Melvyn Dubofsky
Encyclopedia
Melvyn Dubofsky is a professor of history and sociology, and a well-known labor historian
Labor history (discipline)
Labor history is a broad field of study concerned with the development of the labor movement and the working class. The central concerns of labor historians include the development of labor unions, strikes, lockouts and protest movements, industrial relations, and the progress of working class and...

. He is Bartle Distinguished Professor of History and Sociology at the State University of New York at Binghamton
Binghamton University
Binghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...

.

Early life and education

Dubofsky was born in 1934 to Harry and Lillian (Schneider) Dubofsky in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. He graduated from the New York City public schools, and received his bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 from Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...

 (now part of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...

) in 1955.

Dubofsky was a lecturer in history at Brooklyn College during the 1958 to 1959 school year. He married Joan Klores in January 1959, and they had two children, a boy and a girl.

He received a doctor of philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 degree from the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...

 in 1960.

Career

Dubofsky was appointed an assistant professor of history at Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...

 in 1959.

In 1967, Dubofsky took a position as an associate professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...

. He left that position in 1969.

In the 1969 to 1970 term, Dubofsky was a senior lecturer at the Centre for the Study of Social History at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...

. He taught American labor history. The same year, he was an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He was promoted to professor of history in late 1970.

In 1971, Dubofsky was appointed professor of history at the State University of New York at Binghamton. In 1979, he was also appointed professor of sociology. In 1991, he was named Bartle Distinguished Professor of History & Sociology.

Research focus

Dubofsky helped advance the field of "new labor history
New labor history
New labor history is a branch of labor history which focuses on the experiences of workers, women, and minorities in the study of history. It is heavily influenced by social history....

," which focuses on the experiences of workers and social movements rather than institutions.
[Dubofsky] is one of the five major labour historians who pioneered new approaches to working-class experience in the 1950s and 1960s. Along with Herbert G. Gutman
Herbert Gutman
Herbert Gutman was an American professor of history at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he wrote on slavery and labor history.-Early life and education:...

, David Montgomery, David Brody
David Brody
David Brody is a professor emeritus of history at the University of California-Davis.-Life and education:Brody was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey to Barnet and Ida Brody, who were immigrants to the United States. Working his way through Harvard University, he received his bachelor's degree in...

, and Alice Kessler-Harris
Alice Kessler-Harris
Alice Kessler-Harris is the R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of American History at Columbia University, in New York City. She specializes in the history of American labor and the comparative and interdisciplinary exploration of women and gender....

, Dubofsky researched, wrote about, and taught courses in labour history at a time when the field was not in fashion and there was little appreciation and support for the study of workers and their pasts.


Dubofsky promotes the theory that labor radicalism emerged from what has been termed a "culture of poverty
Culture of poverty
The culture of poverty is a social theory that expands on the cycle of poverty. Proponents of this theory argue that the poor are not simply lacking resources, but also have a unique value system...

," and he stresses the role culture and the development of capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...

 play in the American labor movement-particularly in the late 19th century.

Since the early 1980s, Dubofsky has also written extensively about the role of politics and state action in the changing fortunes of the American labor movement. Dubofsky's research has influenced other scholars, such as Joseph McCartin
Joseph McCartin
Joseph A. McCartin is a professor of history at Georgetown University whose research focuses on labor unions in the United States.-Early life and education:...

.

Dubofsky has also worked closely with the Fernand Braudel Center
Fernand Braudel Center
The Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations at Binghamton University, State University of New York was founded in September 1976 and serves as one of the preeminent centers for advanced study of systemic history and historiography in the US...

 at SUNY-Binghamton. His research at the center has looked at how changing technology, such as automation, has driven worker activism.

Solely authored books

  • American Labor Since the New Deal. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1971. ISBN 0812961676
  • Big Bill Haywood. Manchester, U.K.: University of Manchester Press, 1987. ISBN 0719021634
  • Hard Work: The Making of Labor History. Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, Spring 2000. ISBN 0252068688
  • Industrialism and the American Worker, 1865-1920. 3rd ed. Wheeling, Ill.: Harlan Davidson, 1996. ISBN 0882959255
  • Labor in the Great Depression and the New Deal. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxford, U.K.: Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0415940613
  • "On Treacherous Terrain: Labor, Politics, and the State in the United States." Working Paper No. 3, Comparative Labor History Series, Center for Labor Studies, University of Washington. November 1993.
  • The State and Labor in Modern America. Asheville, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1994. ISBN 0807844365
  • Technological Change and Workers' Movements. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1985. ISBN 0803924658
  • We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World. Abridged ed. Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2000. ISBN 0252069056, this was originally published by quadrangle Books in 1969.
  • When Workers Organize: New York City in the Progressive Era. Amherst, Mass.: University of Massachusetts Press, 1968. ISBN 0870230425

