Boorstin, Daniel J., 1956

Librarian of Congress, author, educator, and historian.

From the description of Daniel J. Boorstin papers, 1882-1995 (bulk 1944-1994). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71070411

Biographical Note

• 1914, Oct. 1: Born, Atlanta, Ga.
• 1934: A.B., Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
• 1934 - 1937 : Read law at the Inner Temple, London, England
• 1936: B.A., Balliol College, Oxford University, Oxford, England
• 1937: B.C.L., Balliol College, Oxford University, Oxford, England Passed English bar examinations and became a barrister-at-law
• 1938 - 1942 : Tutor, history and literature, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., and Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass.
• 1939 - 1942 : Lecturer, American legal history, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
• 1940: J.S.D., Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
• 1941: Married Ruth Carolyn Frankel Published The Mysterious Science of the Law. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
• 1942: Admitted to the Massachusetts bar Senior attorney, Lend-Lease Administration, Washington, D.C.
• 1942 - 1944 : Assistant professor of history, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa.
• 1943: Editor, Delaware Cases, 1792-1830. St. Paul: West Publishing Co.
• 1944 - 1949 : Assistant professor of history, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• 1948: Published The Lost World of Thomas Jefferson. New York: Holt
• 1949 - 1956 : Associate professor of history, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• 1950 - 1951 : Fulbright lecturer, University of Rome, Rome, Italy
• 1953: Published The Genius of American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• 1956 - 1964 : Professor of history, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• 1957: Visiting professor of American history, University of Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan Lecturer, Korea
• 1958: Published The Americans: The Colonial Experience. New York: Random House; awarded Bancroft Prize, 1959
• 1959 - 1960 : Lecturer for the State Department in Turkey, Iran, Nepal, India, and Ceylon
• 1960: Published America and the Image of Europe: Reflections on American Thought. Cleveland: World Publishing Co.
• 1961 - 1962 : First incumbent, chair of American history, University of Paris, Paris, France
• 1962: Published The Image, or What Happened to the American Dream. New York: Atheneum; republished in 1964 as The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America. New York: Harper and Row
• 1964 - 1965 : Pitt professor of American history and institutions, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England
• 1964 - 1969 : Preston and Sterling Morton distinguished service professor of history, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• 1965: Published The Americans: The National Experience. New York: Random House; awarded Francis Parkman Prize, 1966
• 1966: Editor, An American Primer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• 1968: Published The Landmark History of the American People: From Plymouth to Appomattox. New York: Random House
• 1969: Published The Decline of Radicalism: Reflections of America Today. New York: Random House
• 1969 - 1973 : Director, National Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
• 1970: Published The Landmark History of the American People: From Appomattox to the Moon. New York: Random House Published The Sociology of the Absurd: Or, the Application of Professor X. New York: Simon & Schuster
• 1972: Editor, American Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson
• 1973: Published The Americans: The Democratic Experience. New York: Random House; awarded Pulitizer Prize, 1974
• 1973 - 1975 : Senior historian, National Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
• 1974: Published Democracy and Its Discontents: Reflections on Everyday America. New York: Random House
• 1974 - 1981 : Member, State Department's Indo-American Joint Subcommittee on Education and Culture
• 1975 - 1987 : Librarian of Congress
• 1976: Published The Exploring Spirit: America and the World, Then and Now. New York: Random House
• 1978: Published The Republic of Technology. New York: Harper & Row
• 1978 - 1984 : Member, Japan-United States Friendship Committee
• 1981: Published with Brooks M. Kelley and Ruth Frankel Boorstin The History of the United States. Lexington: Ginn
• 1981 - circa 1991 : Member, board of editors, Encyclopedia Britannica
• 1983: Published The Discoverers. New York: Random House; awarded Watson-Davis Prize for History of Science and Society, 1986
• 1987: Published Hidden History. New York: Harper & Row
• 1987: Named Librarian of Congress Emeritus
• 1989: Published The Republic of Letters: Librarian of Congress Daniel J. Boorstin on Books, Reading, and Libraries, 1975-87. Washington: Library of Congress Awarded the Charles Frankel Prize of the National Endowment for the Humanities Awarded the National Book Award Medal for distinguished contribution to American letters
• 1992: Published The Creators. New York: Random House
• 1994: Published Cleopatra's Nose: Essays on the Unexpected. New York: Random House
• 1995: Published The Daniel J. Boorstin Reader. New York: Modern Library
• 2004, Feb, 28: Died, Washington, D.C.

From the guide to the Daniel J. Boorstin Papers, 1882-1995, (bulk 1944-1994), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)