Sydney Eckman Ahlstrom (December 16, 1919 – July 3, 1984) was an American historian. He was a

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

professor and a specialist in the

religious history The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The prehistory of religion involves the stu ...

of the United States.

Biography

Ahlstrom was born on December 16, 1919, in Cokato,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, the son of Joseph T. Ahlstrom (1878–1942) and Selma (Eckman) Ahlstrom (1881–1976), who were

Swedish-American Swedish Americans () are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times, with notable migration waves occurring in the 19th and early 20th centuries and approximately 1.2 million arrivi ...

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

. He graduated from

Gustavus Adolphus College Gustavus Adolphus College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans led by Eric Norelius and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Gustavu ...

St. Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church. He appears repe ...

, Minnesota, with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1941, and served in the US Army during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He earned a master's degree at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1946 and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1952. He was a

Fulbright fellow The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, France, and an instructor at Harvard before joining Yale in 1954. In 1973, he received the

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

in category Philosophy and Religion for ''A Religious History of the American People'' (1972)..

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

. Retrieved 2012-03-08. He was elected a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1978. In 1979, he was awarded

The Christian Century ''The Christian Century'' is a Christian magazine based in Chicago, Illinois. Considered the flagship magazine of US mainline Protestantism, the monthly reports on religious news; comments on theological, moral, and cultural issues; and reviews ...

Award for the Decade's Most Outstanding Book on Religion. At the time of his retirement from Yale in 1984, he held the position of Samuel Knight Professor of American History and Modern Religious History. He died on July 3, 1984, in

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

Bibliography

Books

* '' A Religious History of the American People'' (1972; 2nd ed. 2004) * ''The American frontier and the Protestant missionary response'' (1960)

Edited volumes

* ''An American reformation: A documentary history of Unitarian Christianity'', edited with Jonathan S. Carey (1998) * ''Theology in America: The major Protestant voices from Puritanism to Neo-Orthodoxy'' (1967)

Representative articles

* "The Scottish Philosophy and American Theology," ''Church History,'' Vol. 24, No. 3 (Sep., 1955), pp. 257–27
in JSTOR
* "Continental Influence on American Christian Thought Since World War I," ''Church History,'' Vol. 27, No. 3 (Sept 1958), pp. 256–27
in JSTOR
* "Theology and the Present-Day Revival," ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'' Vol. 332, Religion in American Society (Nov., 1960), pp. 20–3
in JSTOR
* "Thomas Hooker: Puritanism and Democratic Citizenship: A Preliminary Inquiry into Some Relationships of Religion and American Civic Responsibility," ''Church History,'' Vol. 32, No. 4 (Dec., 1963), pp. 415–43
in JSTOR
* "The Radical Turn in Theology and Ethics: Why It Occurred in 1960s," ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'' Vol. 387, The Sixties: Radical Change in American Religion (Jan., 1970), pp. 1–1
in JSTOR
* "Religion, Revolution and the Rise of Modern Nationalism: Reflections on the American Experience," ''Church History,'' Vol. 44, No. 4 (Dec., 1975), pp. 492–50
in JSTOR
* "The Religious Dimension of American Aspirations," ''Review of Politics'' vol. 38, No. 3, Bicentennial Issue (Jul., 1976), pp. 332–34
in JSTOR
* "The Romantic Religious Revolution and the Dilemmas of Religious History The Romantic Religious Revolution and the Dilemmas of Religious History," ''Church History,'' Vol. 46, No. 2 (Jun., 1977), pp. 149–17
in JSTOR
* "The Problem of the History of Religion in America," ''Church History,'' Vol. 57, Supplement: Centennial Issue (1988), pp. 127–13
in JSTOR

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlstrom, Sydney 1919 births 1984 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century Lutherans American historians of religion American Lutherans American people of Swedish descent Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Gustavus Adolphus College alumni Harvard University alumni Historians from Minnesota Lutheran scholars National Book Award winners People from Cokato, Minnesota Presidents of the American Society of Church History University of Minnesota alumni Yale University faculty United States Army personnel of World War II