Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of American History explained

The Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professorship is an endowed chair in American history at the University of Oxford, tenable for one year.^{[1] [2]} The Harmsworth Professorship was established by Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere (1868–1940) in memory of his son Harold Vyvyan Alfred St George, who was killed in the First World War, and whose favourite subject was history.^{[3] [4]} Lord Rothermere also established a Harmsworth Professorship in imperial and naval history at Cambridge University in honour of his son Vere, who was killed in the same war.^{[5] [6]} The King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at Cambridge University was endowed by Sir Harold Harmsworth in memory of King Edward VII, who died in 1910.^{[7] [8]}

The Harmsworth Professorship was inaugurated in 1922 with an endowment of £20,000.^{[9] [10]} Holders of the chair are affiliated to Queen's College, Oxford, and, since 2001, the Rothermere American Institute.^[11] The Rothermere American Institute also houses the Vere Harmsworth Library, named in honour of Vere Harmsworth, 3rd Viscount Rothermere.^[12]

The Harmsworth Professor is selected by the Electors of Oxford and a Committee on the Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professorship in American History at the American Historical Association, established in 1939.^[13]

Holders of the Harmsworth Professorship

• Samuel E. Morison (1922–1925)^[11]
• Robert McNutt McElroy (1925-1939)^[11]
• Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker (1939)^[11]
• Allan Nevins (1940)^[11]
• Vacant (1941)
• Walter Prescott Webb (1942)^[11]
• Vacant (1943)
• Thomas J. Wertenbaker (1944)^[11]
• Vacant (1945)
• Walt W. Rostow (1946)^[11]
• David M. Potter (1947)^[11]
• Louis M. Hacker (1948)^{[11] [14]}
• Merrill Jensen (1949)^[11]
• Charles S. Sydnor (1950)^{[11] [15]}
• Lawrence H. Gipson (1951)^[11]
• Henry Steele Commager (1952)^[11]
• Ray Allen Billington (1953)^[11]
• C. Vann Woodward (1954)^[11]
• Frank Friedel (1955)^[11]
• Arthur Bestor (1956)^[11]
• Walter Johnson (1957)^[11]
• Arthur S. Link (1958)^[11]
• David H. Donald (1959)^[11]
• George E. Mowry (1960)^[11]
• Kenneth Stampp (1961)^[11]
• Richard N. Current (1962)^[11]
• Frank Vandiver (1963)^[11]
• Allan Nevins (1964)^[11]
• Bell I. Wiley (1965)^[11]
• T. Harry Williams (1966)^[11]
• Don Fehrenbacher (1967)^[11]
• Fletcher Melvin Green (1968)^{[11] [16]}
• David Brion Davis (1969)^[11]
• Charles Grier Sellers (1970)^[11]
• William Leuchtenburg (1971)^[11]
• Oscar Handlin (1972)^[11]
• Carl Degler (1973)^[11]
• Richard Clement Wade (1974)^[11]
• Jack P. Greene (1975)^[11]
• John Morton Blum (1976)^[11]
• Willie Lee Nichols Rose (1977)^{[11] [17]}
• Norman Arthur Graebner (1978)^{[11] [18]}
• Eric McKitrick (1979)^[11]
• Morton Keller (1980)^{[11] [19]}
• James T. Patterson (1981)^[11]
• Samuel P. Hays (1982)^[11]
• John W. Shy (1983)^[11]
• J. Morgan Kousser (1984)^[11]
• David Hackett Fischer (1985)^[11]
• David M. Kennedy (1986)^[11]
• Richard Slator Dunn (1987)^{[11] [20]}
• George M. Fredrickson (1988)^[11]
• Daniel Walker Howe (1989)^[11]
• Joyce Appleby (1990)^[11]
• James A. Henretta (1991)^[11]
• John Lewis Gaddis (1992)^[11]
• Eric Foner (1993)^[11]
• Robert Dallek (1994)^[11]
• David Kennedy (1995)^[11]
• Robert Middlekauff (1996)^[11]
• Ernest R. May (1997)^[11]
• Alan Brinkley (1998)^[11]
• Robin W. Winks (1999)^[11]
• T. H. Breen (2000)^[11]
• David Hollinger (2001)^[11]
• Melvyn P. Leffler (2002)^[11]
• Richard R. Beeman (2003)^[11]
• Joel H. Silbey (2004)^[11]
• Kathryn Kish Sklar (2005)^[11]
• Linda K. Kerber (2006)^[11]
• Lizabeth Cohen (2007)^[11]
• Peter S. Onuf (2008)^[11]
• Robin Kelley (2009)^[11]
• Ian R. Tyrrell (2010)^[11]
• Philip D. Morgan (2011)^[11]
• Gary Gerstle (2012)^[11]
• Richard J. M. Blackett (2013)^[11]
• Annette Gordon-Reed (2014)^[11]
• Kristin L. Hoganson (2015)^[11]
• Alan Taylor (2016)^[11]
• Elliott West (2017)^[11]
• Barbara D. Savage (2018)^[21]
• Peter C. Mancall (2019 - 2021)^[22] †
• Patrick Griffin (2021)^[23]
• Bruce Schulman (2022)^[24]
• Elizabeth R. Varon (2023)^[25]
• Lisa McGirr (2024)^[26]
• Eliga Gould (2025)
• Laurie Maffly-Kipp (2026)

