Daniel Aaron

Daniel Aaron (August 4, 1912 – April 30, 2016) was an American writer and academic who helped found the Library of America.[2]

For the American businessman and entrepreneur, see Comcast.
Daniel Aaron
Aaron in a 2010 interview
Born
Daniel Baruch Aaron

(1912-08-04)August 4, 1912
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.[1]
DiedApril 30, 2016(2016-04-30) (aged 103)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Michigan (BA)
Harvard University (PhD)
Occupation(s)Americanist, academic
EmployerHarvard University
TitleVictor S. Thomas Professor of English and American Literature Emeritus
Board member ofLibrary of America
AwardsNational Humanities Medal

Education

Daniel Baruch Aaron, the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, was born in 1912.[3] Aaron received a BA from the University of Michigan, and later went on to do graduate studies at Harvard University.[4] In 1937, Aaron became the first to graduate with a degree in "American Civilization" from Harvard University.[2]

Career

Writing

Aaron published his first scholarly paper in 1935, "Melville and the Missionaries". He wrote studies on the American Renaissance, the Civil War, and American progressive writers. His last work was an autobiography, The Americanist (2007).[5] He edited the diaries of American poet Arthur Crew Inman (1895–1963): some 17 million words from 1919 to 1963.[6] He wrote a number of articles for the New York Review of Books.[7]

Teaching

Aaron taught at Smith College for three decades and at Harvard (1971-1983). He was the Victor S. Thomas Professor of English and American Literature Emeritus at Harvard.[5] His son, Jonathan Aaron, is an accomplished poet who holds a doctorate from Yale University and teaches writing at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.

Publishing

In 1979,[8] he helped found the Library of America, where he served as president to 1985 and board member and remained an emeritus board member.[9][10]

Recognition

Aaron was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1973[11] and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1977.[12]

He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Harvard University in 2007.[13]

In 2010, he was a National Humanities Medalist,[10][14][15] whose citation reads:

Daniel Aaron: Literary scholar for his contributions to American literature and culture. As the founding president of the Library of America, he helped preserve our nation's heritage by publishing America's most significant writing in authoritative editions.[16][17]

Selected works

Writing
  • Commonplace Book, 1934-2012 (Pressed Wafer 2015)[4]
  • Scrap Book (Pressed Wafer 2014)
  • The Americanist (2007).[1]
  • American Notes: Selected Essays (1994).[18]
  • Cincinnati, Queen City of the West: 1819-1838 (1992)[18]
  • The Unwritten War: American Writers and the Civil War (1973)[18]
  • America in Crisis: Fourteen Crucial Episodes in American History (1971)[18]
  • Writers on the Left: Episodes in American Literary Communism (1961,[19] 1974 and 1992[18])
  • Men of Good Hope (1951)[4]

Editing

See also

References
  1. Dirda, Michael "From scholar Daniel Aaron, the long view of civilization". The Washington Post May 6, 2007.
  2. Cromie, William J., Ken Gewertz, Corydon Ireland, and Alvin Powell. "Honorary degrees awarded at Commencement's Morning Exercises", Archived 2008-05-04 at the Wayback Machine The Harvard Gazette. June 7, 2007.
  3. "Daniel Aaron, scholar who helped develop academic field of American studies, dies at 103". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  4. Roberts, Sam (2016-05-04). "Daniel Aaron, Critic and Historian Who Pioneered American Studies, Dies at 103". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  5. "Scholars Venerable". The Harvard Gazette. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  6. Jaynes, Gregory (June 21, 2005). "In Boston: Inside a Tortured Mind". Time. Archived from the original on February 22, 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  7. "Contributor: Daniel Aaron". New York Review of Books. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  8. "Board of Directors". Library of America. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  9. "History and Mission". Library of America. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  10. "2010 National Humanities Medalists". National Endowment for the Humanities. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  11. "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter A" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. p. 1. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  12. "Current Members". American Academy of Arts and Letters. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  13. "Honorary degree recipients and citations, 2007". 14 June 2007.
  14. "National Humanities Medals Awarded". The Harvard Gazette. March 2011. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  15. Serpe, Nick. "Awards & honors: 2010 National Humanities Medalist - Daniel Aaron". National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  16. "Winners of the National Humanities Medal and the Charles Frankel Prize". National Endowment for the Humanities. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  17. "'The Americanist' Author Daniel Aaron Awarded National Humanities Medal". University of Michigan Press. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  18. "Books by Daniel Aaron". New York Review of Books. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  19. "Writers on the Left". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 13 December 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
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