Harold James Perkin (11 November 1926 – 16 October 2004) was a distinguished English social historian who was the founder of the '' Social History Society'' in 1976.

Background

Perkin was born in

Hanley, Staffordshire Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been the ...

of humble origins. He attended Hanley High School and won a scholarship to

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

from 1945, gaining a starred First Class degree in 1948. After

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, he was rejected by his

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

college to study for a PhD. He began extramural history teaching from 1950 with the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

Academic career

Perkin was a Lecturer in Social History at the

(1951–1965), then a

Senior Lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...

(1965–1967), a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

(1967–1984) in Social History and Director of the Centre for Social History (1974–84) at the

University of Lancaster , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty = ...

, and an

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of History at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

(1985–1997). In addition, he held a visiting professorship at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

, founded the Social History Society and was Chairman (1976–1991), and served as chief salary negotiator for the

Association of University Teachers The Association of University Teachers (AUT) was the trade union and professional association that represented academic (teaching and research) and academic-related (librarians, IT professionals and senior administrators) staff at pre-1992 ...

, of which he was later President. Perkin was a distinguished, pioneering social historian, whose interests incluced Transport.

Publications

* Complete text in pdf
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Television

Television shows for

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

*''The Age of the Railway'', 1970 *''The Age of the Automobile'', 1976 Both were later issued in book form.

References

External links

Harold Perkin
Entry at 'Making History' website, Institute of Historical Research, University of London. Accessed December 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkin, Harold Social historians Rice University staff Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Academics of Lancaster University People from Hanley, Staffordshire Northwestern University faculty 1926 births 2004 deaths Place of death missing 20th-century British historians People educated at Hanley High School 21st-century British historians 20th-century British male writers 21st-century British male writers 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel