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William Cronon (born September 11, 1954 in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
) is an environmental historian and the Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas Research Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
. He was president of the American Historical Association (AHA) in 2012.


Education and recognition

Cronon was born in Connecticut. Cronon received a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
with double major in
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
and English from the
University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
in 1976. He received a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
in 1979 and a Master of Philosophy in 1980 both in American history 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 ...
. He received a
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in British urban and economic history from the Jesus College of 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 ...
as a Rhodes Scholar in 1981. He received a Doctor of Philosophy in American history from Yale University in 1990. In July 1985 Cronon was awarded a
MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...
. Cronon serves on the board of directors for
The Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...
, a national land conservation group. He has been a member of the Wilderness Society since 1995, and as of 2014 he served as vice chair of the organization's governing council.


Scholarship

Cronon is best known for his first book '' Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England'' (1983), based on a seminar paper he wrote for his Yale adviser Edmund Sears Morgan. He proposed that the way cultures conceptualize property and ownership is a major factor in economies and ecosystems. Secondly, unlike most historians, he documented that Native Americans actively intervened in and shaped the ecosystems in which they lived. His book ''Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West'' (1991) "is credited with having radically widened many environmental historians' gaze beyond such things as forests and public lands to include cities and what Cronon calls the 'elaborate and intimate linkages' between city and country." Cronon says that Chicago and capitalism fundamentally transformed the open Midwestern countryside. In one chapter, he details how grain became a standardized commodity. At first farmers sold it in sacks with the farm's family name stamped on it; as a commodity, it was sold in bulk as a standardized good stored in silos according to grade. The book won the 1992
Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...
, the 1993 George Perkins Marsh Prize, and was a finalist for the 1992
Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, 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 book about the history ...
. In his book ''Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature'' (1995), and his essay "The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature", published in ''
The 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 d ...
'' (August 13, 1995), Cronon traced the idea of wilderness throughout American history. He claimed that the idea of untouched, pristine wilderness is a fantasy, because all of nature is interconnected. He concludes: Cronon was also featured in Ken Burns's 2009 documentary '' The National Parks: America's Best Idea''.


'Scholar as Citizen' blog

During the 2011 Wisconsin protests over the state budget, Cronon started a blog called "Scholar as Citizen." His first blog post, on March 15, 2011, was about the
American Legislative Exchange Council The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United State ...
(ALEC), an organization that provides model legislation to Republican and Democratic state legislators. According to
Anthony Grafton Anthony Thomas Grafton (born May 21, 1950) is an American historian of early modern Europe and the Henry Putnam University Professor of History at Princeton University, where he is also the Director the Program in European Cultural Studies. He i ...
of ''The New Yorker'', "Cronon argued from indirect evidence that ALEC had played a major role behind the scenes in Governor Walker's attack on public employee unions in Wisconsin. He also argued that this sort of political work, though legitimate, should be done in the open." On March 17, Stephan Thompson of the
Wisconsin Republican Party The Republican Party of Wisconsin is a right-wing political party in Wisconsin and is the Wisconsin affiliate of the United States Republican Party (GOP). The state party chair is Paul Farrow. The state party is divided into 72 county parties f ...
filed a
freedom of information Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, Indigeno ...
request for email sent from or to Cronon's University of Wisconsin-Madison account that contained keywords related to the ongoing political events, including "Republican", " Scott Walker", "recall", "collective bargaining", "AFSCME", "WEAC", "rally", "union", and the names of 12 Republican senators who supported Walker's bill. Cronon also wrote an op-ed criticizing Walker for ''
The 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 d ...
'', published on March 21, 2011.Leonard, Andrew (March 25, 2011

