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Taylor Branch (born January 14, 1947) is an American author and historian who wrote a
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 ...
winning trilogy chronicling the life of
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
and much of the history of the American civil rights movement. The final volume of the 2,912-page trilogy, collectively called '' America in the King Years'', was released in January 2006, and an abridgment, ''The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement'', was published in 2013.


Biography


Early life and education

Branch graduated from The Westminster Schools in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
in 1964. From there, he went to the
University of North Carolina at 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 ...
on a Morehead Scholarship. He graduated in 1968 and went on to earn an M.P.A. from the
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (''abbrev.'' SPIA; formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of c ...
at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
in 1970.


Career

Branch served as an assistant editor at '' The Washington Monthly'' from 1970 to 1973; he was Washington editor of ''
Harper's ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'' from 1973 to 1976; and he was Washington columnist for ''
Esquire Magazine ''Esquire'' is an American men's magazine. Currently published in the United States by Hearst, it also has more than 20 international editions. Founded in 1933, it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II under the guidance of ...
'' from 1976 to 1977. He also has written for a variety of other publications, including ''
The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...
'', ''Sport'', ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
'', and ''
Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...
''. In 1972, Branch worked for the
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
campaign of Democratic presidential nominee
George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...
. Branch shared an apartment in Austin with
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, and the two developed a friendship that continues today. He also worked with Hillary Rodham, Bill's then-girlfriend and Yale Law School classmate, and later Clinton's wife. Branch's book on former president
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, ''The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With The President'', was written from many tape-recorded interviews and conversations between the two, most of which occurred in the White House during Clinton's two terms in office and which were not disclosed publicly until 2007. Branch 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 ...
in
politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
and
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
at
Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1885 as a Nonsectarian, nonsecterian Women's colleges in the United States, ...
from 1998 to 2000. Branch ha
also taught
at the
University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt consists of four colleges in applied arts and sciences, Robert G. Merrick School of Bu ...
. Taylor Branch received a five-year
MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 117 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.6 billion and ...
Fellowship (also known as a "genius grant") in 1991 and the
National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the humani ...
in 1999. In 2008, he received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize's Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him by special guest Edwin C. Moses. In 2013, he co-produced '' Schooled: The Price of College Sports'' based on his 2011 book ''The Cartel''. in 2015, he received the BIO Award from Biographers International Organization, for his contributions to the art and craft of biography.


Israeli citizenship controversy

A group of Black Hebrew Israelites described as a cult in ''
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 ...
'' were systematically denied Israeli citizenship over several decades. In 1981, a group of American civil rights activists led by
Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin ( ; March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an American political activist and prominent leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin was the principal organizer of the March on Wash ...
investigated and concluded that racism was likely not the cause of the Black Hebrews' treatment. In 1992, Branch opined that the Black Hebrew Israelites' denial of citizenship under the Israeli law of return was because of alleged anti-Black sentiment among Israeli Jews. In 1998, Branch was criticized by Seth Forman, who said Branch's claims seemed to be baseless, particularly in light of Israel's airlift of thousands of black Ethiopian Jews in the early 1990s.Forman, Seth, ''Blacks in the Jewish Mind: A Crisis of Liberalism'', NYU Press, 1998, p. 14-15


Family

Branch lives in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
, with his wife, Christina Macy, and their two children, Macy (born 1980) and Franklin (born 1983).


Books


America in the King Years books

The '' America in the King Years'' trilogy consists of: * ''Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63'' (Simon & Schuster: 1988) * ''Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65'' (Simon & Schuster: 1998) * ''At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968'' (Simon & Schuster: 2006) * ''The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement'' (Simon & Schuster 2013), an abridged version of the three books.


Standalone history books

* ''Blowing the Whistle: Dissent in the Public Interest'' (with Charles Peters) ( Praeger: 1972) *''Second Wind'' (with
Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...
) (
Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
: 1979) * ''Labyrinth'' (with Eugene M. Propper): (
Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
: 1982, Penguin Books: 1983, ) *'': Wrestling History with the President'' (Simon & Schuster: 2009) * ''The Cartel: Inside the Rise and Imminent Fall of the NCAA'' (Byliner, 2011)


Fiction

* ''The Empire Blues'' (
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
: 1981)


Awards and recognition

''Parting the Waters'' won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1989, National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction in 1988, English-Speaking Union Book Award in 1989, the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize in 1989, and was a Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 1989. ''Pillar of Fire'' won the
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...
's Silver Gavel Award in 1999, the
Imus Book Award Imus (), officially the City of Imus (), is a component city and ''de jure'' capital of the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 496,794 people. It is the ''de jure'' capital of the province o ...
in 1999, and the Hillman Prize in 1998 ''At Canaan's Edge'' won the Heartland Prize for nonfiction from 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 ...
'' in 2006.


References


External links

*
Inventory of the Taylor Branch Papers, 1865-2005
at the Southern Historical Collection,
University of North Carolina at 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 ...
. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Branch, Taylor 1947 births 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Living people Pulitzer Prize for History winners MacArthur Fellows Writers from Atlanta University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni National Humanities Medal recipients Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni The Westminster Schools alumni American male non-fiction writers Historians from Georgia (U.S. state) Historians of the civil rights movement