W. J. Rorabaugh
Encyclopedia
W.J. Rorabaugh (born 1945) is an American historian. He is a professor of history at the University of Washington
and from 2003-08 was the managing editor of Pacific Northwest Quarterly
. He graduated from Stanford University
and the University of California, Berkeley
with a PhD in 1976. He is a book reviewer and the author of several works of American history. In July 2006 he became president of the Alcohol and Drugs History Society
.
He has studied the history of beer in America. Rorabaugh's 1979 book The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition demonstrated the exceedingly high rate of alcohol consumption in the United States in the early nineteenth century. At the time, Rorabaugh argued, "Americans preferred cider and whiskey because those drinks contained more alcohol than beer, which was too weak for American taste... One can only conclude that at the root of the alcoholic republic was the fact that Americans chose the most highly alcoholic beverages that they could obtain easily and cheaply."
In his more recent work on the decade of the 1960s in American history, Rorabaugh has suggested a redefinition of "the sixties." In his 2002 book Kennedy and the Promise of the Sixties, he wrote: "It is possible to argue that the sixties did not begin until 1965, when African Americans rioted in Watts and when large numbers of American combat troops were sent to Vietnam, and did not end until 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned, or even 1975, when the North Vietnamese marched into Saigon." Rorabaugh identified the earlier half of the decade as distinct both from the 1950s and "the sixties": "The early sixties, then, is important because it was an in-between time, a short space lodged between a more conservative, cautious, and complacent era that preceded it and a more frenzied, often raucous, and even violent era that followed."
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
and from 2003-08 was the managing editor of Pacific Northwest Quarterly
Pacific Northwest Quarterly
Pacific Northwest Quarterly is a peer-reviewed academic journal of history that publishes scholarship relating to the Pacific Northwest of the United States, including Alaska, and adjacent areas of western Canada. Founded in 1906 by Edmond S...
. He graduated from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
with a PhD in 1976. He is a book reviewer and the author of several works of American history. In July 2006 he became president of the Alcohol and Drugs History Society
Alcohol and Drugs History Society
The Alcohol and Drugs History Society is a scholarly organization whose members study the history of a variety of illegal, regulated, and unregulated drugs such as opium, alcohol, and coffee. Organized in 2004, the ADHS is the successor to a society with a more limited scope, the Alcohol and...
.
He has studied the history of beer in America. Rorabaugh's 1979 book The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition demonstrated the exceedingly high rate of alcohol consumption in the United States in the early nineteenth century. At the time, Rorabaugh argued, "Americans preferred cider and whiskey because those drinks contained more alcohol than beer, which was too weak for American taste... One can only conclude that at the root of the alcoholic republic was the fact that Americans chose the most highly alcoholic beverages that they could obtain easily and cheaply."
In his more recent work on the decade of the 1960s in American history, Rorabaugh has suggested a redefinition of "the sixties." In his 2002 book Kennedy and the Promise of the Sixties, he wrote: "It is possible to argue that the sixties did not begin until 1965, when African Americans rioted in Watts and when large numbers of American combat troops were sent to Vietnam, and did not end until 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned, or even 1975, when the North Vietnamese marched into Saigon." Rorabaugh identified the earlier half of the decade as distinct both from the 1950s and "the sixties": "The early sixties, then, is important because it was an in-between time, a short space lodged between a more conservative, cautious, and complacent era that preceded it and a more frenzied, often raucous, and even violent era that followed."