Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr.

Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. was an American historian and Harvard professor whose work reshaped the study of American social and political history.

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.: An American historian and public intellectual who served as a special assistant to President John F. Kennedy. His son continued the family’s historical scholarship and became a prominent public historian.
The Rise of the City, 1878–1898: Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr.’s study of urban growth and social change in the United States during the late nineteenth century. This book exemplifies his effort to place city life at the center of American social history.
Urban history: The study of cities, urban life, and the processes that shape them over time. Schlesinger’s study of city growth helped make urbanization a central historical subject.
New social history: A movement in historical scholarship that expanded attention to ordinary people, social groups, and everyday life. Schlesinger’s focus on social experience anticipated concerns later central to this movement.
Frederick Jackson Turner: An American historian known for arguing that the western frontier shaped United States democracy and national character. Turner’s influence helped frame Schlesinger’s generation of American historians.
New Viewpoints in American History: A book by Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. presenting interpretive approaches to United States history. It makes his approach to historical interpretation especially visible.
American historiography: The study of how historians have interpreted and written the history of the United States. His scholarship and teaching became part of the story of how American history was written.
Historical method: The practices historians use to investigate evidence and construct accounts of the past. His interpretive books and teaching shaped how students approached historical evidence.
Charles A. Beard: An American historian whose works interpreted United States political institutions through economic interests and social conflict. Beard’s influential interpretations formed part of the intellectual context for Schlesinger’s work.
Harvard University: A private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1636. Schlesinger taught and pursued his historical career at Harvard.

Linked from 1 page