Frederic Bancroft (October 30, 1860, in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

– February 22, 1945) was an American historian, author, and

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

. The

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, ...

, one of the most distinguished academic awards in the field of history, was established at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in his memory and that of his brother, Edgar Bancroft.

Biography

Bancroft was born in

, and graduated with an A.B. from Amherst College and a PhD from

. He was a lecturer for one year at Columbia, and served as librarian of the State Department from 1888 to 1892. Bancroft was an active member of 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 ...

, and was the unofficial leader of a group from 1913–1915 that called for the reform of the organization's election procedures, ultimately securing such reforms at the 1915 meeting although failing to topple what he viewed as the

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...

led by J. Franklin Jameson. Bancroft was the author of two well-regarded books on the South, ''Slave Trading in the Old South'' in 1931 and ''A Sketch of the Negro in Politics, Especially in South Carolina and Mississippi'' in 1885. In 1900, he also wrote a biography of

William H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...

. Through his bequest, in 1948 the

was established at

in his memory and that of his brother, diplomat and attorney Edgar Bancroft. It is considered one of the most distinguished academic awards in the field of history.

References

External links

*
Bancroft Prize
on Columbia University's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bancroft, Frederic 1860 births 1945 deaths Amherst College alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni American historians Bancroft Prize Columbia University faculty American librarians