''
Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
''
On March 24, Cronon wrote a second blog entry announcing the Wisconsin Republican Party's
freedom of information Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, Indigeno ...
request for his emails, saying that the party's action had "the nakedly political purpose of trying to embarrass, harass, or silence a university professor". Citing Wisconsin's long history of protecting the right to academic freedom, Cronon asked the Republican Party of Wisconsin to withdraw its request. The party did not withdraw the request and on April 1 the university turned over a selection of Cronon's emails. Attorney John Dowling, acting as senior legal counsel for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, included a statement with the documents that explained the university's decision to continue to withhold some of Cronon's emails. University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Carolyn "Biddy" Martin expounded upon this decision in an email to the UW-Madison campus community on the same day: Martin discussed the idea of
academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...
and the university's firm commitment to protecting all academics' right to engage in the "open intellectual exchange" of ideas. In response to these events, on April 4 the Faculty Senate of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
passed a resolution to protect academic freedom. The body decided, according to University Committee Chair Judith Burstyn, that the university needed to take a public position to defend academic freedom in the wake of the FOIA records request directed at Cronon. Political scientist Howard Schweber, who was involved in writing the resolution with colleague Donald Downs, commented: "The university can't change the law, but the university can take a leading position on behalf of public employees everywhere and make a statement that we think this is wrong. What was begun as a classic notion of sunshine being the best disinfectant has turned into a law that's used as a weapon to target not government officials and offices but individual public employees." The
Wisconsin Republican Party The Republican Party of Wisconsin is a right-wing political party in Wisconsin and is the Wisconsin affiliate of the United States Republican Party (GOP). The state party chair is Paul Farrow. The state party is divided into 72 county parties f ...
had made no report on the contents of Cronon's emails as of August 5, 2011. The party also filed other open records requests. The American Association of University Professors (quoting Cronon) said that "this action by the Wisconsin Republican Party is an 'obvious assault on academic freedom'".


Honors

*In 1985 he was awarded a
MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...
. *In July 2017, Cronon was elected a
Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...
(FBA), the United Kingdom's
national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with State (polity), state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but ...
for the humanities and social sciences.


Published works

*'' Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England'', 1983; 20th anniversary edition, Hill & Wang, 2003. *''Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West'', W. W. Norton, 1991. *"Telling Tales on Canvas: Landscapes of Frontier Change," In: Discovered Lands, Invented Pasts: Transforming Visions of the American West (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992). *"A Place for Stories: Nature, History, and Narrative," Journal of American History 78:4 (March, 1992), p. 1347–1376. *"The Uses of Environmental History" (Presidential Address, American Society for Environmental History), ''Environmental History Review'', 17:3 (Fall 1993), p. 1–22. * *"The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature," ''Environmental History'', 1(1) (January 1996), pp. 7–28
read online
*"Only Connect...: The Goals of a Liberal Education," ''The American Scholar'', (Autumn, 1998), p. 73–80. *"Why the Past Matters," ''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', 84:1 (Autumn 2000), p. 2–13. Awarded the William Best Hesseltine Award for the best article published in the Wisconsin Magazine of History in 2000–2001
pdf
*"The Riddle of the Apostle Islands: How Do You Manage a Wilderness Full of Human Stories?" ''Orion'' (May–June 2003), 36–42. *"The Densest, Richest, Most Suggestive 19 Pages I Know," ''Environmental History'', 10 (4) (Oct., 2005), pp. 679–681. *"Storytelling" (AHA Presidential Address), ''The American Historical Review'' (2013) 118 (1): 1–19. *"Can history and geography survive the digital age? University of Wisconsin-Madison academic says disciplines, despite initial stumbles, might be better suited than some think" by Matthew Reis
read online


References


External links


William Cronon's homepage."Scholar as Citizen." William Cronon's blog."Nature's Metropolis Turns 25: A Conversation with William Cronon" - Edge Effects
* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl610FkoG7k The Life and Work of an Environmental Historian with William Cronon - Conversations with History - YouTubebr>"An Environmentalist on a Different Path; A Fresh View of the Supposed 'Wilderness' and Even the Indians' Place in It", ''The New York Times'', April 3, 1999
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cronon, William 1954 births Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Environmental historians American geographers Living people American Rhodes Scholars MacArthur Fellows Historians of the American West Yale University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Writers from New Haven, Connecticut University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Presidents of the American Historical Association Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy Presidents of the American Society for Environmental History Bancroft Prize winners