Eric Foner

Eric Foner
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Name	Eric Foner
Caption	Foner in 2017
Birth date	7 February 1943
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Columbia College (BA), University of Oxford (BA, MA), Columbia University (PhD)
Occupation	Historian, author, professor
Known for	History of the American Civil War, Reconstruction era, slavery in the United States
Spouse	Lynn Garafola (m. 1974)
Awards	Pulitzer Prize for History (2011), Bancroft Prize (1989, 2006), Lincoln Prize (2011)

Eric Foner is a preeminent American historian whose work has fundamentally reshaped the understanding of the American Civil War, the Reconstruction era, and the legacy of slavery in the United States. A prolific author and influential public intellectual, he is the DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University. His scholarship, characterized by a focus on the struggle for freedom and the expansion of democracy, has earned him numerous accolades including the Pulitzer Prize for History and the Bancroft Prize.

Early life and education

Born in New York City to a family deeply engaged with historical and political discourse, his father was the historian Jack D. Foner and his uncle was the activist Philip S. Foner. He attended Columbia College, graduating in 1963, before pursuing further studies at Oxford University as a Kellett Fellow. He returned to New York City to complete his doctoral degree at Columbia University in 1969 under the supervision of Richard Hofstadter, producing a dissertation that would become his first book.

Academic career

Foner began his teaching career at City College of New York before joining the history department at Columbia University in 1982, where he spent the remainder of his academic career. At Columbia, he served as chair of the history department and held the prestigious DeWitt Clinton Professorship. He has also been a visiting professor at institutions including Cambridge University and the University of Oxford, and has delivered the prestigious Jefferson Lecture in the humanities. His mentorship has guided a generation of scholars specializing in nineteenth-century American history.

Historical scholarship

Foner's seminal work, Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, published in 1988, revolutionized the field by centering the agency of African Americans and framing the period as a radical, if ultimately defeated, experiment in interracial democracy. This book earned him the Bancroft Prize and the Francis Parkman Prize. His other major works include The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History, the Bancroft Prize, and the Lincoln Prize; The Story of American Freedom; and Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad. His scholarship consistently explores themes of emancipation, citizenship, and the contested meanings of Civil War memory.

Awards and honors

Foner has received nearly every major honor in the historical profession. He is a two-time winner of the Bancroft Prize, for Reconstruction and The Fiery Trial. For the latter, he also received the Pulitzer Prize for History and the Lincoln Prize in 2011. He has been awarded the Francis Parkman Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the American History Book Prize. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and has been president of both the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association.

Public engagement and influence

Beyond academia, Foner is a prominent public intellectual, frequently contributing to publications like The New York Times, The Nation, and The London Review of Books. He has served on editorial boards for Past & Present and the Encyclopedia of African American History. His expertise is often sought for documentaries and public lectures, and he has been a vocal commentator on contemporary political issues, drawing historical parallels to modern debates about racial inequality, voting rights, and historical monuments. His textbooks and survey works, including Give Me Liberty!, have introduced his interpretive frameworks to countless university students across the United States.

Category:American historians Category:Columbia University faculty Category:Pulitzer Prize winners