Charles Capper
American historian (1944–2021)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Capper (September 28, 1944 – July 1, 2021) was an American historian known for his work on Transcendentalism and his two-volume biography of Margaret Fuller. The first volume of the biography of Fuller, Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life, the Private Years, won the 1993 Bancroft Prize. He was a founding co-editor of the journal Modern Intellectual History, 2004–2018.
- Bancroft Prize (1993)
- Guggenheim Fellowship (1994)
Charles Capper | |
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| Born | September 28, 1944 |
| Died | July 1, 2021 (aged 76) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Occupation | Historian |
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| Academic background | |
| Education |
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| Henry F. May | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Historian |
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Early life and education
Capper was born September 28, 1944.[1] He graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in history in 1966 and UC Berkeley with an M.A. and Ph.D. in history in 1968 and 1984, respectively.[2] His Ph.D. was supervised by Henry F. May.[3]
At Johns Hopkins, Capper was a chief organizer of a March 17, 1965 Vietnam War protest in Washington, D.C., and a member of the national council of the Students for a Democratic Society, and while at Berkeley he was a leading Trotskyist with the Independent Socialist Club.[4]
Career
From 1986 until 2001, Capper was a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2001 he became a professor of history at Boston University, where he stayed until retirement in June 2021.[2][5][6]
Seven editions of his source book The American Intellectual Tradition, co-edited with David Hollinger, have been published beginning from 1989.[4][7]
In 1993, his first book, Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life, the Private Years (1992) won the Bancroft Prize.[8] He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1994.[9]
In 2002, Capper co-founded the journal Modern Intellectual History with Nicholas Phillipson and Anthony J. La Vopa. It published its first issue in 2004, and he was its longest-serving founding co-editor, 2004–2018.[4][6]
Death
Capper died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on July 1, 2021, one day after retirement, from complications of Parkinson's disease.[5][6]
Awards
- 1987–1988 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship[2]
- 1993 Bancroft Prize[8]
- 1994 Guggenheim Fellowship[9]
- 1994–1995 National Humanities Center Fellowship[2]
- 2005–2006 Harvard University Charles Warren Center Fellowship[2]
Selected works
Books
- Hollinger, David A.; Capper, Charles, eds. (1989). The American Intellectual Tradition (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505774-0. Two volumes: 1620–1865 and 1865 to the present.
- Hollinger, David A.; Capper, Charles, eds. (2015). The American Intellectual Tradition (7th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-026232-7. Two volumes: 1630–1865 and 1865 to the present.
- Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life. Vol. I: The Private Years. Oxford University Press. 1992. ISBN 978-0-19-504579-6.
- Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life. Vol. II: The Public Years. Oxford University Press. 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-506313-4.
- Capper, Charles; Wright, Conrad Edick, eds. (1999). Transient and Permanent: The Transcendentalist Movement in Its Contexts. Massachusetts Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-934909-76-1.
- Capper, Charles; Giorcelli, Cristina, eds. (2007). Margaret Fuller: Transatlantic Crossings in a Revolutionary Age. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-22340-3.
