John "Jack" Lovell Thomas (28 October 1926 – June 11, 2005) was the George L. Littlefield Professor of American History at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, Rhode Island, USA. He entered

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...

, Maine in 1944 to study history. He then taught for a year at Washington Academy, East Machias, Maine before enrolling for a year at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, New York, where he was awarded an M.A. degree in 1950. He then taught for four years at

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

, New York and for a further five at Brown University, where he received his Ph.D. After a further three years teaching at Harvard University he returned to Brown University as Littlefield Professor, remaining there until his retirement in 2002. He was awarded the 1964

Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, d ...

for his biography of

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...

, ''The Liberator''. His other books include ''Alternative America'' and ''A Country in the Mind''. He benefitted from a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1966 and was a

Woodrow Wilson Fellow The Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly known as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) is a nonpartisan, non-profit institution based in Princeton, New Jersey that says it aims to strengthen American democracy by "cultivating ...

in 1982. He was married with one son and one daughter.

References

1926 births 2005 deaths Brown University alumni American historians of education Harvard University faculty Brown University faculty Academics from Portland, Maine Historians from Maine Bowdoin College alumni Columbia University alumni {{US-historian-stub