Eric Foner Biography

Fast Facts

• Served as the president of three major professional organizations, the Organization of American Historians, American Historical Association and Society of American Historians
• Won the Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize in the same year
• Studied under the supervision of Richard Hofstadter at Columbia University to earn his doctoral degree
• Was inspired to study history by his father, a historian and social activist
• Started college as a physics major, but switched his focus after a year-long seminar on the Civil War and Reconstruction with James P․ Shenton
• Quote: "You cannot understand the United States without knowing about the history of slavery․ Having said that, I don't think we should go too far in drawing parallels to the present․"
• Quote: "[on Lincoln] "He seems like the quintessential American in some ways, and that's why I think every generation takes a new look at him․""
• A prominent historian, he was appointed DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University
• Has published works focusing on the intersection of intellectual, political and social history, as well as the history of race relations in America
• Wrote many books on history, including "Politics and Ideology in the Age of the Civil War" and "The Story of American Freedom․"