Henry Graff facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Henry F. Graff
Graff in 2014
Born	Henry Franklin Graff (1921-08-11)August 11, 1921 New York City, U.S.
Died	April 7, 2020(2020-04-07) (aged 98) Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation	Historian, author, college professor
Education	City College (BSS) Columbia University (PhD)
Subject	American Presidency, Foreign relations
Years active	1946–2000
Spouse	Edith Graff

Henry Franklin Graff (born August 11, 1921 – died April 7, 2020) was an American historian. A historian is someone who studies and writes about the past. He taught at Columbia University from 1946 to 1991. He even led the History Department there for a while.

Graff was an expert on the history of the U.S. Presidency and how America dealt with other countries. He created a special class called the "Seminar on the Presidency." This class was so popular that two presidents, Harry S. Truman and Gerald Ford, actually attended it! Graff also helped choose the winners for the Pulitzer Prize in American history twice.

Presidents also asked for his help. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson asked him to join a historical publications group. Later, in 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed him to a board that looked into records about President John F. Kennedy's assassination. Columbia University honored him in 2005 for his important work in American history. Henry Graff died from complications related to COVID-19.

Early Life and Education

Henry Franklin Graff was born in New York City on August 11, 1921. His parents, Florence B. Morris and Samuel F. Graff, were from New York and had German Jewish backgrounds. He also had a twin sister named Myra.

Graff went to George Washington High School. He then studied at City College of New York, where he earned a degree in 1941. He was a very good student and was invited to join the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. In 1942, he started studying for his master's degree at Columbia University. He was the first Jewish student in the History Department there. He joined the army in 1942, but later finished his master's degree. He returned to teach at Columbia in 1946 and earned his Ph.D. in 1949.

You can read some stories from his life here.

Military Service and Code Breaking

Henry Graff joined the Army right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He started as a private and became a first lieutenant in the Signal Corps before leaving the army in 1946. Because he had studied Japanese at Columbia, he became a Japanese language officer and a cryptanalyst. A cryptanalyst is someone who breaks secret codes.

He worked for the Signal Intelligence Service (SIS), which later became the National Security Agency. In this role, he read secret foreign codes and ciphers, including the famous Purple code.

In 1943, Graff translated a very important message. It was from the Japanese Ambassador to Germany, Hiroshi Oshima. The message described in great detail Germany's plans to stop the Allied invasion in northern France. This information was very helpful to the Allied forces. He also translated a message from Japan to the Soviet Union about Japan's plan to end the war. For his service, he received a War Department Citation and the Army Commendation Medal.

The BBC documentary Hiroshima mentioned that Graff translated a message from Japan to the Soviet Union. This meant he was the first American to know that Japan was about to surrender and the war would soon end.

A Career in History

After leaving the army, Graff taught at City College for a short time. Then, in 1946, he joined the faculty at Columbia University. He taught there until he retired in 1991, and he even served as the head of the History Department.

Besides Columbia, Graff was a visiting professor at Vassar College. He also gave many lectures at other universities, including military academies. He was a special speaker at the United States Air Force Academy.

Graff twice led the jury for the Pulitzer Prize in American history. He also chaired the jury for the Bancroft Prize, another important award for history books.

He was a history expert for Time magazine and for TV networks like CBS and ABC. He often commented on presidential inaugurations for ABC with Peter Jennings. In 2005, he was a commentator for President George W. Bush's second inauguration on Public Broadcasting Service. He also helped with CBS's coverage of President Richard Nixon's funeral in 1994 and ABC's coverage of the D-Day anniversary.

Graff was also on the board of directors for the Rand McNally Company, which makes maps and educational materials. He was also on the board of trustees for the Columbia University Press.

He was a member of many professional groups, like the American Historical Association. He was also a Fellow of the Society of American Historians.

Government Service

Henry Graff served on the National Historical Publications Commission for six years, from 1965 to 1971. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to this role. Starting in 1971, he also served on the Historical Advisory Committee of the United States Air Force.

In 1993, President Clinton nominated him to the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board. The Senate approved his appointment. This board submitted its report to the President in 1998.

Books and Writings

Graff wrote or edited more than a dozen books, mostly about American history. Several of his books were widely used as textbooks.

His first book was Bluejackets with Perry in Japan, published in 1952.

He co-wrote The Modern Researcher with fellow historian Jacques Barzun. This book, first published in 1957, is considered a classic guide for research and editing.

One of Graff's most famous books is The Tuesday Cabinet. This book was about President Lyndon B. Johnson's decisions on peace and war, especially concerning the Vietnam War. Graff based it on many conversations with the President and his advisors.

Another important book is The Presidents: A Reference History (1984). Graff presented copies of this book to Presidents Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush for the White House Library.

He also wrote Grover Cleveland, a book about the former president.

Graff wrote many American history textbooks for high school and middle school students. These include America, The Glorious Republic, This Great Nation, and The Free and the Brave.

Other Publications

Graff wrote many articles for history journals and popular magazines. His book reviews often appeared in The New York Times Book Review. He also wrote articles about the Presidency and world affairs for The New York Times Magazine and the opinion pages of The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times.

He contributed many articles to the Dictionary of American Biography and other encyclopedias. He even wrote biographies of famous baseball players for Scribner’s Encyclopedia of American Lives.

Graff was also involved with the editorial boards of several publications, including Constitution magazine and the Encyclopedia of the American Presidency.

Awards and Honors

Henry Graff received many awards for his teaching and writing. He won Columbia University's Great Teacher Award and the Mark Van Doren Award. Students at Columbia College gave him the Van Doren Award for his excellent teaching and scholarship. City College also gave him the Townsend Harris Medal for his achievements after graduation.

In 1990, he received the Kidger Award for being an outstanding teacher and author.

He was honored with a Senior Fellowship at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia. This allowed him to work on a book of essays about the Presidency.

In 1997, he received the President's Medal from George Washington University. This is the university's highest award. On March 16, 1997, he received the James Madison Award from the American Library Association. This award recognized him as a "champion of the right to know" for his work on the Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board.

In 2000, the Westchester Community College Foundation gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2001, the Kaul Foundation honored him for his excellence in education and scholarship.

Finally, in 2005, Columbia University gave him an honorary Litt.D. degree.

Personal Life

Henry Graff married Edith Krantz on June 16, 1946. She passed away in 2019. They had two daughters, Iris Morse and Ellen Graff. They also had five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The family lived in Scarsdale, Westchester County, New York.

He died in a hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut, on April 7, 2020. He was 98 years old and died from complications of COVID-19.

Works

See also

In Spanish: Henry Graff para niños