Russel Blaine Nye (February 17, 1913 – September 2, 1993) was an American professor of English who in the 1960s pioneered

popular culture studies Popular culture studies is the study of popular culture from a critical theory perspective combining communication studies and cultural studies. The first institution to offer bachelor's and master's degrees in Popular Culture is the Bowling Green ...

. He was the author of a dozen books, including ''George Bancroft: Brahmin Rebel'' which won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. Born in

Viola, Wisconsin Viola is a village in Richland (mostly) and Vernon Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, United States. The population was 699 at the 2010 census. Of this, 477 were in Richland County, and 222 were in Vernon County. Geography Viola is locate ...

, Nye received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from Oberlin College in 1934 and his master's degree from the

University of Wisconsin 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 States, ...

in English the following year. In 1938 he married Kathryn Chaney, and in 1940 he completed his doctorate on

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...

again at the

. Nye taught in the English department at Michigan State University from 1941 to 1979. In 1957 after the director of the

Detroit Public Library The Detroit Public Library is the second largest library system in the U.S. state of Michigan by volumes held (after the University of Michigan Library) and the 21st-largest library system (and the fourth-largest public library system) in the Uni ...

claimed that

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

's novel ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz afte ...

'' had no value and should not be stocked by libraries, Nye and

Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of Lew ...

published a new critical edition of the novel highlighting its value, causing a firestorm of controversy, followed by eventual acceptance. In 1970 he co-founded the Popular Culture Association with Ray B. Browne and

Marshall Fishwick Marshall William Fishwick (July 5, 1923 – May 22, 2006) was an American multidisciplinary scholar, professor, writer, and editor who started the academic movement known as popular culture studies and established the journal ''Internationa ...

, working to shape a new academic discipline called Popular Culture Theory that blurred the traditional distinctions between high and low culture, focusing on mass culture mediums like television and the Internet, and cultural archetypes like

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

heroes. He died in Lansing, Michigan in 1993.

Works

* Russel B. Nye, ''The Mind and Art of George Bancroft'' (1939) * Russel B. Nye, ''George Bancroft: Brahmin Rebel'' (1944) * Russel B. Nye, ''Fettered Freedom: Civil Liberties and the Slavery Controversy 1830-1860'' (1948) Michigan State University Press * Russel B. Nye and Jack Eric Morpurgo, ''A History of the United States. Volume One: The Birth of the U.S.A.'' (1955) * Russel B. Nye and Jack Eric Morpurgo, ''A History of the United States. Volume Two: The Growth of the U.S.A.'' (1955; Third Edition 1970) Penguin Books * Russel B. Nye and

, ''The Wizard of Oz and Who He Was'' (1957) * Russel B. Nye, ''The cultural life of the new Nation, 1776-1830'' (1960) New York: Harper * Russel B. Nye, ''This almost chosen people; essays in the history of American ideas'' (1966) Michigan State University Press * Russel B. Nye and Ray B. Browne, ''Crises on Campus'' (1971) * Russel B. Nye and Arra M. Garab, ''Modern Essays'' (1971) * Russel B. Nye, ''Society and culture in America, 1830-1860'' (1974) New York: Harper * Joseph G. Waldmeir, ''Essays in Honor of Russel B. Nye'' (1978) * Harold E. Hinds et al. (eds.), ''Popular Culture Theory and Methodology: A Basic Introduction'' (2006)

References

Sources

* "Russel Nye, Historian, Dies at 80; A Student of Comics, Jazz and TV" ''New York Times'', September 5, 1993 * Herder, Dale (1994) "A Tribute to Russel B. Nye 1913 -- 1993"] ''MSU Alumni Magazine'', Winter 1994 * Brief Biography on the Wisconsin Library Association's web sit

* 1913 births 1993 deaths Cultural academics Michigan State University faculty Oberlin College alumni Writers from Lansing, Michigan People from Viola, Wisconsin Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni {{US-historian-stub