'', ''

'', ''Journal of American Ethnic History'',

H-Net __NOTOC__ H-Net ("Humanities & Social Sciences Online") is an interdisciplinary forum for scholars in the humanities and social sciences. It is best known for hosting electronic mailing lists organized by academic disciplines; according to the o ...

, and ''Labor History''. Golland has taught at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

, 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 ...

, the

College of Staten Island The College of Staten Island (CSI) is a public university in Staten Island, New York. It is one of the 11 four-year senior colleges within the City University of New York system. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studi ...

Borough of Manhattan Community College The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is a public community college in New York City. Founded in 1963 as part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, BMCC grants associate degrees in a wide variety of vocational, busines ...

Bronx Community College The Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (BCC) is a public community college in the Bronx, New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. History The college was established in 1957 through the eff ...

, and the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

. He has also taught in the

Albemarle County Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Charl ...

Public School District in

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. In 2011 he was appointed to the faculty of Governors State University, where he was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor in 2016, elected President of the Faculty Senate in 2017, and promoted to professor in 2020. Golland served on the Committee on Research and Government of the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

from 2017 to 2020, as vice president of the Park Forest Historical Society from 2013 to 2017, and as treasurer of the National Association for Ethnic Studies from 2015 to 2016, where he also chaired the 2015 and 2016 national conferences at Mississippi State University and the University of Arizona, respectively.

Personal life

Golland married in 2004. They have one daughter and one son, and live in Homewood, Illinois.Golland, ''A Terrible Thing to Waste'', p.9.

Bibliography

Books

*''A Terrible Thing to Waste: Arthur Fletcher and the Conundrum of the Black Republican'' (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2019) *''Constructing Affirmative Action: The Struggle for Equal Employment Opportunity'' (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2011)

Essays

*“Digitizing the Fletcher Papers: A Unique Historical Experience,” ''Perspectives on History'', April 2015 *“Poverty in a Sea of Wealth: Arthur Fletcher in California, 1959–1965,” ''California History'' 91:2 (Summer, 2014) *“From Black Kiss to Black Captain: Race, Gender, and A Half Century of Star Trek,” ''Critical Issues in Justice and Politics'' 7:1 (Spring, 2014) *“A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Arthur Fletcher, Religion, and the American Underclass,” ''Claremont Journal of Religion'' 1:1 (January 2012); reprinted in ''Best of CJR 2012–2014'' (July 2014) *“Recent Works on the Mexican Revolution,” ''Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe'' 16:1 (January–June 2005)

References

External links

*
Golland's faculty page
at Governors State University {{DEFAULTSORT:Golland, David Hamilton 1971 births Living people 21st-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Historians of the United States Labor historians Urban historians Baruch College alumni University of Virginia alumni City University of New York alumni Writers from New York City Historians from New York (state) 21st-century American male writers Cooper Union faculty