Otis Livingston Graham Jr. (1935 – 2017) was an American historian, with a special interest in

political history Political history is the narrative and survey of political events, ideas, movements, organs of government, voters, parties and leaders. It is closely related to other fields of history, including diplomatic history, constitutional history, soci ...

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

, and

public history Public history is a broad range of activities undertaken by people with some training in the discipline of history who are generally working outside of specialized academic settings. Public history practice is deeply rooted in the areas of historic ...

. Born in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, on June 25, 1935, Graham received his BA in history from

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 ...

in 1957 (he also was a varsity wrestler at Yale). After serving three years as an officer in the

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

, he earned his PhD in history 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 ...

in 1966 (under

Richard Hofstadter Richard Hofstadter (August 6, 1916October 24, 1970) was an American historian and public intellectual of the mid-20th century. Hofstadter was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. Rejecting his earlier historic ...

and

William Leuchtenburg William Edward Leuchtenburg ( ; September 28, 1922 – January 28, 2025) was an American historian who was the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a leading scholar of the life and ...

) with a doctoral dissertation entitled ''The Old Progressive and the New Deal: A Study of the Modern Reform Tradition''. He taught at Mount Vernon Seminary and College and then

California State University, Hayward California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post-baccala ...

, before he joined the Department of History at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, in 1966 (the same year as Alfred Gollin). Graham taught there until 1980, when he became Distinguished University Professor at the

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. He returned to the history department at the

, in 1989 and taught there until 1995. From 1990 to 1997 he served as editor of '' The Public Historian''. He then taught at the

University of North Carolina, Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington, or University of North Carolina at Wilmington, (UNC Wilmington or UNCW) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system and enrol ...

, until 2002. Graham published over 25 books during his career. He also served on the Council of 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 ...

from 1971 to 1974. Graham was awarded fellowships by the

John Simon Guggenheim Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...

, the

Woodrow Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank dedicated to research and policy discussions on global issues. Established by an act of Congress in 1968, it serves as both ...

, 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 ...

, and the

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research institution at Stanford University designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge about human behavior and society, and contribute to the resoluti ...

. He became interested in immigration later in his career and served as founding chairman of the

Center for Immigration Studies The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) is an American anti-immigration think tank. It favors far lower immigration numbers and produces analyses to further those views. The CIS was founded by historian Otis L. Graham alongside eugenicist a ...

. He died on November 14, 2017, in

Westlake Village Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County, California, on its western border with Ventura County. Upon its incorporation in 1981, Westlake Village became the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks We ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Selected publications

*Otis L. Graham, ''An Encore for Reform: The Old Progressives and the New Deal'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967). *Otis L. Graham, ''Toward a Planned Society: From Roosevelt to Nixon'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1976) *Otis L. Graham, ''Losing Time: The Industrial Policy Debate'' (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992). *Otis L. Graham, ''Unguarded Gates: A History of America's Immigration Crisis'' (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004) *Otis L. Graham, ''Immigration Reform and America's Unchosen Future'' (Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2008) *Otis L. Graham, ''Presidents and the American Environment'' (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2015)

References

External links

* 1935 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American historians American academic journal editors American male non-fiction writers Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Historians of immigration to the United States Historians of the United States Political historians Public historians University of California, Santa Barbara faculty University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty University of North Carolina at Wilmington faculty Writers from Nashville, Tennessee Yale University alumni Anti-immigration activists {{US-historian-stub