Kenneth Silverman currently serves as professor emeritus of English at New York University. He is the author of several biographies, including those of Samuel Morse, Cotton Mather, and Edgar Allen Poe. The Life and Times of Cotton Mather, perhaps his best-known work, won both the Bancroft Prize in History and a Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Silverman is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Samuel F.B. Morse, noted artist and inventor, served as a professor of painting and sculpture at New York University. In 1838, he perfected his most famous invention, the telegraph.
Sources:
- All biographic information about Kenneth Silverman from the NYU website.
- Dim, Joan Marans, and Nancy Murphy Cricco.
The Miracle on Washington Square: New York University. Lanham: Lexington, 2001.
From the guide to the Kenneth Silverman Research Collection on Samuel F.B. Morse, 1792-1892, (New York University Archives)