Co-authored books

  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and Burwood, Stephen. The Great Depression and the New Deal. Vol. 1: The New Deal. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0824008936
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and Burwood, Stephen. The Great Depression and the New Deal. Vol. 2: Workers and Unions During the Great Depression. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0824008944
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and Burwood, Stephen. The Great Depression and the New Deal. Vol. 3: The American Economy During the Great Depression. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0824008952
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and Burwood, Stephen. The Great Depression and the New Deal. Vol. 4: Agriculture During the Great Depression. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0824008960
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and Burwood, Stephen. The Great Depression and the New Deal. Vol. 5: American Foreign Policy in the 1930s. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0824008979
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and Burwood, Stephen. The Great Depression and the New Deal. Vol. 6: Women and Minorities During the Great Depression. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0824008987
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and Burwood, Stephen. The Great Depression and the New Deal. Vol. 7: The Law and the New Deal. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0824008995
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and Dulles, Foster Rhea. Labor in America. 7th ed. Wheeling, Ill.: Harlan Davidson, 1993. ISBN 0882959980
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn; Smith, Daniel; and Theoharis, Athan. The United States in the Twentieth Century. Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1978. ISBN 0139387129
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and Theoharis, Athan. Imperial Democracy: The United States Since 1945. Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983. ISBN 0134517660
  • Dubofsky, Warren and Van Tine, Warren. John L. Lewis: A Biography. Reprint ed. Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1992. ISBN 081290673X
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and Van Tine, Warren. Labor Leaders in America. Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1990. ISBN 0252013271

Solely edited books

  • The New Deal: Conflicting Interpretations and Shifting Perspectives. New York: Garland Publishing, 1992. ISBN 0815307659

Co-edited books

  • Dubofsky, Melvyn and McCartin, Joseph A. American Labor: A Documentary History. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. ISBN 0312295642

Solely authored book chapters

  • "Jimmy Carter and the Collapse of the Politics of Productivity." In The Carter Presidency: Policy Choices in the Post-New Deal Era. Gary Fink and Hugh Davis Graham, eds. Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas, 1998. ISBN 0700608958
  • "The Federal Judiciary, Free Labor, and Equal Rights: A Peculiar Chapter in the History of State and Labor." In The Pullman Strike and the Crisis of the 1890s: Essays on Labor, Politics, and the State. Richard Schneirov, Nick Salvatore, and Shelton Stromquist, eds. Wheeling, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1998. ISBN 025206755X

Solely authored articles

  • "Labor Unrest in the United States, 1906-1990." Review (Journal of the Fernand Braudel Center). 18 (Winter 1995).
  • "Old Deal, New Deal, Raw Deal: The Evolution of the Liberal State in the Modern United States." Labour/Le Travail. 32 (Fall 1993).
  • "Starting Out in the Fifties: True Confessions of a Labor Historian." Labor History. 34 (Fall 1993).

Co-authored articles

  • Silver, Beverly J.; Arrighi, Giovanni; and Dubofsky, Melvyn. "Introduction: Labor Unrest in the World Economy, 1870-1990." Review (Journal of the Fernand Braudel Center). 18 (Winter 1995).

Memberships and awards

Dubofsky has been awarded numerous research grants, fellowships, and awards during his long career.

The National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...

 awarded him a senior fellowship in 1973, twice named him director of the NEH Summer Seminars for Professionals ( in 1980 and 1981), and awarded him a research fellowship in 1985.

Three times he has been a Fulbright Program
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...

 educator. He was a senior lecturer at Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...

 in 1977, a distinguished senior lecturer at the University of Salzburg
University of Salzburg
The University of Salzburg, or Paris Lodron University after its founder, the Prince Archbishop Paris Lodron, is located in the Austrian city of Salzburg, Salzburgerland, home of Mozart. It is divided into 4 faculties: catholic theology, law, humanities and natural science.Founded in 1622, it...

 in 1988, and was a Distinguished Professor holding the John Adams Professorship in U.S. History at the University of Amsterdam in 2000.

Dubofsky has been a member of the executive board of the Fernand Braudel Center since 1976, and an associate director of the center since 1996.

He is an editor for the Research Collections on Labor Studies for University Publications of America, an American publisher. And he is an editor for the Oxford Companion to American History series, published by Oxford University Press.

Dubofsky also is on the Board of Advisors for the Samuel Gompers Papers, and is a member of the Philip Taft Labor History Book Award
Philip Taft Labor History Book Award
The Philip Taft Labor History Book Award is sponsored by the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations in cooperation with the Labor and Working-Class History Association for books relating to labor history of the United States...

 prize committee.

His is a member of the editorial board of Labor History and Review (Journal of the Fernand Braudel Center).

Dubofsky is a 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...

, the Organization of American Historians
Organization of American Historians
The Organization of American Historians , formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S...

, and the New York State Labor History Association (where he was vice president from 1978 to 1979, and president from 1979 to 1980).

External links

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