Joy Hakim (born January 16, 1931) is an American author who has written a ten-volume history of the United States, A History of US, and Freedom: A History of US (a trade book to accompany a 16-part PBS series), all published by Oxford University Press. Hakim is also the author of The Story of Science, three volumes co-published by Smithsonian Books and the National Science Teachers Association.
Hakim is a graduate of Rutland High School in Rutland, Vermont. She has earned a bachelor's degree from Smith College and a master's degree and honorary doctorate from Goucher College.[1]
She was a schoolteacher in Syracuse, New York, Omaha, Nebraska, and Virginia Beach, Virginia. Hakim was also an assistant editor of McGraw-Hill's World News in New York City, a reporter for the Norfolk Ledger-Star and a business writer for The Virginian-Pilot, also located in Norfolk. In 1978, she became the first woman to be an associate editor and editorial writer for the Virginian-Pilot.
Hakim's first published work was the ten-volume A History of US, from Oxford University Press in 1993. The book is written as a narrative history intended for young readers. The Story of Science is co-published by Smithsonian Books and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). The first volume, Aristotle Leads the Way was published in 2004; Newton at the Center was published in 2005; and Einstein Adds a New Dimension followed in 2007. A History of US was turned into a 16-part PBS television series.[2] Stride, Inc. has made an abridged 4 volume Concise Edition of A History of US.[2] Teachers materials to accompany the books are available from the teacher/educator CSOS team at Johns Hopkins University.[3] NSTA has also made teaching materials available on their website.[4]
Hakim has had much of her work published as e-books. The 10 volume e-book version of A History of US, text-only e-books from Oxford, is now joined by the three-volume e-book version of The Story of Science. Aristotle Leads the Way, Newton at the Center, and Einstein Adds A New Dimension have recently been made available as illustrated e-books from the Smithsonian.[5]
The recently published Reading Science Stories is an e-book filled with stories of scientific adventurers (Joy Hakim, June 11, 2015). Some stories are adapted from The Story of Science, some are new.[6]
Free To Believe (or not) is an illustrated e-book that tells the story of religious freedom in America. (Joy Hakim; 1 edition, June 2, 2016).[1]
Hakim's books earned her the first James A. Michener Award for Writing by the National Council for Social Studies and two Parents' Choice awards.[7] [8]
Now in a revised third and fourth editions, incorporating new materials and corrections, books from A History of US have been recommended to accompany the Common Core curriculum. The books are also used in some home school curricula.[9] In 1995, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough went before the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in support of a bill sponsored by Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) intended to improve the teaching and learning of history. McCullough gave a scathing attack on the state of textbooks, but cited Hakim's book as an exception: "Joy Hakim's new...multi-volume History of the United States is superb. But others are dismal almost beyond describing.".[10]