Paul Samuel Boyer (August 2, 1935–March 17, 2012Brooks, S.
"Paul Boyer, influential scholar of religious history, dies"
''

The Daily Cardinal ''The Daily Cardinal'' is a student newspaper that serves the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. One of the oldest student newspapers in the country, it began publishing on Monday, April 4, 1892. The newspaper is financially and editoria ...

'', Mar 26, 2012.Vitello, Paul
Paul S. Boyer, 78, Dies; Historian Studied A-Bomb and Witches
''New York Times''. April 2, 2012.) was a U.S. cultural and intellectual historian (Ph.D.,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, 1966) and Merle Curti Professor of History Emeritus and former director (1993–2001) of the Institute for Research in the Humanities 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 had held visiting professorships at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

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 ...

, and William & Mary; had received Guggenheim Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships; and was an elected member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

, the Society of American Historians, and the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

Biography

Boyer was born in 1935 in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

, to Clarence and Ethel Boyer; he had two older brothers, Ernest L. Boyer and William Boyer. The family was active in the

Brethren in Christ Church The Brethren in Christ Church (BIC) is a River Brethren Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church, Radical Pietism, and Wesleyan holiness. They have also been known as River Brethren and River Mennonites. The Canadian denominat ...

, an offshoot of the

Mennonites Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

. In 1962 he married Ann Talbot, of

Baltimore, Md Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

. He earned his Doctorate in American History from Harvard University. Before being invited to the University of Wisconsin in 1980, he taught at the

University of Massachusetts-Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, i ...

from 1967 to 1980. After his retirement, he became an editor at U.W. Press and a co-author of several college textbooks. Paul Samuel Boyer died at Agrace Hospicecare on March 17, 2012, after three months battle with cancer.

Historiography

Boyer, who grew up in a conservative Christian family, was a pacifist and conscientious objector.Helsey, Mary Jane. ''Peace and Persistence: Tracing the Brethre in Christ Peace Witness Through Three Generations,'' Kent State University Press, 2003, p. 132. He specialized in the religious and moral history of the American people from the days of the

Salem Witch Trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

in the 1690s, through the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

efforts to reform society in the 19th and early 20th centuries to the impact of nuclear weapons on the American psyche after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Selected publications

''Purity in Print: Book Censorship in America from the Gilded Age to the Computer Age''
(NY:

Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan R ...

, 1968; 2nd edition with two new chapters, Madison:

University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and p ...

, 2002)
''Notable American Women, 1607–1950''
(

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 ...

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

, 3 vols., 1971). Assistant editor.
''Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft''
'Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of

Witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

'' (Cambridge:

, 1974). Co-author with Stephen Nissenbaum. **1974 Winner of the John H. Dunning Prize 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 ...

**1975 Nominated for a

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

in the Category History
Salem Witchcraft Papers''
co-editor with Stephen Nissenbaum (3 vols., NY: Da Capo Press, 1977)
''Urban Masses and Moral Order in America, 1820–1920''
(Cambridge:

, 1978)
''By the Bomb's Early Light: American Thought and Culture at the Dawn of the Atomic Age''
(NY:

Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...

, 1985; 2nd edn. with a new introduction,

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to: Places Antarctica * Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia *Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area Canada * Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...

University of North Carolina Press The University of North Carolina Press (or UNC Press), founded in 1922, is a university press that is part of the University of North Carolina. It was the first university press founded in the Southern United States. It is a member of the As ...

, 1994) *''

Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

as President: Contemporary Views of the Man, His Politics, and His Politicies'', edited with an introduction by Paul Boyer (Chicago, Ivan R. Dee, 1990).
''When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture''
(Cambridge:

, 1992
''Fallout: A Historian Reflects on America's Half-Century Encounter With Nuclear Weapons''
(Columbus:

Ohio State University Press The Ohio State University Press is the university press of Ohio State University. It was founded in 1957. The OSU Press has published approximately 1700 books since its inception. The current director is Tony Sanfilippo, who had previously work ...

, 1998)
''American History: A Very Short Introduction''
(Oxford:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2012)
''The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History''
co-authored with Joan Shelley Rubin and Scott E. Casper (Oxford University Press, 2013; )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Paul S. University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Northwestern University faculty College of William & Mary faculty University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty American historians 1935 births 2012 deaths Historians of witchcraft