North Callahan
Encyclopedia
North Callahan was an American
historian
and scholar. Born in Sweetwater, Tennessee
, he was educated at the Tennessee Military Institute and the University of Chattanooga, where he graduated cum laude in 1930. He later earned a master's degree
from Columbia University
and a Ph.D.
from New York University
. He authored numerous articles and 17 books, and some of those have received various awards. In 1964, Callahan was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater
, the University of Chattanooga. While working as a correspondent
for The Dallas Morning News
, he wrote a syndicated column, and also served in the U.S. Army where he was eventually promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel
.
in musical programs, later joining a New York stock company touring the South
.
Later in Little Theaters in Tennessee
and Texas
, he had the leading male roles in the plays, "The Valiant," "First Lady," and the part of Hildy Johnson, the reporter in "The Front Page." But after working for a time as a press representative for the Playwright
Company in New York City, he left the theater and pursued his academic and writing career. He had written and directed three plays.
of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
to have received both an honorary degree and the Distinguished Alumnus
Award. He wrote more nationally-published books than any other alumnus.
His publishers include McGraw-Hill
, Little-Brown, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Bobbs- Merrill, William Morrow
, Cornwall Books, as well as New York and Penn State University Presses. When he was given the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters
by the University of Chattanooga in 1964, the citation said in part, "He has found teaching and writing exciting."
In the Lupton Library of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
there is a North Callahan Collection that contains original manuscripts of his books, unpublished notes, favorable reviews of his books, a collection of pictures with celebrities such as Helen Hayes
, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt
, Mickey Rooney
, etc., and his personal research library, all donated to the university.
The New York Times credited him for "filling a gap in the annals of the American Revolution
." The Chicago Tribune
stated about one of his books, "This book deserves an honored place on the library shelf of every thinking American." The Wall Street Journal wrote, "This volume places Dr. Callahan in the front rank of American historians." The American Historical Review
said, "This book is a valuable contribution to a neglected aspect of American history."
Callahan established in his name an annual award for the best Honors Essay in American
and European history and biography at UTC. He established the first glee club at the university, where he also founded the Great Books Club. He wrote and directed three plays based on his early acting career and served as chairman of the Folklore Division of the American Studies Association.
After educational work in Tennessee
, Dr. Callahan became a newspaper writer in this state, Texas
and New York
correspondent of the Dallas Morning News, eventually doing a syndicated column.
, to Dr. Jennie Waugh Callahan, ended in divorce; she died in 1998. His second wife
, Helen Pemberton Callahan, died in September 2004. He had two children, a son also named North Callahan and daughter Mary Alice Covington.
. The North Callahan Collection includes manuscripts of many of his books, reviews, lecture notes, tests, and related teaching material. There are also photographs, plaques and awards. In addition, Dr. Callahan donated over 1100 volumes of books dealing with American history to the library.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and scholar. Born in Sweetwater, Tennessee
Sweetwater, Tennessee
Sweetwater is a city in Monroe and McMinn counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the most populous city in Monroe County. The population was 5,586 at the 2000 census. Sweetwater is the home of the Craighead Caverns which contains the Lost Sea, the United States' largest underground...
, he was educated at the Tennessee Military Institute and the University of Chattanooga, where he graduated cum laude in 1930. He later earned a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
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...
and a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. He authored numerous articles and 17 books, and some of those have received various awards. In 1964, Callahan was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
, the University of Chattanooga. While working as a correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
for The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
, he wrote a syndicated column, and also served in the U.S. Army where he was eventually promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
.
Theatrical experience
Callahan played the leads in dramatic and musical productions while a student at the University of Chattanooga. He organized a glee club there and appeared on the radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
in musical programs, later joining a New York stock company touring the South
South
South is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.South is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to east and west.By convention, the bottom side of a map is south....
.
Later in Little Theaters in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, he had the leading male roles in the plays, "The Valiant," "First Lady," and the part of Hildy Johnson, the reporter in "The Front Page." But after working for a time as a press representative for the Playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Company in New York City, he left the theater and pursued his academic and writing career. He had written and directed three plays.
Accomplishments
Dr. Callahan was the only graduateGraduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a public university located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The University, often referred to as UTC or simply "Chattanooga" , is one of three universities and two other affiliated institutions in the University of Tennessee System; the others being in...
to have received both an honorary degree and the Distinguished Alumnus
Alumnus
An alumnus , according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a graduate of a school, college, or university." An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student. In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college,...
Award. He wrote more nationally-published books than any other alumnus.
His publishers include McGraw-Hill
McGraw-Hill
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Its primary areas of business are financial, education, publishing, broadcasting, and business services...
, Little-Brown, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Bobbs- Merrill, William Morrow
William Morrow and Company
William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, and sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981. It was sold along to the News Corporation in 1999...
, Cornwall Books, as well as New York and Penn State University Presses. When he was given the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Humane Letters
The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters is always conferred as an honorary degree, usually to those who have distinguished themselves in areas other than science, government, literature or religion, which are awarded degrees of Doctor of Science, Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Letters, or Doctor of...
by the University of Chattanooga in 1964, the citation said in part, "He has found teaching and writing exciting."
In the Lupton Library of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a public university located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The University, often referred to as UTC or simply "Chattanooga" , is one of three universities and two other affiliated institutions in the University of Tennessee System; the others being in...
there is a North Callahan Collection that contains original manuscripts of his books, unpublished notes, favorable reviews of his books, a collection of pictures with celebrities such as Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
, etc., and his personal research library, all donated to the university.
The New York Times credited him for "filling a gap in the annals of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
." The Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
stated about one of his books, "This book deserves an honored place on the library shelf of every thinking American." The Wall Street Journal wrote, "This volume places Dr. Callahan in the front rank of American historians." The American Historical Review
American Historical Review
The American Historical Review is the official publication of the American Historical Association, established in 1895 "for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical documents and artifacts, and the dissemination of historical research." It targets readers...
said, "This book is a valuable contribution to a neglected aspect of American history."
Callahan established in his name an annual award for the best Honors Essay in American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and European history and biography at UTC. He established the first glee club at the university, where he also founded the Great Books Club. He wrote and directed three plays based on his early acting career and served as chairman of the Folklore Division of the American Studies Association.
After educational work in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, Dr. Callahan became a newspaper writer in this state, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
correspondent of the Dallas Morning News, eventually doing a syndicated column.
Family
Callahan's first marriageMarriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, to Dr. Jennie Waugh Callahan, ended in divorce; she died in 1998. His second wife
Wife
A wife is a female partner in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the wife regarding her spouse and others, and her status in the community and in law, varies between cultures and has varied over time.-Origin and etymology:...
, Helen Pemberton Callahan, died in September 2004. He had two children, a son also named North Callahan and daughter Mary Alice Covington.
North Callahan Collection
The North Callahan Collection is a grouping of works produced by North Callahan throughout the time period 1940-1985 and maintained at the Lupton Library in Chattanooga, TennesseeChattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
. The North Callahan Collection includes manuscripts of many of his books, reviews, lecture notes, tests, and related teaching material. There are also photographs, plaques and awards. In addition, Dr. Callahan donated over 1100 volumes of books dealing with American history to the library.