Nathan Huggins facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nathan Huggins
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| Born | January 14, 1927 |
| Died | December 5, 1989 (aged 62) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Historian, author and educator |
Nathan Irvin Huggins (born January 14, 1927 – died December 5, 1989) was an important American historian, writer, and teacher. He was a top expert in African American studies. This field focuses on the history and culture of Black people in America.
Huggins taught history and African American studies at Harvard University. He also led the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research. He passed away in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when he was 62 years old.
Early Life and Challenges
Nathan Huggins was born in Chicago, Illinois, on January 14, 1927. His father, Winston J. Huggins, worked on railroads. His mother, Marie Warsaw, was Jewish.
When Nathan was 12, his father left the family. His mother then moved them to San Francisco, California. Sadly, his mother died two years later. This left 14-year-old Nathan and his sister to take care of themselves.
Nathan went to high school and worked many jobs. He was a warehouse worker, a longshoreman (someone who loads and unloads ships), and a porter. Near the end of World War II, he joined the army. He finished high school while serving in the military. Later, he used the GI Bill of Rights to go to college. This bill helped soldiers pay for their education.
Education Journey
Nathan Huggins first studied at the University of California at Berkeley. He earned his first degree (A.B.) in 1954 and his master's degree (M.A.) in 1955.
He then continued his studies at Harvard University. There, he received another master's degree (A.M.) in 1957. He earned his Ph.D. in history in 1962.
A Life in Academia
Huggins started his teaching career as an assistant professor. He taught at several colleges, including California State University, Long Beach and University of Massachusetts Boston.
In 1970, he joined Columbia University as a history professor. Ten years later, he moved to Harvard University. He became the first W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of History and Afro-American Studies. He also became the director of the Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research.
Huggins believed that to truly understand American history, you needed to understand the history of African Americans. He studied topics like slavery and how it affected American society and culture. He argued that what people often called "American history" was really just "white American history." He felt it was incomplete without the Black experience.
His book Black Odyssey tells the story of how African Americans created their own culture and identity. It shows the deep impact of the Middle Passage (the journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic) and slavery in North America. His study of the Harlem Renaissance also helped people understand American society during the 1920s, known as the Jazz Age.
Nathan Huggins also wrote an important book about Frederick Douglass, a famous abolitionist. He also edited a series of biographies called Black Americans of Achievement. At the time of his death, he was working on books about Ralph Bunche, a Nobel Prize winner, and the Civil Rights Movement.
In 1981, Huggins started the W. E. B. Du Bois Lectureship. This program brings important speakers to Harvard to talk about African American life, history, and culture. Students at Harvard praised Huggins for his clear and interesting lectures.
Key Books and Works
- Protestants Against Poverty: Boston's Charities, 1870–1900 (1971). ISBN: 0-8371-3307-6
- Harlem Renaissance. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971. ISBN: 0-19-501665-3
- Key issues in the Afro-American experience. Edited by Nathan I. Huggins, Martin Kilson [and] Daniel M. Fox. New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich [1971] 2 vols. ISBN: 0-15-548371-4 (vol. 1). ISBN: 0-15-548372-2 (vol. 2)
- Voices From the Harlem Renaissance. New York: Oxford University Press (1976). ISBN: 0-19-501955-5
- Black Odyssey: The African-American Ordeal in Slavery. New York: Pantheon (1977; 2with new introduction, 1990). ISBN: 0-679-72814-7
- Slave and Citizen: The Life of Frederick Douglass. Boston: Little, Brown (1980). ISBN: 0-316-38000-8
- Afro-American Studies: A Report to the Ford Foundation. New York: Ford Foundation (1985). ISBN: 0-916584-25-9
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Writings: The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade, The Souls of Black Folk, Dusk of Dawn, essays, articles from The Crisis, ed. Nathan I. Huggins. Penguin USA (1986). ISBN: 1-883011-31-0
- Revelations: American History, American Myths, ed. Brenda Smith Huggins. New York: Oxford University Press (1995). ISBN: 0-19-508236-2
