Paul M. Birdsall (died May 2, 1970) was a historian and diplomat. Educated at St. Paul's School, he earned his doctorate 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 ...

in 1928, where he studied under the influence of

Charles Howard McIlwain Charles Howard McIlwain (March 15, 1871 – June 1, 1968) was an American historian and political scientist. He won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1924. He was educated at Princeton University and Harvard University and taught at both instituti ...

. He taught European history at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

as assistant and then associate professor. In 1936 he became dean of students at Williams College. He was also a trustee of

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

. He then entered a career in government service. During World War Two, he served in the Office of Strategic Services. In 1947, he was assistant military attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. In 1948-1949 he worked for the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ec ...

. He later served as a reserve foreign service officer in Paris and at the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm. According to obituaries, however, he actually worked for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

from 1949 to 1962. Birdsall died at the age of seventy in Christiansted, United States Virgin Islands, where he had been in retirement for eight years. He was the author of several works on diplomatic history. He is chiefly remembered for ''Versailles, 20 Years After'', as well as a number of articles on the diplomacy of Woodrow Wilson. His sister Jean Birdsall was also a historian, having received her doctorate and serving as associate professor at Vassar until her death in 1935. The

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

awards a biennial prize in his honor to the author of the most important work on European military or strategic history since 1870 by a citizen of the United States or Canada. The prize was created through the gift of historian

Hans W. Gatzke Hans Wilhelm Gatzke (1915–1987) was a German-born historian of German foreign policy since World War I and belonged to the young emigrants from Nazi Germany who became historians in the United States. He is remembered by a named professorship in ...

, who remained anonymous until his own death.Birdsall Prize Page from American Historical Association, http://www.historians.org/prizes/AWARDED/BirdsallWinner.htm

Bibliography

*"The History of the Royal Prerogative in England to 1649," Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1928. *" "Non-Obstante"—A Study of the Dispensing Power of English Kings," in Carl Wittke, ed., ''Essays in History and Political Theory in Honor of Charles Howard McIwain'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1936): 37-76. *"Neutrality and Economic Pressures, 1914-1917," ''Science & Society'', Vol. 3, No. 2 (Spring 1939): 217-228. *"The Second Decade of Peace Conference History," ''The Journal of Modern History'', Vol. 11, No. 3 (September 1939): 362-378. *''Versailles, 20 Years After'' (New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1941). * Redvers Opie, Joseph W. Ballantine, Jeannette E. Muther, Paul Birdsall, and Clarence E. Thurber, ''The Search for Peace Settlements'' (Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1951)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birdsall, Paul M. Historians of the United States American diplomats 1970 deaths Year of birth missing Harvard University alumni St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni American historians