Joseph Ellis
Encyclopedia
- For the basketball player, see Joe EllisJoe EllisJoseph Franklin Ellis is a retired American basketball player. He played eight seasons in the NBA all for the Warriors franchise; the first five seasons were with the then San Francisco Warriors and the last three when the franchise relocated to Oakland and became the Golden State Warriors.He...
Joseph John Ellis (born 18 July 1943 in Washington, D.C.) is a Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
who has written histories on the founding generation of American presidents. His book Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation is a Pulitzer Prize–winning book written by Joseph Ellis, a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College...
(2000) received the Pulitzer Prize for History
Pulitzer Prize for History
The Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. Many history books have also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography...
in 2001.
Background and teaching
He received his B.A. from the College of William and MaryCollege of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
, where he was initiated into Theta Delta Chi
Theta Delta Chi
Theta Delta Chi is a social fraternity that was founded in 1847 at Union College. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are Theta Delt, Thete, TDX, and TDC. Theta Delta Chi brothers refer to their local organization as Charges rather...
. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1969. He served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and also taught at West Point until 1972.
That year Ellis joined the faculty at Mount Holyoke College. He is the former dean of faculty at Mount Holyoke and also served as Acting President for part of 1984 while President Elizabeth Topham Kennan was on leave.
Jefferson and Hemings
Ellis in his book American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson (1996) suggested that evidence for an affair between Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and Sally Hemings
Sally Hemings
Sarah "Sally" Hemings was a mixed-race slave owned by President Thomas Jefferson through inheritance from his wife. She was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson by their father John Wayles...
was "inconclusive". Specifically, Ellis states in the appendix to American Sphinx,
Unless the trustees of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation decide to exhume the remains and do DNA testing on Jefferson as well as some of his alleged progeny, it leaves the matter a mystery about which advocates on either side can freely speculate... This means that for those who demand an answer the only recourse is plausible conjecture, prefaced as it must be with profuse statements about the flimsy and wholly circumstantial character of the evidence. In that spirit, which we might call the spirit of responsible speculation, after five years mulling over the huge cache of evidence that does exist on the thought and character of the historical Jefferson, I have concluded that the likelihood of a liaison with Sally Hemings is remote.
On November 5, 1998, Dr. Eugene Foster and his team published an article with their results of DNA analysis of Jefferson male line descendants and others reputed to be associated with him. Foster reported that DNA results showed a match between the Jefferson male line and the descendant of Eston Hemings. Given that and other historical evidence, they concluded that that Thomas Jefferson was the father of Eston and probably Hemings' other children.
On November 2, 1998, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
PBS NewsHour is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. The show is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, a company co-owned by former anchors Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, and Liberty Media, which owns a 65% stake in the...
featured this topic and stated, "According to an article in an upcoming issue of the journal Nature, DNA analysis shows that Jefferson almost certainly fathered at least one of Sally Hemings' children, her last son, Eston." Ellis, who was interviewed during this broadcast, stated that he had revised his opinion due to this new evidence:
- It's not so much a change of heart, but this is really new evidence. And it—prior to this evidence, I think it was a very difficult case to know and circumstantial on both sides, and, in part, because I got it wrong, I think I want to step forward and say this new evidence constitutes, well, evidence beyond any reasonable doubt that Jefferson had a longstanding sexual relationship with Sally Hemings.
Vietnam War
Ellis became the subject of embarrassing controversy when the Boston Globe published an article on June 18, 2001, revealing that Ellis lied about fighting in the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
(he served in uniform in America but did not go to Vietnam as he had claimed
to his students and to the media). Ellis issued a public apology in August. Mount Holyoke suspended him without pay from his endowed chair until further review, as well as from teaching during the 2001-2002 academic year. In May 2005, Mount Holyoke restored his chair.
Awards
- 2001 Pulitzer Prize for HistoryPulitzer Prize for HistoryThe Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. Many history books have also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography...
for Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary GenerationFounding Brothers: The Revolutionary GenerationFounding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation is a Pulitzer Prize–winning book written by Joseph Ellis, a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College... - 1997 National Book Award (nonfiction) winner for American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas JeffersonAmerican Sphinx: The Character of Thomas JeffersonAmerican Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, is a 1996 book written by Joseph Ellis, a professor of History at Mount Holyoke College. It won the 1997 National Book Award .-Overview:...
.
Books
- First Family: Abigail and John Adams, 2010.
- American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the RepublicAmerican Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the RepublicAmerican Creation is a 2007 publication detailing the period of 1775 to 1803, written by Joseph Ellis, professor of History at Mount Holyoke College...
, 2007. - His Excellency: George WashingtonHis Excellency: George WashingtonHis Excellency: George Washington is a 2004 biography of the first President of the United States, General George Washington. It was written by Joseph Ellis, a professor of History at Mount Holyoke College.- Background :...
, 2004. - After the Revolution: Profiles of Early American Culture, 2002.
- Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary GenerationFounding Brothers: The Revolutionary GenerationFounding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation is a Pulitzer Prize–winning book written by Joseph Ellis, a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College...
, 2000. - What Did the Declaration Declare? (Historians at Work), 1999.
- American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas JeffersonAmerican Sphinx: The Character of Thomas JeffersonAmerican Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, is a 1996 book written by Joseph Ellis, a professor of History at Mount Holyoke College. It won the 1997 National Book Award .-Overview:...
, 1996. - Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams, 1993.
- School for Soldiers: West Point and the Profession of Arms, 1974.
- The New England Mind in Transition: Samuel Johnson of Connecticut, 1696–1772, 1973.
Editorials
- "A promise of unpredictability: Presidential candidates pledge a lot, but history says you can ignore most of it" - Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
(Jan. 2, 2008) - "What Would George Do?: Okay, He Never Saw a Chopper, but He Can Still Teach Us a Thing or Two." - Washington Post (Dec. 23, 2007)
- "Finding a Place for 9/11 in American History" - New York Times (Jan. 28, 2006)