John garraty biography

John Arthur Garraty (July 4, 1920 – December 19, 2007) was an.
The historical profession lost a giant with the passing of John A. Garraty, the Gouverneur Morris Professor of History emeritus at Columbia University.
He was born in Brooklyn on July 4, 1920.

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Remembering John Garraty

The historical profession lost a giant with the passing of John A. Garraty, the Gouverneur Morris Professor of History emeritus at Columbia University. The author and editor of numerous American history books, Garraty was one of the most prolific historians of his generation. I worked as his last research assistant, and I once asked him the secret of his prolificness, as if expecting him to reveal some secret formula or regimen. In addition to his writing, he had a family, taught classes, vacationed at a Paris apartment and even ran the New York City marathon. Amidst all this activity, he still wrote copiously. “Where do you find the time?” I asked.

“Time?” he responded. “Time is a question of priorities. Only the dead have run out of time. They’ve met their final deadline.” I began to laugh, because it seemed a curious way to answer my question. But when I laughed, Dr. Garraty put up his hand. “No, I’m serious,” he said. “If something ranks high enough as a priority, you’ll find the time.”

Time ran out for Dr. Garraty on December 19, as he died at

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John A. Garraty (1920-2007)

AHA vice president and editor of American National Biography; presided over the Society of American Historians

John A. Garraty, Gouverneur Morris Professor emeritus at Columbia University, died on December 19, 2007, of heart failure at his home in Sag Harbor, New York. He was born in Brooklyn on July 4, 1920. After earning his BA from Brooklyn College in 1941, he served as an instructor in the Merchant Marine during World War II. After the war he studied at Columbia University, receiving his PhD in 1948. His dissertation on Silas Wright, governor of New York in the 1840s, was published in 1949. That same year he began teaching at Michigan State University. In 1959 he returned to Columbia, where he remained for four decades, chairing the department during part of the 1970s. From 1969 to 1971, he served as president of the Society of American Historians. He was vice president of the AHA's Teaching Division 1983–85.

In an era of increased specialization within the historical profession, Jack Garraty moved in the opposite direction. I

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John A. Garraty

American historian and biographer

John Arthur Garraty (July 4, 1920 – December 19, 2007) was an American historian and biographer.^[1] He specialized largely in American political and economic history.^[2]

Garraty earned an undergraduate degree at Brooklyn College in 1941 and completed his doctorate at Columbia University in 1948. During World War II, he served in the United States Merchant Marine as a swimming instructor.^[1] His 1953 biography, Henry Cabot Lodge (Knopf, 1953), was the first scholarly and authoritative life of the Massachusetts politician Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924); a notable feature of that book was the set of footnotes written at Garraty's invitation by Lodge's grandson, Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (1902-1985), expressing disagreement with some of Garraty's interpretations and findings. He taught at Michigan State University for 12 years before joining the Columbia University History Department in 1959.^[2] Garraty also served as the president of the Society of American Historians.^[3]