Frederic Bancroft
{{short description|American historian}}
File:Bookplate, "Columbia University in the City of New York" "The Libraries" "Bequest of Frederic Bancroft 1860-1945" - from, The centennial memorial of the Presbytery of Carlisle v2 (page 2 crop).jpg of bequest of Frederic Bancroft to Columbia University Library, New York City]]
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Frederic Bancroft (October 30, 1860, in Galesburg, Illinois – February 22, 1945) was an American historian, author, and librarian. The Bancroft Prize, one of the most distinguished academic awards in the field of history, was established at Columbia University in his memory and that of his brother, Edgar Bancroft.
Biography
Bancroft was born in Galesburg, Illinois, and graduated with an A.B. from Amherst College and a PhD from Columbia University. He was a lecturer for one year at Columbia, and served as librarian of the State Department from 1888 to 1892.Obituary, The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 30, No. 2 (April 1945), pp. 245–247
Bancroft was an active member of the American Historical Association, and was the unofficial leader of a group from 1913–1915 that called for the reform of the organization's election procedures, ultimately securing such reforms at the 1915 meeting although failing to topple what he viewed as the oligarchy led by J. Franklin Jameson.Palmer, R. R. (February 1971). [http://www.historians.org/info/AHA_History/rrpalmer.htm "The American Historical Association in 1970"]. The American Historical Review. 76 (1): 1–15.
Bancroft was the author of two well-regarded books on the South, Slave Trading in the Old South in 1931{{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=Frederic |date=1996 |url=http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/1996/3103.html |title=Slave Trading in the Old South |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |series=Southern Classics |edition=New |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414112706/http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/1996/3103.html |archive-date=April 14, 2009 |ISBN=1-57003-103-7}} and A Sketch of the Negro in Politics, Especially in South Carolina and Mississippi in 1885.{{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=Frederic |date=1885 |title=A Sketch of the Negro in Politics, Especially in South Carolina and Mississippi |location=New York |publisher=AMS Press |edition=1976 reprint}} In 1900, he also wrote a biography of William H. Seward.Bancroft, Frederic (1900). The Life of William H. Seward.
Through his bequest, in 1948 the Bancroft Prize was established at Columbia University in his memory and that of his brother, diplomat and attorney Edgar Bancroft.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110523202344/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,797277,00.html "Education: Historian's Heritage"] Time, March 12, 1945. It is considered one of the most distinguished academic awards in the field of history.{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/news/libraries/2006/2006-05-18.bancroft_dinner.print.html |title=Columbia University Hosts 2006 Bancroft Prizes Dinner |publisher=Columbia University Libraries News & Information |date=May 18, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922143647/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/news/libraries/2006/2006-05-18.bancroft_dinner.print.html |archive-date=September 22, 2006}}
References
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External links
{{commons category|Frederic Bancroft}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Frederic Bancroft}}
- {{cite BDA1906 |wstitle= Bancroft, Frederic |volume= 1 |page= 202 |short=1}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110114020449/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eguides/amerihist/bancroft.html Bancroft Prize] on Columbia University's website
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Category:19th-century American historians
Category:20th-century American historians
Category:Amherst College alumni
Category:Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Category:Columbia University faculty
Category:Librarians from Illinois