†Professorship interrupted and later resumed due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Notes and References

1. Web site: Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History | the Rothermere American Institute . 11 May 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130624153410/http://www.rai.ox.ac.uk/people/harmsworth . 24 June 2013 .
2. Web site: Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History. 15 November 2012.
3. Web site: Perspectives on History – AHA. Historians.org. 14 November 2017.
4. Web site: Kerber. Linda. At Home in the World: The International Dimensions of the AHA. 15 November 2012.
5. Harold Harmsworth. 2004. 10.1093/ref:odnb/33718. 14 November 2017.
6. Boyce. D. George. Harmsworth, Harold Sidney, first Viscount Rothermere (1868–1940), newspaper proprieto. 2004. 10.1093/ref:odnb/33718. 15 November 2012.
7. Web site: Who's Who. Ukwhoswho.com. 14 November 2017.
8. Web site: ROTHERMERE', Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008. Oxford University Press, online edn.. 15 November 2012.
9. Web site: Harold Vyvyan Alfred St George Harmsworth | Christ Church, Oxford . 24 May 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120524025322/http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral/memorials/WW1/Harold-Harmsworth%26print%3Dtrue . 24 May 2012 . dead .
10. Web site: Harold Vyvyan Alfred St George Harmsworth. Christ Church Oxford, Registered Charity Number: 1143423. 15 November 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120524025322/http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral/memorials/WW1/Harold-Harmsworth%26print%3Dtrue. 24 May 2012. dead.
11. Web site: The Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History.
12. Web site: Vere Harmsworth Library. Rothermere American Institute. 21 November 2012.
13. Web site: Committee on the Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professorship in American History. American Historical Association. 15 November 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121101144001/http://www.historians.org/governance/committees/harmsworth.cfm. 1 November 2012. dead.
14. Web site: LOUIS M. HACKER, 88, EDUCATOR. 23 March 1987. 15 November 2017. The New York Times.
15. Web site: Sydnor, Charles Sackett – NCpedia. Ncpedia.org. 15 November 2017.
16. Web site: Green, Fletcher Melvin – NCpedia. Ncpedia.org. 15 November 2017.
17. Web site: Rose, Willie Lee Nichols (1927–) – People and organisations. Trove.nla.gov.au. 15 November 2017.
18. Web site: Norman Arthur Graebner (1915–2010) – AHA. Historians.org. 15 November 2017.
19. Web site: Keller, Morton. Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. 15 November 2017.
20. Web site: Guide, Richard Slator Dunn Papers, University of Pennsylvania University Archives. Archives.upenn.edu. 15 November 2017.
21. Web site: Barbara Savage and Peter Mancall announced as Harmsworth Professors for 2018-19 and 2019-20.
22. Web site: Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History. 5 February 2020. 29 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210729125811/https://www.rai.ox.ac.uk/harmsworth. dead.
23. Web site: Notre Dame's Patrick Griffin appointed Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History at the University of Oxford. 11 February 2021 .
24. Web site: History Professor Awarded Oxford Visiting Post.
25. Web site: The RAI welcomes 2023-24 Visiting Professors . Rothermere American Institute . 6 January 2024.
26. Web site: Upcoming Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Visiting Professors of American History announced . Faculty of History, University of Oxford . 30 April 2024.