John Alexander Carroll (died 17 December 2000) was an American history professor who primarily taught at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

from 1958 to 1967, and

Troy University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. Troy University is accredi ...

from 1974 to 1989. While at Arizona, Carroll founded ''

Arizona and the West The ''Journal of the Southwest'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by the Southwest Center, at the University of Arizona, with a focus on the American Southwest and adjacent northwestern Mexico. The journal publis ...

'' in 1959 and was the journal's editor until 1963. Outside of academics, Carroll was a co-winner of the 1958

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 ...

for ''George Washington, Volumes I-VII''.

Early life and education

Carroll went to

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 ...

to complete a program at the university's

School of Foreign Service The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It is considered to be one of the world's leading international affairs schools, granting degrees at both ...

. He remained at Georgetown to earn a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in 1956 with a specialty in American history.

Career

Carroll began his career with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

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 ...

. In 1941, he was one of the survivors of the '' USS California'' sinking at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

and later received a

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 ...

medal. After the war, Carroll conducted research for

Douglas Southall Freeman Douglas Southall Freeman (May 16, 1886 – June 13, 1953) was an American historian, biographer, newspaper editor, radio commentator, and author. He is best known for his multi-volume biographies of Robert E. Lee and George Washington, for both ...

's biography on

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

. After Freeman died during the biography's writing, Carroll and

Mary Wells Ashworth Mary Wells Knight Ashworth (May 28, 1903 — September 12, 1992) was an American historian who wrote for Douglas Southall Freeman between 1945 to 1953. With Freeman, Ashworth worked on his seven volume biography on George Washington. After Freeman ...

wrote the last volume of Freeman's biography on Washington. Caroll transitioned from writing to academics and joined

Del Mar College Del Mar College (DMC) is a public community college in Corpus Christi, Texas. Founded in 1935, DMC encompasses two primary campuses and one campus annex with combined physical assets of more than $99 million. As defined by the Texas Legislature ...

as the college's academic chair of history. In September 1958, Carroll left

to join the

. While at the university, Carroll was a history professor before he created ''

'' in 1959, which was the successor of the ''

Arizona Historical Review Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

''. He edited for the journal until 1963 when he resumed teaching at Arizona. Carroll primarily remained at the University of Arizona until 1967 when he went to teach at the

University of Dallas The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises four academi ...

. Additional universities Carroll taught at between the 1960s and 1980s include

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

and

Troy State University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. Troy University is accredi ...

. Outside of his teaching career, Carroll was a co-writer of ''Home of the Brave: A Patriot's Guide to American History'' in 1976. Additional works of Carroll's include ''Pioneering in Arizona'' and ''Reflections of Western Historians''.

Awards and honors

Carroll was a co-winner of the 1958

alongside

and

for their biography ''George Washington, Volumes I-VII''.

Death

Carroll died on 17 December 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, John Alexander Date of birth uncertain 2000 deaths University of Arizona faculty University of Dallas faculty Texas Christian University faculty Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni