Biography

He was born in Galesburg, Illinois

Galesburg, Illinois

Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County....

 and was graduated with an A.B. from Amherst College

Amherst College

Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

 and received a Ph. D. from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. He was a lecturer for one year at Columbia, and served as Librarian of the State Department from 1888 to 1892.

Bancroft was an active member of the American Historical Association

American Historical Association

The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...

 and was the unofficial leader of a group from 1913-1915 that called for the reform of the organization's election procedures, ultimately securing such reforms at the 1915 meeting, although failing to topple what he viewed as the oligarchy led by J. Franklin Jameson

J. Franklin Jameson

John Franklin Jameson was an American historian, author, and journal editor who played a major role in the professional activities of American historians in the early 20th century.-Early life:...

.

Bancroft was the author of two well-regarded books on the South, "Slave-Trading in the Old South," and "A sketch of the Negro in politics, especially in South Carolina and Mississippi" He also wrote a biography of William H. Seward

William H. Seward

William Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...

.

In 1948, through his bequest, the Bancroft Prize

Bancroft Prize

The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948 by a bequest from Frederic Bancroft...

 was established at Columbia in his memory and that of his brother, diplomat and attorney Edgar Addison Bancroft. It is considered one of the most distinguished academic awards in the field of history.

External links

• Bancroft Prize on Columbia's website