Julian Parks Boyd, (1903–28 May 1980), was an American professor who was Professor of history at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. He served as president 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 ...

in 1964. For his efforts in preserving the site of the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conque ...

, he was appointed an honorary

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

Life

Boyd was born at Converse Mill Village,

Spartanburg County Spartanburg County is a county located on the northwestern border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 327,997, making it the fifth-most populous county in South Carolina. Its county seat is Spartanbu ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in 1903. He received a bachelor's degree in 1925 and a master's degree in 1926 from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...

. He attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

as a doctoral candidate but left without completing his work for a PhD. From 1928 to 1932, he worked for Pennsylvania's

Wyoming Historical and Geological Society The Luzerne County Historical Society is one of the oldest continually operating local historical societies in America. It was founded on February 11, 1858, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first successful burning of anthracite coal ...

. From 1932 to 1934, he was director of the New York State Historical Association, and from 1934 to 1940, he worked for the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

. He was Princeton University Librarian from 1940 to 1952. He joined the history department of Princeton University with the rank of professor in 1952. He edited ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson'' from 1944 to his death. His approach has been influential:

Modern historical editing dates from the publication of Julian Boyd's first volume of ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson'' in 1950. Although there had been earlier compilations of the papers of famous Americans, his carefully prepared texts of Jefferson's letters and other writings, "warts and all," set a new standard for accuracy and reliability.

References

;General *Bernstein, Mark F
"History, letter by letter"
;Specific

External links

Julian P. Boyd Bibliography, American Historical Association website
1903 births 1980 deaths Honorary Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Duke University alumni Historians of the American Revolution Historians of the Southern United States People from Spartanburg County, South Carolina Presidents of the American Historical Association Princeton University faculty Thomas Jefferson 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers {{US-historian-stub