Charles A. Beard and Mary Ritter Beard were an American married couple, historical scholars, and long-time colleagues in the writing of works on American history, including The Rise of American Civilization and their seven-volume History of the United States. Each also wrote extensively as an individual.
Collaborationsedit
From their home in Connecticut, Mary and Charles Beard co-authored seven books together, beginning with American Citizenship (1914), a high school textbook. Although they are named as coauthors, their contemporaries, including book reviewers and fellow historians, overlooked Mary's contributions.[1][2][3] Historians Barbara Turoff, Ann Lane, and Nancy Cott, in their assessment of Mary Beard's works, and Ellen Nore, in her research on Charles Beard, have concluded that the Beards' collaboration was a full partnership, as the couple confirmed, but the Beards did not fully describe their individual contributions to their published works.[4]
The Beards' other joint works include History of the United States (1921), later retitled A Study in American Civilization, and their two-volume work, The Rise of American Civilization (1927), their most notable collaboration.[5] They also cowrote a third and fourth volume of The Rise of American Civilization series: America in Midpassage: A Study of the Idea of Civilization (1939) and The American Spirit (1942). Standalone works include The Making of American Civilization (1937) and Basic History of the United States (1944). The Beards' textbooks sold five million copies between 1912 and 1952. Basic History of the United States was their best-selling work.[6][7][8]
The Beards' content in History of the United States differed from other textbooks through its thematic organization, as opposed to narrative history; their emphasis on "the causes and results of wars," rather than on specific military details; and inclusion of materials at the end of each chapter to develop critical thinking skills. The Beards also provided reference sources, discussion questions, research topic ideas, and suggested related works of historical fiction. In addition, their textbooks included more recent history (from 1890 to 1920), as well as the Beards' interpretation of America's role in world affairs.[5]History of the United States and their subsequent books also included Mary Beard's expanded views on women's contributions to civilization; profiles of notable women; and topics such as women's labor, education, political status and influence, legal status, and women's rights, among others.[9]History of the United States presents the Beards' Progressive-Era views and links democracy to economic and social conditions.[10] The book "attracted a very broad readership" and, as Ann J. Lane later stated, it "shaped the thinking of generations of Americans."[11]
The Rise of American Civilization (1927) integrated cultural, social, economic, and political history, as well as recognizing women's impact on these aspects of civilization. The book also described the importance of including women's perspectives in history as a whole.[2][10] In America in Midpassage (1939), a political and economic examination of the 1920s and 1930s, the Beards criticized Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policy prior to World War II. The book also includes cultural and intellectual contributions of numerous individuals such as Eugene Debs, Jane Addams, Harriet Stanton Blatch, Florence Kelley, and others.[12]The American Spirit: A Study of the Idea of Civilization in the United States (1942), "makes explicit the reason for their preference for the concept of civilization in dealing with the history of the United States" and its connection to democracy, citizenship, and public affairs.[13]
^Margaret Smith Crocco (November 1997). "Forceful Yet Forgotten: Mary Ritter Beard and the Writing of History". The History Teacher. 30 (1): 9–31. doi:10.2307/494178. JSTOR 494178.
^ abSarah Bair, "Mary Ritter Beard," in Margaret Smith Crocco and O.L. Davis Jr., ed. (2002). . Silver Spring, Maryland: National Council for the Social Studies. pp. 41–42. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
charles, mary, beard, charles, beard, mary, ritter, beard, were, american, married, couple, historical, scholars, long, time, colleagues, writing, works, american, history, including, rise, american, civilization, their, seven, volume, history, united, states,. Charles A Beard and Mary Ritter Beard were an American married couple historical scholars and long time colleagues in the writing of works on American history including The Rise of American Civilization and their seven volume History of the United States Each also wrote extensively as an individual Collaborations editFrom their home in Connecticut Mary and Charles Beard co authored seven books together beginning with American Citizenship 1914 a high school textbook Although they are named as coauthors their contemporaries including book reviewers and fellow historians overlooked Mary s contributions 1 2 3 Historians Barbara Turoff Ann Lane and Nancy Cott in their assessment of Mary Beard s works and Ellen Nore in her research on Charles Beard have concluded that the Beards collaboration was a full partnership as the couple confirmed but the Beards did not fully describe their individual contributions to their published works 4 The Beards other joint works include History of the United States 1921 later retitled A Study in American Civilization and their two volume work The Rise of American Civilization 1927 their most notable collaboration 5 They also cowrote a third and fourth volume of The Rise of American Civilization series America in Midpassage A Study of the Idea of Civilization 1939 and The American Spirit 1942 Standalone works include The Making of American Civilization 1937 and Basic History of the United States 1944 The Beards textbooks sold five million copies between 1912 and 1952 Basic History of the United States was their best selling work 6 7 8 The Beards content in History of the United States differed from other textbooks through its thematic organization as opposed to narrative history their emphasis on the causes and results of wars rather than on specific military details and inclusion of materials at the end of each chapter to develop critical thinking skills The Beards also provided reference sources discussion questions research topic ideas and suggested related works of historical fiction In addition their textbooks included more recent history from 1890 to 1920 as well as the Beards interpretation of America s role in world affairs 5 History of the United States and their subsequent books also included Mary Beard s expanded views on women s contributions to civilization profiles of notable women and topics such as women s labor education political status and influence legal status and women s rights among others 9 History of the United States presents the Beards Progressive Era views and links democracy to economic and social conditions 10 The book attracted a very broad readership and as Ann J Lane later stated it shaped the thinking of generations of Americans 11 The Rise of American Civilization 1927 integrated cultural social economic and political history as well as recognizing women s impact on these aspects of civilization The book also described the importance of including women s perspectives in history as a whole 2 10 In America in Midpassage 1939 a political and economic examination of the 1920s and 1930s the Beards criticized Franklin D Roosevelt s foreign policy prior to World War II The book also includes cultural and intellectual contributions of numerous individuals such as Eugene Debs Jane Addams Harriet Stanton Blatch Florence Kelley and others 12 The American Spirit A Study of the Idea of Civilization in the United States 1942 makes explicit the reason for their preference for the concept of civilization in dealing with the history of the United States and its connection to democracy citizenship and public affairs 13 References edit Bair Citizenship for the Common Good p 9 a b Weber pp 10 11 Margaret Smith Crocco November 1997 Forceful Yet Forgotten Mary Ritter Beard and the Writing of History The History Teacher 30 1 9 31 doi 10 2307 494178 JSTOR 494178 Crocco pages 20 21 a b Crocco pp 12 13 Cott A Woman Making History p 51 Crocco pp 9 10 R E Banta compiler 1949 Indiana Authors and Their Books 1816 1916 Vol I Crawfordsville Indiana Wabash College p 23 OCLC 1044959 Crocco p 14 a b Sarah Bair Mary Ritter Beard in Margaret Smith Crocco and O L Davis Jr ed 2002 Building a Legacy Women in Social Education 1787 1984 Silver Spring Maryland National Council for the Social Studies pp 41 42 Archived from the original on 2020 04 10 Retrieved 2022 09 05 Crocco pages 15 Crocco pp 16 and 18 Crocco p 19 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Charles and Mary Beard amp oldid 1155067788, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
