Samuel G. Freedman
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Samuel G. Freedman (born October 3, 1955) is an American
author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
,
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
, and longtime professor at the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...
.


Biography

Born in 1955 in
Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450 bed non-profit, Tertiary care, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the reg ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, Freedman was raised in
Highland Park, New Jersey Highland Park is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the New York City metropolitan area. The borough is located on the northern banks of the Raritan River, in th ...
, along with his younger brother and sister. His father, David Freedman, co-founded the life science company New Brunswick Scientific (now a subsidiary of Eppendorf). His mother, Eleanor (
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Hatkin), was the subject of his book, ''Who She Was''. A paper boy in his youth, Freedman went on to attend the
University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
after graduating Highland Park High School in 1973. After receiving his bachelor's degree in journalism and history in 1977, Freedman went on to work at the ''
Courier News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees *John Curley, former presi ...
'' in New Jersey and later the '' Suburban Trib'', a now-defunct subsidiary of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
''. Before publishing his first book in 1990 and gaining his professorship 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 ...
, Freedman was a staff reporter for the culture section of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Freedman has authored multiple nonfiction books, including ''Who She Was: A Son's Search for His Mother's Life'', a book about his mother's life as a teenager and young woman, and ''Letters to a Young Journalist''. He won a National Jewish Book Award in 2000 in the non-fiction category for ''Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry.'' His book ''The Inheritance: How Three Families Moved from Roosevelt to Reagan and Beyond'' was a finalist for the 1997
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
. His book ''Breaking the Line: The Season in Black College Football That Transformed the Sport and Changed the Course of Civil Rights'' was published in 2013. His book about
Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American politician who served from 1965 to 1969 as the 38th vice president of the United States. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Minnesota from 19 ...
, '' Into the Bright Sunshine'', was published in 2023. Freedman has also written the "On Religion" column in ''The New York Times'' and formerly wrote the "In the Diaspora" column in ''
The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
''. Freedman served as a judge for the 2019 and 2020 American Mosaic Journalism Prize. In the spring of 2025, Freedman taught his final semester at Columbia, concluding 35 years of teaching—over the years, there were 95 books published by the approximately 675 students who took the class.


Works

*''Small Victories: The Real World of a Teacher, Her Students, and Their High School'', New York: Harper and Row (1990) *''Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church'', New York: HarperCollins (1993) *''The Inheritance: How Three Families Moved from Roosevelt to Reagan and Beyond'', New York: Simon & Schuster (1996) *''Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry'', New York: Simon & Schuster (2000) *''Who She Was: A Son's Search for His Mother's Life'', New York: Simon & Schuster (2005) *''Letters to a Young Journalist'', New York: Basic Books (2006, revised and updated in 2011) *''Breaking the Line: The Season in Black College Football That Transformed the Sport and Changed the Course of Civil Rights'', New York: Simon & Schuster (2013) *'' Into the Bright Sunshine'', Oxford University Press (2023)


Views

Freedman has described
white identity White identity is the objective or subjective state of perceiving oneself as a white person and as relating to being white. White identity has been researched in data and polling, historically and in social sciences. There are however polarized p ...
as "a source of power and privilege", that has been utilized historically in the United States in "opposition to black progress" (commonly called
white backlash White backlash, also known as white rage or whitelash, is related to the politics of white grievance, and is the negative response of some white people to the racial progress, or perceived favoritism of other ethnic groups in rights and economi ...
). He has also suggested that
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
's administration has used the conservative movement and Republicanism as a vehicle for white identity.


References


External links

*
Biography
at columbia.edu
Author page
on Amazon.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Freedman, Samuel G. 1955 births Living people American male journalists Columbia University faculty The New York Times columnists Jewish American journalists Highland Park High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Highland Park, New Jersey University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication alumni Writers from Manhattan Writers from Middlesex County, New Jersey 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews