David Brody (born June 5, 1930) is an American historian, who is professor
emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
In some c ...
of history at the
University of California-Davis.
Life and education
Brody was born in
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[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 ...]
, he received his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in 1952, a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in 1953 and
Ph.D. in history in 1958. His dissertation director was
Oscar Handlin.
As Brody explains, he did not intend to become a
labor historian:
Research focus
Brody's research focuses on the
American labor movement and American history. Along with
David Montgomery and
Herbert Gutman, he is credited with founding the field of "
new labor history" in North America, which examined
working-class culture
Working-class culture or proletarian culture is a range of cultures created by or popular among working-class people. The cultures can be contrasted with high culture and folk culture, and are often equated with popular culture and low culture (t ...
rather than simply workers' organizations as a source of history.
Brody's most coherent statement of the "
new labor history" can be found in his article titled "The Old Labor History and the New: In Search of an American Working Class" (''Labor History'', 20
979/nowiki>: 111–26).
Brody rose to prominence following the 1960 publication of his pioneering history of early steelworker unions, ''The Steelworkers in America: The Nonunion Era,'' a book based on his doctoral dissertation. He has written numerous articles and book-length treatments of the ethical, organizational and social construction of work and employment.
In the 21st century, Brody has focused on the origins and transformation of American labor law, labor law reform and weaknesses in the structure and interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, an ...
.[Jonathan Rees, "John Fitch, David Brody and the culture of management in American labor history." in ''Advances in Industrial & Labor Relations'' (Emerald Group Publishing, 2003).]
Brody is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis, where he taught for many years. He is affiliated with the Institute of Industrial Relations (IIR) at the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
.
Memberships and awards
Brody is a member of the Society of American Historians and the American Historical Association
The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...
. He served as president of the Pacific Coast branch of the American Historical Association from 1991 to 1992. He is also a member of the Organization of American Historians
The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad incl ...
, and served on the group's executive board from 1976 to 1979.
Brody was a senior fellow for the National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
in 1978. He won a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship in 1983, and was appointed as a senior professor in the Fulbright Program
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 ...
in 1975. In 2008 he won the Sol Stetin Sol Stetin (April 2, 1910 – May 21, 2005) was a Polish-born American labor union leader.
Born in Pabianice, now in Poland, when Stetin was 10, he and his family emigrated to Paterson, New Jersey. He left school in the ninth grade, becoming a ...
Award for Labor History from the Sidney Hillman
Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor ...
Foundation and a Distinguished Service to Labor and Working-Class History Award from the Labor and Working-Class History Association
The Labor and Working-Class History Association (LAWCHA) is a non-profit association of academics, educators, students, and labor movement and other activists that promotes research into and publication of materials on the history of the labor mov ...
.
Brody is a member of Local 3 (San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
Chapter) of the National Writers Union
National Writers Union (NWU) is a trade union in the United States for freelance and contract writers founded on 19 November 1981. NWU is affiliated with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the International Authors Forum (IAF), a ...
, Local 1981, United Auto Workers
The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...
, AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...
.
Books by David Brody
Sole author
* ''Steelworkers in America: The Nonunion Era.'' Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1960; Illini Book edition. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1998.
* ''The Butcher Workmen: A Study of Unionization.'' Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1964.
* ''Labor in Crisis: The Steel Strike of 1919.'' Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1965; Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1987.
* ''Essays on the Age of Enterprise: 1870-1900.'' Ft. Worth: Dryden Press, 1974.
* ''The American Labor Movement.'' Reprint ed. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1985.
* ''In Labor's Cause: Main Themes on the History of the American Worker.'' New York: Oxford University Press USA, 1993.
* ''Workers in Industrial America: Essays on the Twentieth-Century Struggle.'' 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press USA, 1993.
* ''Labor Embattled: History, Power, Rights.'' Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2005. Cloth ; Paperback
Co-written works
* Henretta, James A.; Brody, David; and Dumenil, Lynn. ''America: A Concise History. Volume 2: Since 1865.'' 5th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.
* Henretta, James A.; Brody, David; Dumenil, Lynn; and Ware, Susan. ''America's History. Volume I: To 1877.'' 5th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003.
Important articles
* "Labor History, Industrial Relations, and the Crisis of American Labor." ''Industrial and Labor Relations Review.'' 43(1989):
* "The Old Labor History and the New: In Search of an American Working Class." ''Labor History.'' 20(1979): 111–2
See also
* Labor history (discipline)
Labor history is a sub-discipline of social history which specializes on the history of the working classes and the labor movement. Labor historians may concern themselves with issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and other factors besides class ...
References
*''Who's Who in America.'' 58th ed. New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who's Who, 2004.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brody, David
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
Historians of the United States
Labor historians
Harvard University alumni
University of California, Davis faculty
Writers from Elizabeth, New Jersey
Living people
1930 births
Historians from New Jersey
American male non-fiction writers