William Shield McFeely (September 25, 1930 – December 11, 2019) was an American historian known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1981 biography of

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

, as well as his contributions to a reevaluation of the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

, and for advancing the field of

African-American history African-American history began with the arrival of Africans to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. Former Spanish slaves who had been freed by Francis Drake arrived aboard the Golden Hind at New Albion in California in 1579. The ...

. Genzlinger, Neil (December 13, 2019).
William McFeely, Pulitzer-Winning Historian, Dies as 89
. ''New York Times''. Retrieved December 14, 2019. Print version December 14, 2019, p. B11. He retired as the Abraham Baldwin Professor of the Humanities emeritus at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 1997, and was affiliated with

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 higher le ...

since 2006.

Biography

McFeely was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the son of William C. McFeely, an executive with

Grand Union A grand union is a rail track junction where two double-track railway or tramway lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads. A total of sixteen railroad switches (sets of points) allow streetcars (or in rarer installati ...

supermarkets, and Marguerite McFeely (née Shield), a homemaker. He graduated from Ramsey High School, in New Jersey. After earning a B.A. at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

in 1952, he worked for the

First National City Bank of New York Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

for eight years, before deciding to pursue graduate work in

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, where he received his Ph.D. in 1966. At Yale, he studied with, among others, C. Vann Woodward, whose book ''

The Strange Career of Jim Crow Comer Vann Woodward (November 13, 1908 – December 17, 1999) was an American historian who focused primarily on the American South and race relations. He was long a supporter of the approach of Charles A. Beard, stressing the influence of un ...

'' was a staple of the Civil Rights Movement. Like Woodward, he sought to employ history in the service of civil rights. His dissertation, later the 1968 book ''Yankee Stepfather'', explored the ill-fated

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...

which was created to help ex-slaves after the Civil War. McFeely taught at Yale until 1970, during the tumultuous years of the

American Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...

and Black Power movements, and was instrumental in creating the African-American studies program there, at a time when such programs were still controversial. One of his black students in his class was

Henry Louis Gates Jr. Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African Ame ...

, the Director of the

Hutchins Center for African & African American Research The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, also known as the Hutchins Center, is affiliated with Harvard University. The Center supports scholarly research on the history and culture of people of African descent around the world, ...

at Harvard University and Professor at Harvard. He taught for 16 years at

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

before joining the

in 1986 as the Constance E. Smith Fellow. McFeely won the 1982

Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography 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 biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...

for his 1981 biography of

, which portrayed the general and president in a harsh light. He concluded that Grant "did not rise above limited talents or inspire others to do so in ways that make his administration a credit to American politics." McFeely retired in 1997. He was a fellow at

Harvard 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 higher le ...

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...

during the 2006–2007 academic year, where he studied

Henry Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fra ...

and his wife Clover Adams, and

Clarence King Clarence Rivers King (January 6, 1842 – December 24, 1901) was an American geologist, mountaineer and author. He was the first director of the United States Geological Survey from 1879 to 1881. Nominated by Republican President Rutherford B. Hay ...

and his wife

Ada Copeland King Ada Copeland King (ca. 23 December 1860 – 14 April 1964) was the common-law wife of the American geologist Clarence King. Their thirteen-year relationship, with King posing as a Black man named James Todd when they were together, was the subject ...

. He was a visiting scholar and associate member of Harvard's Afro-American Studies Department and an associate of their Humanities Center. McFeely died of

idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), or (formerly) fibrosing alveolitis, is a rare, progressive illness of the respiratory system, characterized by the thickening and stiffening of lung tissue, associated with the formation of scar tissue. It is ...

on December 11, 2019 at his home in

Sleepy Hollow, New York Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. The village is located on the east bank of the Hudson River, about north of New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on ...

at the age of 89.

Awards and honors

*1982

for ''Grant: A Biography'' *1982

Francis Parkman Prize The Francis Parkman Prize, named after Francis Parkman, is awarded by the Society of American Historians for the best book in American history each year. Its purpose is to promote literary distinction in historical writing. The Society of American ...

for ''Grant: A Biography'' *Member,

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, and ...

(since 1987) *The

Lincoln Prize The Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, founded by the late Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman in partnership with Gabor Boritt, Director Emeritus of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, is administered by the Gilder Lehrman Institute for America ...

1991 for ''Frederick Douglass'' (based upon the life of

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

). *1992

Avery O. Craven Award Avery may refer to: Business * Avery Company, a former tractor manufacturer and later produced trucks and automobiles * Avery Weigh-Tronix, a British manufacturer of industrial weighing systems * Avery Berkel, a British manufacturer of retail ...

from the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

"Avery O. Craven Award Winners"
Retrieved on May 25, 2013.

Select scholarship

* ''Yankee Stepfather: General O.O. Howard and the Freedmen'' (W. W. Norton, 1968) * ''Grant: A Biography'' (W. W. Norton, 1981) * ''Frederick Douglass'' (W. W. Norton, 1990) * ''Sapelo's People: A Long Walk into Freedom'' (W. W. Norton, 1994) * ''Proximity to Death'' (W. W. Norton, 2000) * ''Portrait: The Life of Thomas Eakins'' (W. W. Norton, 2007)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McFeely, William S. 1930 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American biographers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Amherst College alumni Harvard University people Historians of the United States Historians from New York (state) Mount Holyoke College faculty Writers from New York City Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners Ramsey High School (New Jersey) alumni University of Georgia faculty Lincoln Prize winners Yale University alumni 20th-century American male writers

Biography

Awards and honors

Select scholarship

See also

References

External links