Thomas Sugrue
Encyclopedia
Thomas J. Sugrue is an American
historian
of the twentieth-century United States at the University of Pennsylvania
, where he is currently David Boies Professor of History and Sociology. His areas of expertise include American urban history, American political history, and the history of race relations. He has published extensively on the history of liberalism and conservatism
, on poverty
and public policy
, on civil rights
, and on the history of affirmative action
.
in 1980 and from Columbia University
(Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) in 1984, with a degree in History. From 1984-1986, Sugrue attended King's College
, Cambridge University on a Kellett Fellowship
and earned a B.A. (honours) in British History and the Doncaster History Prize of King's College. He earned his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University
in 1992. He began his teaching career at the University of Pennsylvania in 1991. Sugrue has won fellowships and grants from the Brookings Institution
, the Social Science Research Council, the Guggenheim Foundation
, the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Philosophical Society, and the Institute for Advanced Study
in Princeton. He was an inaugural Alphonse Fletcher Foundation
Fellow. He has also been a visiting faculty member at New York University
, Harvard University, and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
in Paris.
, 1996) was widely acclaimed. It won the prestigious Bancroft Prize
in History, the President's Book Award of the Social Science History Association, the Philip Taft Prize in Labor History, the Urban History Association Prize for Best Book in North American Labor History, and was selected as a Choice Outstanding Book. In 2005, Princeton University Press selected Origins of the Urban Crisis as one of its 100 most influential books of the preceding century http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7937.html and issued it as a Princeton Classic. Sugrue has also edited two other books, W.E.B. DuBois, Race, and the City (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), with Michael B. Katz, and The New Suburban History (University of Chicago Press
, 2005), with Kevin M. Kruse. He has also published essays and reviews in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Nation
, London Review of Books
, Chicago Tribune
, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Detroit Free Press
. In 2010 he served as a guest-blogger for Ta-Nehisi Coates
at The Atlantic.
in two federal court cases regarding affirmative action in the undergraduate and law school admissions--Grutter v. Bollinger
and Gratz v. Bollinger
, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court
in 2003. He served as vice chair of the City of Philadelphia Historical Commission from 2001-2008. Sugrue is a popular teacher—winner of two teaching awards—and mentor to many dissertation students. He is also a well-regarded public speaker, having given more than 150 talks to audiences at universities, foundations, community groups, and religious congregations throughout the United States and in Canada, Britain, France, and Germany. His 2008 book Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History and a main selection of the History Book Club. His most recent book is Not Even Past: Barack Obama and the Burden of Race. He is now finishing a history of twentieth-century America with Glenda Gilmore
.
Sugrue lives in Philadelphia.
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...
of the twentieth-century United States at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, where he is currently David Boies Professor of History and Sociology. His areas of expertise include American urban history, American political history, and the history of race relations. He has published extensively on the history of liberalism and conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
, on poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
, on civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, and on the history of affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
.
Early life
Sugrue was born in 1962 in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in the city. He graduated from Brother Rice High School (Michigan)Brother Rice High School (Michigan)
Brother Rice High School is a Roman Catholic all-boys non-residential college prep school with approximately 700 students located in Bloomfield Township, Michigan . Until 1993 its address was in neighboring Birmingham, Michigan's postal district. In 1993 the U.S...
in 1980 and 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...
(Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) in 1984, with a degree in History. From 1984-1986, Sugrue attended King's College
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, Cambridge University on a Kellett Fellowship
Kellett Fellowship
The Euretta J. Kellett Fellowship is a prestigious prize awarded to two graduating seniors a year at Columbia College, the main undergraduate school of Columbia University...
and earned a B.A. (honours) in British History and the Doncaster History Prize of King's College. He earned his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1992. He began his teaching career at the University of Pennsylvania in 1991. Sugrue has won fellowships and grants from the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
, the Social Science Research Council, the Guggenheim Foundation
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
, the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Philosophical Society, and the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
in Princeton. He was an inaugural Alphonse Fletcher Foundation
Fletcher Foundation
The Fletcher Foundation is a nonprofit foundation that supports civil rights and environmental education. It was created with a $50 million endowment in 2004 by New York financier and philanthropist Alphonse Fletcher, Jr....
Fellow. He has also been a visiting faculty member at 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...
, Harvard University, and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
The École des hautes études en sciences sociales is a leading French institution for research and higher education, a Grand Établissement. Its mission is research and research training in the social sciences, including the relationship these latter maintain with the natural and life sciences...
in Paris.
Academic
Sugrue's first book, The Origins of the Urban Crisis (Princeton University PressPrinceton University Press
-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...
, 1996) was widely acclaimed. It won the prestigious 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...
in History, the President's Book Award of the Social Science History Association, the Philip Taft Prize in Labor History, the Urban History Association Prize for Best Book in North American Labor History, and was selected as a Choice Outstanding Book. In 2005, Princeton University Press selected Origins of the Urban Crisis as one of its 100 most influential books of the preceding century http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7937.html and issued it as a Princeton Classic. Sugrue has also edited two other books, W.E.B. DuBois, Race, and the City (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), with Michael B. Katz, and The New Suburban History (University of Chicago Press
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
, 2005), with Kevin M. Kruse. He has also published essays and reviews in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, London Review of Books
London Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, 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...
, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
. In 2010 he served as a guest-blogger for Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic and blogs on its website. Coates has worked for The Village Voice, Washington City Paper, and Time. He has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, O, and other publications...
at The Atlantic.
Background
Sugrue is active in civic affairs. Most notably, he served as an expert for the University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in two federal court cases regarding affirmative action in the undergraduate and law school admissions--Grutter v. Bollinger
Grutter v. Bollinger
Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School...
and Gratz v. Bollinger
Gratz v. Bollinger
Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 , was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the University of Michigan undergraduate affirmative action admissions policy...
, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in 2003. He served as vice chair of the City of Philadelphia Historical Commission from 2001-2008. Sugrue is a popular teacher—winner of two teaching awards—and mentor to many dissertation students. He is also a well-regarded public speaker, having given more than 150 talks to audiences at universities, foundations, community groups, and religious congregations throughout the United States and in Canada, Britain, France, and Germany. His 2008 book Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History and a main selection of the History Book Club. His most recent book is Not Even Past: Barack Obama and the Burden of Race. He is now finishing a history of twentieth-century America with Glenda Gilmore
Glenda Gilmore
Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore is an award-winning historian of the American South at Yale University.-Life:An eighth-generation North Carolinian, Gilmore received her B.A. in Psychology from Wake Forest University...
.
Sugrue lives in Philadelphia.
Selected works
- The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit (1996, Princeton Classic Edition, 2005)
- W.E.B. DuBois, Race, and the City: The Philadelphia Negro and Its Legacy (1998), with M.B. Katz
- The New Suburban History (2005), with Kevin M. Kruse
- Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North (2008)
- Not Even Past: Barack Obama and the Burden of Race (2010)