David Herbert Donald (October 1, 1920 – May 17, 2009) was an American historian, best known for his 1995 biography of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. He twice won the

Pulitzer Prize for Biography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...

for earlier works; he published more than 30 books on United States political and literary figures and the history of the American South.

Early life and education

David Herbert Donald was born in

Goodman, Mississippi Goodman is a town in southeastern Holmes County, Mississippi, Holmes County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 1,258. History Goodman was settled by European Americans in 1860. It was f ...

, a town in the center of Holmes County. The county's western border is formed by the

Yazoo River The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi. It is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta, a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before the ...

and it is part of the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta.

Career

Majoring in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

, Donald earned his bachelor's degree from

Millsaps College Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi. It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. History The college was founded in 1889–90 by a Confederate veteran, Major Reuben Webster M ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

.Famed Lincoln Scholar David Herbert Donald Dies

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

After earning a Master's degree in history (1942) at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

,''Directory of American Scholars'', 6th ed. (Bowker, 1974), Vol. I, p. 160. he earned his PhD in 1946 under eminent Lincoln scholar

James G. Randall James Garfield Randall (June 4, 1881 in Indianapolis, Indiana - February 20, 1953) was an American historian specializing on Abraham Lincoln and the era of the American Civil War. He taught at the University of Illinois, (1920–1950), where David ...

at the same institution. Randall as a mentor influenced Donald's life and career. He encouraged his protégé to write his dissertation on

's law partner, William Herndon. Donald adapted and published the dissertation as his first book, ''Lincoln's Herndon'' (1948).Grimes, William
"David Herbert Donald, Writer on Lincoln, Dies at 88"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', May 19, 2009. Accessed 19 May 2009. After completing his doctorate, Donald taught at

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 ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and, from 1973,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He also taught at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

, the

University of North Wales , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

(on a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

grant),

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and served as Harmsworth Professor of American History at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. At Johns Hopkins, Columbia, and Harvard he trained dozens of graduate students, including

Heather Cox Richardson Heather Cox Richardson is an American historian and professor of history at Boston College, where she teaches courses on the American Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, the American West, and the Plains Indians. She previously taught history ...

Jean H. Baker Jean Hogarth Harvey Baker (born February 9, 1933) is an American historian and professor emerita at Goucher College, where she was the Bennett-Hartwood Professor of History. Baker was a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow in 1982. Earl ...

William J. Cooper, Jr. William J. Cooper Jr. (born October 22, 1940) is an American historian who specializes in the history of the American South, and is regarded as a leading expert on the life of Jefferson Davis. Life and career Cooper studied at Princeton Univers ...

, Michael Holt,

Irwin Unger Irwin Unger (May 2, 1927 - May 21, 2021, New York City) was an American historian and academic specializing in economic history, the history of the 1960s, and the history of the Gilded Age. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1958 and ...

Ari Hoogenboom Ari Arthur Hoogenboom (November 28, 1927 – October 25, 2014) was professor emeritus of history at Brooklyn College at the City University of New York. He was a scholar of the Gilded Age, particularly regarding the life and presidency of Ruthe ...

, and

Richard R. John Richard R. John, Jr. (born 1959) is an American historian who specializes in the history of business, technology, communications, and the state. He is a professor of history and communications at Columbia University. Life and career John was born ...

. Donald served as president of the

Southern Historical Association 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 Sou ...

. Donald also served on the editorial board for the Papers of Abraham Lincoln. Donald was the Charles Warren Professor of American History (

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

from 1991) at

. He wrote more than thirty books, including well-received biographies of

Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist of the early 20th century. Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels as well as many short stories, dramatic works, and novellas. He is known for mixing highly origin ...

and

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...

. He specialized in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

periods, and in the history of the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

Legacy and honors

Donald received the

Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...

twice, in 1961 for ''Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War'' and in 1988 for ''Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe.'' He also received several honorary degrees. David Herbert Donald received the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

's Golden Plate Award in 1997. David Herbert Donald was inducted as a Laureate of

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the ''Order of Lincoln'', the highest award given ...

and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2008 in the area of Communications and Education.

Works

In his introduction,

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

, the poet and Lincoln biographer, hailed Donald's first book as the answer to scholars' prayers: "When is someone going to do the life of Bill Herndon. Isn't it about time? Now the question is out."

David M. Potter David Morris Potter (December 6, 1910 – February 18, 1971) was an American historian specializing in the study of the American South and the American Civil War. He was born in Augusta, Georgia, graduated from the Academy of Richmond County, an ...

, a Civil War scholar, said that Donald's biography of

portrayed "Sumner as a man with acute psychological inadequacies" and exposed Sumner's "facade of pompous rectitude." Donald's evenhanded approach to Sumner, Potter concluded, was a model for biographers working with a difficult subject. "If it does not make Sumner attractive

he book He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

certainly makes him understandable."

Personal life and death

Donald lived in

Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States Census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits. The town, located in the MetroWest region o ...

, with his wife Aida DiPace Donald, who is an historian and author. His wife also served as a senior editor and then as editor-in-chief at the

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

. He died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

in Boston on May 17, 2009. Donald was survived by his wife, his son

Bruce Donald Bruce Randall Donald (born 1958) is an American computer scientist and computational biologist. He is the James B. Duke Professor of Computer Science and Biochemistry at Duke University. He has made numerous contributions to several fields in ...

and two granddaughters.

Books

* ''Lincoln's Herndon'' (1948) * ''Divided We Fought: A Pictorial History of the War, 1861—1865'' (1952) * Editor, ''Inside Lincoln's Cabinet: The Civil War Diaries of Salmon P. Chase.'' (1954) * '' Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era'' (1956, 2nd edition 1961, 3rd edition 2001) (). * ''Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War'' (1960). Pulitzer Prize-winning scholarly biography to 1860. * ''The Civil War and Reconstruction'' (1961; 2001) (), 2001 edition with Jean H. Baker & Michael F. Holt; 1961 edition with James G. Randall. * Editor, ''Why the North Won the Civil War'' (1962) () (revised ed. 1996). * Editor with Aida DiPace Donald, ''Diary of Charles Francis Adams, Volumes 1 and 2, January 1820 - September 1829'' (1964),

. * ''The Politics of Reconstruction, 1863-1867'' (1965) * ''Charles Sumner and the Rights of Man '' (1970). Biography after 1860. * '' Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe'' (1987)(). * ''Lincoln'' (1995) * ''Lincoln at Home: Two Glimpses of Abraham Lincoln's Domestic Life '' (1999) . * ''We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends'' (2003) ().

Sources

* Paul Goodman, "David Donald's Charles Sumner Reconsidered" in ''The New England Quarterly,'' Vol. 37, No. 3. (Sep., 1964), pp. 373–38
online at JSTOR
* Ari Hoogenboom, "David Herbert Donald: A Celebration," in ''A Master's Due: Essays in Honor of David Herbert Donald,'' ed. William J. Cooper, Jr., ''et al.''(Louisiana State University Press, 1985), 1—15.

References

External links

* *
''In Depth'' interview with Donald, June 2, 2002.
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donald, David Herbert 20th-century American biographers American male biographers 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Historians of the American Civil War Columbia University faculty Harvard University faculty Historians of the United States Johns Hopkins University faculty People from Goodman, Mississippi Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners Lincoln Prize winners University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni 1920 births 2009 deaths People from Lincoln, Massachusetts Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professors of American History Historians of Abraham Lincoln 20th-century American male writers