Harold James Perkin (11 November 1926 – 16 October 2004) was a distinguished English social historian who was the founder of the

Social History Society ''Cultural and Social History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering cultural and social history published by Routledge five times a year on behalf of the Social History Society. It was established in 2004. Abstracting and indexing The j ...

in 1976.

Background

Harold Perkin was born in

Hanley, Staffordshire Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. The town is the main business, commercial and cultural hub o ...

, on 11 November 1926 as the eldest child of five in the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

family of Robert James Perkin, a builder, and his wife Hilda May Dillon. He attended

Hanley High School Mitchell High School was a comprehensive school located in Bucknall, Stoke on Trent, England. Admissions Situated in the east of Stoke-on-Trent in Townsend on the A52, it had a catchment from the communities of Bucknall, Bentilee and Abbey Hu ...

and won a scholarship to

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, from 1945, gaining a starred First Class degree in 1948. At Cambridge, he was involved in amateur dramatics, and was a member of the cast of ''La Vie Cambridgienne'', the first

Cambridge Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

revue to be televised by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. After

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the RAF, he was rejected by his Cambridge college to study for a

PhD 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 graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

on the basis that his abilities, "though considerable", did not lie in the direction of academic research. He began extramural history teaching from 1950 with the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

Academic career

Perkin was a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

social history Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. Historians who write social history are called social historians. Social history came to prominence in the 1960s, spreading f ...

at the

(1951–1965), then a Senior Lecturer (1965–1967), a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

(1967–1984) in social history and Director of the centre for social history (1974–84) at the

University of Lancaster Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

, and an

Emeritus Professor ''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

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

(1985–1997). In addition, he held a visiting professorship at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

and founded the

. Perkin was Chairman (1976–1991), and served as chief salary negotiator for the

Association of University Teachers The Association of University Teachers (AUT) was the trade union and professional association that represented academic (teaching and research) and academic-related (librarians, IT professionals and senior administrators) staff at pre-1992 uni ...

, of which he was later President. He was a distinguished, pioneering social historian, whose interests included transport.

Publications

* Complete text in pdf
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Television

Television shows for

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

*''The Age of the Railway'', 1970 *''The Age of the Automobile'', 1976 Both were later issued in book form.

References

External links

Harold Perkin
Entry at 'Making History' website, Institute of Historical Research, University of London. Accessed December 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkin, Harold 1926 births 2004 deaths British social historians Rice University staff Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Academics of Lancaster University People from Hanley, Staffordshire Northwestern University faculty People educated at Hanley High School Writers from Staffordshire Place of death missing 20th-century British historians 21st-century English historians 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel