Despite receiving several degrees from Harvard, Yale and Oxford University, Pulitzer-prize winning historian and author Daniel J. Boorstin never earned a history degree.
“He used to joke that his secret was he never had a PhD,” said his wife, Ruth, his chief collaborator and editor for more than 60 years.
A University of Chicago history professor for 25 years, Mr. Boorstin, 89, of Washington died of pneumonia on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Sibley Hospital in Washington.
Mr. Boorstin had a few quirks, such as his trademark bow ties and his adamant use of manual typewriters. He modestly called himself an “amateur historian” who pursued the knowledge and understanding of history purely for love, unrestricted by the confines of academia.
He recognized the significance of the ostensibly insignificant–the air conditioner, the pocket watch and the tin can–and could explain how even the littlest things can have a huge impact on history.
“He had a feeling for the reality of daily life. As a historian, he was interested in the way people actually lived from day to day and not in the grand movements and moments that consume most historians. That’s what made him different,” said his nephew, Robert Boorstin.
“He always felt that history didn’t need to be dry and boring,” said his nephew. “He was the kind of person who brought history home to people who didn’t otherwise read history.”
Born in Atlanta in 1914, Mr. Boorstin was raised in Tulsa, and attended Harvard University at the age of 15. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1934 and attended Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar. He received another bachelor’s degree in 1936 and a bachelor of civil law degree in 1937. He also passed his English bar exams, becoming a barrister-at-law.
Mr. Boorstin returned to the U.S. and taught at Harvard while continuing his legal studies at Yale University. He received a law degree in 1940.
That Christmas Mr. Boorstin fell in love with Ruth Carolyn Frankel, the sister of a Harvard colleague. They married in 1941 and had three sons.
“It was an instant courtship. We were engaged in a month and married in three and it lasted for 63 years,” said his wife. “We had a lot of fun.”
Their marriage was the start of not just a great romance, but also a partnership and collaboration that would last through the publication of more than 20 books. “He once said to an interviewer, `Without her I think my works would have been twice as long and half as readable,'” said his nephew.
The same year they married, Mr. Boorstin published his first book, “The Mysterious Science of the Law.”
Mr. Boorstin was admitted into the Massachusetts bar in 1942 and briefly practiced as an attorney before devoting his life to history, teaching, learning and writing.
In 1944 Mr. Boorstin and his family moved to Chicago, where Mr. Boorstin accepted a position as a history professor at the University of Chicago. He would remain there for 25 years. During that time he accepted teaching positions abroad in Rome, Japan and Paris, and he wrote nearly a dozen books.
In 1969 he moved to Washington to become director of what is now known as the American History Museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution.
In 1975 Mr. Boorstin was appointed as the Librarian of Congress and retired in 1987 to write full time.
“He was really one of the important historians of his age,” said James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress who succeeded Mr. Boorstin in 1987.
Each volume of Mr. Boorstin’s trilogy “The Americans” won prestigious writing awards–the Bancroft Prize in 1959, the Francis Parkman Prize in 1966 and the Pulitzer Prize in 1974.
“He was a university unto himself and he knew so much more about everything than almost anybody I’ve ever met in my life,” David G. McCullough, fellow historian and author of the Pulitzer-prize winning biography, “Truman.”
In “The Image, or What Happened to the American Dream,” Mr. Boorstin’s 1961 book offered a prophetic view into the cult of celebrity and fame, remarking that “The celebrity is the person known for his well-knownness.”
“He was ahead of his time in seeing both the rush towards our present overblown love of celebrities and the potential detriment that could be to our society and way of life,” said McCullough.
During his 12-year tenure at the Library of Congress, Mr. Boorstin vowed never to write books on the government’s time. So instead, he would wake at 5 a.m. to tap out his thoughts and ideas on a manual typewriter.
“His life was layered in books. Books surrounded him every day, both physically and in his head. He was always working on a book, having just finished a book, thinking of a new book,” said his nephew.
Mr. Boorstin shared this passion with his three sons, often while sitting around the dinner table exchanging ideas and thoughts. He always urged his children to follow their hearts.
“He said do what you love … do it if you believe in it. If you want to write that novel and you’re not going to make any money, just do it anyway,” said his son Paul. “He certainly proved that in his own life.”
He also is survived by his sons Jonathan and David.
A private family service will be held.
