Roscoe Carlyle Buley (July 8, 1893, in

Georgetown, Floyd County, Indiana Georgetown is a town in Floyd County, Indiana, United States. The population was 3,805 at the 2020 census. History Georgetown was platted in 1833 by George W. Waltz (1767-1850), and named for him. The Georgetown post office was established in 1 ...

– April 25, 1968, in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

) was an American historian and educator.

Personal life and educational background

The son of David M. Buley – a Hoosier school teacher – and Nora (Keithley) Buley, he graduated from Vincennes Lincoln High School in 1910. He received his B.A. from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

in 1914 and his M.A. from the same institution in 1916. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Buley served for a year in the

U.S. Army Signal Corps ) , colors = Orange and white , colors_label = Corps colors , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = ...

. He then returned home and married Esther Giles (1898–1921) in 1919. After Esther's death in 1921, Buley married Evelyn Barnett (January 14, 1904 – February 28, 1989). He taught high school history at Delphi and

Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the county seat, seat of Delaware County, Indiana, Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs ...

, and

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, before receiving his PhD from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in 1925. In 1925–1964 Buley was a professor of history at

, serving as

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 ...

from 1964 until his death on April 25, 1968, at the age of 74.

Works and awards

Buley authored numerous articles, reviews, and books, winning the 1951

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 ...

for his 2-volume work ''The Old Northwest: Pioneer Period 1815–1840'' (1950). He won the

Elizur Wright Elizur Wright III (12 February 1804 – 22 November 1885) was an American mathematician and abolitionist. He is sometimes described in the United States as "the father of life insurance", or "the father of insurance regulation", as he campaigned ...

Award for ''The American Life Convention, 1906-1952: Study in the History of Life Insurance'' (2 vols.) (1953). In 2007 he was honored by his former high school as a distinguished alumnus. Noted for always having an open door to students who wished to chat, in 1962 Indiana University's

Sigma Delta Chi The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

journalism society presented him the Brown Derby Award for being the most popular professor on campus.

Views

No mere pedagogue, Buley took a broad view of education, as he expressed in ''The Old Northwest: Pioneer Period 1815–1840'': "Much has been made, perhaps too much, of the illiteracy of the pioneer, of the lack of schools, and of the general backwardness of the southern emigrants in comparison with the eastern. Schools do not necessarily produce literates; literacy – the mere ability to pronounce a few written words – has little to do with education; and there are other ways of getting an education than in schools. As James Hall said: 'A human being may know how to read, and yet be a very stupid fellow.... Reading and writing are not magic arts; of themselves, they are of little value... and thousands of individuals with diplomas in their pockets are far inferior, in point of common sense and information, to the common run of backwoodsmen.'"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buley, R. Carlyle 1893 births Pulitzer Prize for History winners Indiana University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni 1968 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers People from Floyd County, Indiana American male non-fiction writers