Dixon Wecter (January 12, 1906 – June 24, 1950) was an American historian. He was "the first professor of American History" at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

, and the Margaret Byrne Professor of United States History at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He was the author of three books.

Early life

Wecter was born on January 12, 1906, in Houston, Texas. He graduated from

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1925. He earned a master's degree from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1926, attended the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

's Merton College as a Rhodes Scholar between 1928 and 1930, and he earned a PhD from Yale University in 1936.

Career

Wecter joined the English faculty at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

in 1936, and he became a tenured associate professor in 1936. He was an English professor at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

from 1939 to 1945. During those years, he was also a research fellow at the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Ma ...

in 1939-1940, and a

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 1942-1943. Wecter became "the first professor of American history" at the

in 1945. He was finally appointed as the Margaret Byrne Professor of United States History at the

in 1949-1950. Wecter was the author of three books, including one about

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Personal life and death

Wecter married Elizabeth Farrar in 1937. Wecter died on June 23, 1950, in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wecter, Dixon 1906 births 1950 deaths Baylor University alumni Yale University alumni University of Colorado Boulder faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty Academic staff of the University of Sydney University of California, Berkeley faculty 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers American Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Historians from California 20th-century American male writers