David Montgomery (historian)
David Montgomery (December 1, 1927 – December 2, 2011) was a Farnam Professor of History at
Biography
Early years
Montgomery entered undergraduate school at
Over the next 10 years, Montgomery worked as a
Montgomery became a member of the Communist Party USA in 1951 or 1952 due to the party's positions on international issues, racial justice and social unionism. He was active with the party in New York City and briefly in St. Paul. He left the party around 1957.
Montgomery's experience in the Communist Party clearly influenced his research interest in labor radicalism, among other issues, throughout his scholarly career.[4]
Academic career
In 1959, Montgomery entered
On his return to the United States, Montgomery returned to the University of Pittsburgh, becoming chair of the department. He was recruited by several other institutions, eventually accepting a position at Yale. Montgomery taught courses about the history of working people in the United States, the
Following the example of British historian E. P. Thompson, Montgomery encouraged a generation of labor historians to re-examine the core subject matter of labor history, thus defining the new labor history, which examines working-class culture, rather than simply their organizations. He was also influential through his editorship of the journal International Labor and Working-Class History.
In 2001, Montgomery published a book in collaboration with Professor
During the 1990s, Montgomery wrote and spoke about academic freedom, calling for wider availability of information for research and in favor of a larger scope of academic freedom. He claimed that over the presidential administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, access to government documents had been sharply reduced and that this has resulted in less academic freedom. Additionally, Montgomery criticized the Patriot Act and its provisions for surveillance of academics and librarians, arguing they impede academic freedom.[5]
He also served as president of the Organization of American Historians (OAH) from 1999 to 2000.[6]
Death and legacy
David Montgomery died from complications of a brain hemorrhage at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia on December 2, 2011, one day after turning 84.[7]
In the spring of 2012 the Executive Board of the Organization of American Historians approved a new book award in the field of labor and working class history to be named after David Montgomery.[8] Fundraising was begun to build a $50,000 endowment for the prize, after which time the David Montgomery award is to be presented annually by the OAH in conjunction with the Labor and Working-Class History Association.[8]
Works
- ISBN 0-252-00869-3
- ISBN 0-252-02952-6
- Citizen Worker: The Experience of Workers in the United States with Democracy and the Free Market during the Nineteenth Century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-521-42057-1
- ISBN 0-521-22579-5
- Workers' Control in America: Studies in the History of Work, Technology, and Labor Struggles. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979. ISBN 0-521-22580-9
Notes
- ^ Somini Sengupta (2000-02-09). "Groups Reconsider Bookings at Hotels Accused of Racial Bias". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
- ISBN 9780415968263. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
- ^ Wiener, Jon (December 2, 2011). "David Montgomery, 1927-2011". The Nation. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ James R. Barrett, "Class Act: An Interview with David Montgomery," Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas 1:1 (Spring 2004): 23-54.
- ^ Montgomery, David (November 2004). "OAH Committee on Academic Freedom". OAH Newsletter. 32 (4). Organization of American Historians: 5. Archived from the original on 2008-09-08.
- ^ "Past Officers: Organization of American Historians". Archived from the original on 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
- ^ Smith, Pohla (December 5, 2011), Obituary: David Montgomery / Scholar had longtime passion for labor activism, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, archived from the original on February 3, 2012, retrieved December 5, 2011
- ^ a b "David Montgomery Fund," Journal of American History, vol. 99, no. 4 (March 2013), pg. 1349.
External links
- "In Memoriam: David Montgomery," Yale News, December 8, 2011. news.yale.edu/
- David Montgomery, "OAH Committee on Academic Freedom," OAH Newsletter 32, no. 4 (November 2004), 5.
- Jon Wiener, "David Montgomery, 1927-2011," The Nation, December 2, 2011.
- Montgomery Papers David Montgomery Papers, Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University