Rodman Wilson Paul (1912–1987) was an American historian who taught at the
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
. He was known primarily as a foremost authority on
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
mining and agricultural Native American history.
Life and career
Paul was born in Philadelphia and raised near
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
, Massachusetts. He received his AB (1936), AM (1937) and PhD (1943) from
Harvard. His PhD adviser at Harvard was
Frederick Merk
Frederick Merk (August 15, 1887 – September 24, 1977) was an American historian. He taught at Harvard University from 1924 to 1956.
Biography
Frederick Merk was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1887. He graduated from the University of W ...
. From 1943 to 1946 he served in the
Navy Reserve. In 1947 he went to Caltech. His choice for going there was partly based on an interest he developed in the history of the far West after a trip he took to Arizona to recuperate from an illness. He eventually became the
Edward S. Harkness
Edward Stephen Harkness (January 22, 1874 – January 29, 1940) was an American philanthropist. Given privately and through his family's Commonwealth Fund, Harkness' gifts to private hospitals, art museums, and educational institutions in the Nort ...
Professor of History. After retirement in 1972, he continued work as a researcher at the
Huntington Library
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...
.
Paul wrote many books and articles, and was recognized with several awards including the 1984 Henry R. Wagner Memorial Award. He earned the Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities award and he was a fellow of the
California Historical Society
The California Historical Society (CHS) is the official historical society of California. It was founded in 1871, by a group of prominent Californian intellectuals at Santa Clara University. It was officially designated as the Californian state h ...
, served on the board of the Pasadena and Santa Barbara historical societies, and was a member of the
NASA Historical Advisory Committee The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Historical Advisory Committee was established in 1964.
History
The NASA Historical Office was established under its first chief historian, Dr. Eugene Emme in 1960. The committee was first ma ...
. The Mining History Association's Rodman Paul Award recognizes individuals who have contributed to the understanding of American mining history.
Bibliography
The following is a selected list of the works of Rodman Paul. Not listed are his many book reviews of works by other authors.
Books
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Articles
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References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Rodman W.
1912 births
1987 deaths
Harvard University alumni
California Institute of Technology faculty
Historians of California
20th-century American historians
20th-century American male writers
American male non-fiction writers