David Mark Chalmers (1927 - 25 October 2020) was an American
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
.
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 ...
, Chalmers worked for the American army. After the war, he gained his
Ph.D. in American history at the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
.
In 1955, he started working as an assistant professor at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
. During his long career at the university, he was the chair of the University President's Faculty Educational Policy Group.
Chalmers was active in the
civil rights movement.
He joined the
St. Augustine movement in 1964 and was arrested for participating in the protests in
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...
. He was in jail for a week.
He was also active in demonstrations against the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
.
In 1965, he published ''Hooded Americanism: A History of the Ku Klux Klan''. It was reprinted several times and became his most popular work.
Chalmers was married to the Canadian Jean McCormick Chalmers.
They had two children.
Publications
The social and political ideas of the muckrakers(1964)
with
Ida Minerva Tarbell (1966)
The muckrake years(1974)
Neither socialism nor monopoly: Theodore Roosevelt and the decision to regulate the railroads(1976)
Hooded Americanism: the history of the Ku Klux Klan(1987)
And the crooked places made straight: the struggle for social change in the 1960s(1991)
Backfire: how the Ku Klux Klan helped the civil rights movement(2003)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, David Mark
2020 deaths
1927 births
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
American male non-fiction writers