William Loren Katz (June 2, 1927 – October 25, 2019) was an American teacher, historian, and author of 40 books on

African-American history African-American history began with the arrival of Africans to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. Former Spanish slaves who had been freed by Francis Drake arrived aboard the Golden Hind at New Albion in California in 1579. The ...

, including a number of titles for young adult readers. He was particularly noted for his research and writing on the 500-year history of relations between African Americans and Native Americans. His books include ''Breaking the Chains: African American Slave Resistance'', ''The Black West'', and ''Black Women of the Old West.''

Biography

Born in New York, NY, Katz was the son of Ben (a researcher) and Madeline (Simon) Katz. After graduating high school in 1944, Katz joined the Navy at the age of 17 and then went onto use the GI Bill to further his education. A graduate of Syracuse University (Bachelor of Arts in history, 1950) and of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

(Master of Arts in Secondary Education, 1952), Katz taught in New York City and State public secondary education systems for 14 years. He served as a consultant to the U.S. Senate, the British House of Commons, and the Smithsonian Institution; the state boards of education of North Carolina and New York; school districts from California to Florida and England. He was married to Dr. Laurie Lehman, an associate professor of special education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus, and an early authority and writer on

disability studies Disability studies is an academic discipline that examines the meaning, nature, and consequences of disability. Initially, the field focused on the division between "impairment" and "disability," where impairment was an impairment of an individual ...

. He was the father of two children, Michael and Naomi, and a grandfather to Maya. Katz's "Education and Books" column appeared in the ''New York Daily Challenge''; contributed articles to the Amsterdam News and many other publications; he hosted an interview program on Pacifica Radio station

WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. ...

-FM in New York, and appeared on many TV and radio programs hosted by Indigenous Americans and African Americans. He was the recipient of the 2000 White Dove Imani Peace Award from the White Dove-Imani-Rainbow Lodge of

Whitehall, Ohio Whitehall is a city in the U.S state of Ohio, located 6.6 miles (10.6 km) east of the state capital of Columbus in Franklin County. Whitehall had a population of 20,127 in the 2020 census. Founded in 1947, Whitehall is a growing suburb ...

. He spoke at more than 50 universities and dozens of museums, and libraries, including

The American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, The Western History Association to

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

, The Institute for Texan Cultures, and the Schomburg Library. He became affiliated with

in 1973 and edited more than 220 research volumes for libraries. He edited the American Negro: His History and Literature book series for

Arno Press Arno Press was a Manhattan-based publishing house founded by Arnold Zohn in 1963, specializing in reprinting rare and long out-of-print materials. History Zohn served 48 missions on a bomber crew during World War II, and when he returned home he ...

. His books, research, writing and lectures won several awards, including the 1991 Carter G. Woodson book award for ''Breaking the Chains''.

John Hope Franklin John Hope Franklin (January 2, 1915 – March 25, 2009) was an American historian of the United States and former president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Histo ...

, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.,

John Henrik Clarke John Henrik Clarke (born John Henry Clark; January 1, 1915 - July 16, 1998) was an African-American historian, professor, and pioneer in the creation of Pan-African and Africana studies and professional institutions in academia starting in the ...

Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist thinker and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a politica ...

James M. McPherson James Munro McPherson (born October 11, 1936) is an American Civil War historian, and is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for '' Battle Cry of ...

Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awa ...

Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, political activist, social critic, actor, and public intellectual. The grandson of a Baptist minister, West focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society an ...

, Ivan Van Sertima,

Betty Shabazz Betty Shabazz (born Betty Dean Sanders; May 28, 1934/1936 – June 23, 1997), also known as Betty X, was an American educator and civil rights advocate. She was married to Malcolm X. Shabazz grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where her foster ...

, and Dr. Ralph Bunche have praised his works.

Career

* New York City public schools, New York, NY: teacher of American history, 1955–60 * Greenburgh District 8 School System, Hartsdale, NY: high school teacher of American history, 1960–68 * New School for Social Research (now New School University), New York, NY: instructor in U.S. history, beginning 1977 * Columbia University: Scholar-in-residence and research fellow, 1971–73 * Lecturer on American Negro history at teacher institutes * Toombs Prison: teacher of black history * Testified before U.S. Senate on Negro history * Appearances on television and radio programs, including the Today Show * Consultant to President Kennedy's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Development, Smithsonian Institution; U.S. Air Force schools in England, Belgium, and Holland, 1974–75; Inner London Educational Authority, 1982; British House of Commons; Life magazine; New York Times: Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS-TV). In 2012 he received the National Underground Railroad to Freedom Award by the National Park Service and delivered the keynote address "The Underground Railroad that Ran South to Freedom" at its National Conference. He received an award for lifetime contributions to the literature for children of African descent from the Institute of African American Affairs of New York University, where he had been a scholar-in-residence.

Selected bibliography

* ''Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage'' (1997,

Simon Pulse Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

) * ''The Black West: A Documentary and Pictorial History of the African American Role in the Westward Expansion of the United States'' (1996, Touchstone) * ''Black Pioneers: An Untold Story'' (1999, Atheneum) * ''Breaking The Chains'' (1998, Simon Pulse) * ''Black Women of the Old West'' (1995, Atheneum) * ''Black Legacy: A History of New York's African Americans'' (1997, Atheneum) * ''Eyewitness: A Living Documentary of the African American Contribution to American History'' (1995, Touchstone) * ''The Cruel Years: American Voices at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century'' (with Laurie Lehman, 2001, Beacon Press)

Essays by Katz

''What Goes Around Comes Around''
Tuesday October 19, 2004

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Wednesday April 28, 2004

March 15, 2001

May 3, 2004 * ttp://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/06/13/forgotten-fight-against-fascism ''The Forgotten Fight Against Fascism''June 13, 2014, on Common Dreams
The Birth of a Nation': A Century Later''
February 14, 2015, on Common Dreams

References

External links

Official Site
of William Loren Katz
Simon & Schuster site – Books by William Loren Katz

Democracy Now! – ''Eyewitness'' interview with William Loren Katz

Review of Katz' website ''African Americans in the Spanish Civil War'' on Teachinghistory.org
*

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 ...