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Elting Elmore Morison (December 14, 1909,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
– April 20, 1995,
Peterborough, New Hampshire Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,418 at the 2020 census. The main village, with 3,090 people at the 2020 census, is defined as the Peterborough census-designated place (CDP) and ...
)New York Times obituary of Elting E. Morison
/ref> was an American
historian of technology The history of technology is the history of the invention of tools and techniques and is one of the categories of world history. Technology can refer to methods ranging from as simple as stone tools to the complex genetic engineering and inform ...
, military
biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...
, author of nonfiction books, and essayist. He was an
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...
professor and the founder of MIT's
Science, Technology, and Society Science and technology studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts. History Like most interdisciplinary fie ...
(STS) program.


Biography

Morison, a grand-nephew of the engineer George S. Morison, was born in
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
. He studied at
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 ...
, earning an BA degree in 1932 and an MA in 1934, returning in 1935–1937 as assistant dean. In 1935 he married Anne Hitchcock Sims, daughter of U.S. Admiral
William Sims William Sowden Sims (October 15, 1858 – September 28, 1936) was an admiral in the United States Navy who fought during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to modernize the navy. During World War I, he commanded all United States naval force ...
, whose biography he published in 1942 a few months after the
Pearl Harbor Attack The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
; it became the standard scholarly biography. During
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 ...
, Morison served in the
U.S. Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...
. In 1944 he was awarded the
John H. Dunning Prize The John H. Dunning Prize is a biennial book prize awarded by the American Historical Association for the best book in history related to the United States. The prize was established in 1929, and is regarded as one of the most prestigious national h ...
for ''Admiral Sims and the Modern American Navy.'' Morison first came to MIT in 1946 as an assistant professor of humanities in the Sloan School of Industrial Management. In 1948 the Roosevelt Memorial Association hired Morison as director of the ''Theodore Roosevelt Research Project'', which resulted in the 8-volume standard work ''The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt'' (1951–1954) (including his autobiography), of which he was the editor. Fellow MIT professor
John Morton Blum John Morton Blum (; April 29, 1921 – October 17, 2011) was an American historian, active from 1948 to 1991. He was a specialist in 20th-century American political history, and was a senior advisor to Yale officials. Life and career Blum was bo ...
was co-editor. In 1966 Morison joined
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
as master of
Timothy Dwight College Timothy Dwight College, commonly abbreviated and referred to as "TD", is a residential college at Yale University named after two presidents of Yale, Timothy Dwight IV and his grandson, Timothy Dwight V. The college was designed in 1935 by James G ...
and as a professor of history and
American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...
. In 1972 Morison rejoined MIT as the holder of the Killian Chair of the Humanities, playing a major role in conceiving and planning the interdisciplinary program that would later be known as
Science, Technology, and Society Science and technology studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts. History Like most interdisciplinary fie ...
(STS), which is designed to reveal the sweep of technological change as recorded in the history of science, technology, and industrial development, with an accent on the U.S, focusing on the interaction between scientific, technological, and social factors, work which he started in ''Men, Machines, and Modern Times''. In 1974 Morison published ''From Know-How to Nowhere: The Development of American Technology'', "in which he tried to explain the development of American technology from 1800, when the nation was not able to build a 26-mile canal between the Charles and Merrimack Rivers in Massachusetts, to the late 1960s, when men flung themselves to the moon." He died in 1995 in
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
,
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. He was survived by his second wife Elizabeth Forbes Tilghman Morison of Peterborough, a son, Nicholas G. Morison, two daughters, Mary Morison Nur and Sarah Morison Ford, a brother, John Morison of Lyndeborough, N.H., and three grandchildren.


Professional organizations and affiliations

**
Secretary of the Navy's Advisory Subcommittee on Naval History The Secretary of the Navy's Advisory Subcommittee on Naval History was formally established in 1956 and is the second oldest of the historical advisory committee's within the United States Department of Defense. History Formally established as ...
**
NASA Historical Advisory Committee The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Historical Advisory Committee was established in 1964. History The NASA Historical Office was established under its first chief historian, Dr. Eugene Emme in 1960. The committee was first ma ...


Works


Author or co-author

* 1942 – Elting E. Morison – ''Admiral Sims and the Modern American Navy'', New York: Houghton Mifflin Co
read online
* 1960 – Elting E. Morison – ''Turmoil and Tradition: A Study of the Life and Times of Henry L. Stimson'', a biography of
Henry L. Stimson Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in U.S. foreign policy by serving in both Republican and D ...
, Secretary of State in the
Hoover Administration Herbert Hoover's tenure as the 31st president of the United States began on his inauguration on March 4, 1929, and ended on March 4, 1933. Hoover, a Republican, took office after a landslide victory in the 1928 presidential election over Democr ...
, and later
Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
in the Roosevelt Administration, winner of the
Parkman Prize The Francis Parkman Prize, named after Francis Parkman, is awarded by the Society of American Historians for the best book in United States, American history each year. Its purpose is to promote literary distinction in historical writing. The Socie ...
of the
Society of American Historians The Society of American Historians, founded in 1939, encourages and honors literary distinction in the writing of history and biography about American topics. The approximately 300 members include professional historians, independent scholars, jou ...
br>read online
* 1961 – Elting E. Morison – ''A Case Study of Innovation'' (pp. 592–605) in the collective volume ''The Planning of Change – Reading in the Applied Behavioral Sciences,'' edited by Warren G. Bennis (of
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
), Kenneth D. Benne, and Robert Chin (both from
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
), and published by ''Holt, Rinehart and Winston,''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, 1961, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 61-14602 20893-0111 * 1968 – Elting E. Morison – ''Men, Machines, and Modern Times'
read online
* 1974 – Elting E. Morison – ''From Know-How to Nowhere: The Development of American Technology' * 1976 – Elizabeth Forbes Morison and Elting E. Morison – ''New Hampshire: A Bicentennial History'' (W.W. Norton & Co.)
online


Editor or co-editor

* ''The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt'' (8 vols.) (Harvard University Press, 1951–1954)hup.harvard.edu
/ref> "The Years of Preparation, 1868–1898" (1951), "The Years of Preparation: 1898–1900" (1951), "The Square Deal: 1901–1903" (1951), "The Square Deal: 1903–1905" (1951), "The Big Stick, 1905–1907" (1952), "The Big Stick, 1907–1909" (1952), "The Days of Armageddon, 1909–1914" (1954), "The Days of Armageddon, 1914–1919" (1954).
read vol. 1 online
* 1958 – Elting E. Morison – ''The American Style: Essays in Value and Performance'' (Harper & Brothers)


See also

*
List of Yale University people Yalies are persons affiliated with Yale University, commonly including alumni, current and former faculty members, students, and others. Here follows a list of notable Yalies. Alumni For a list of notable alumni of Yale Law School, see List ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morison, Elting E. 1909 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American historians Harvard University alumni Historians of technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Yale University faculty 20th-century American biographers American male biographers American male essayists Writers from Milwaukee 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American male writers People from Peterborough, New Hampshire