Untitled Document

About Me

Birth	Cleveland, Ohio, August 15, 1921
Education	Dartmouth College, English Honors Major, B.A. 1942 Columbia University, English, M. A. 1947, master's essay on "Henry Adams's Politics" University of Pennsylvania, American Civilization, Ph.D. 1954, dissertation on "Henry Adams and History"
Military Service	U.S. Army Air Force, Aug 1942-Dec 1945. Historian on four-man team that wrote the history of the fire-and-atom bombing of Japan's major cities. Commended by General Curtis E. LeMay as a member of his staff.
Researcher 1943-68	Began research for a biography of Henry Adams while in the Air Force. After being discharged, found new information in New York, Boston, Cambridge, Cleveland, and Washington. Obtained private records kept by Adams's surviving associates. Awarded $15,000 by the William Volker Fund to continue research for two and a half years (1956-59) away from academia. Found important materials in England (1960-62). Learned that a one-book biography was unworkable. Devised the three-book plan that was successfully carried out.
Teaching	Instructor in English, Dartmouth College, 1947-49; left voluntarily. Member of the English Department at Hofstra University, 1953 to the present; now Professor of English Emeritus. Taught 7,000 students, including 2100 in 55 sections of the full-year upper class Shakespeare course and an equal number in the parallel American Literature course. Organized the American Studies Program. Won Distinguished Teaching Prize, 1962. Left teaching to write full time, 1988.
Books	A trilogy of matching but independent, highly organized nonfiction narratives: Both Sides of the Ocean/A Biography of Henry Adams/His First Life: 1838-1862. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1982 Better in Darkness/A Biography of Henry Adams/His Second LIfe: 1862-1891. Archon Books, North Haven CT 1994 Improvement of the World/A Biography of Henry Adams/His Last Life: 1891-1918. Archon Books, North Haven CT 2001 A compilation of 23 of Adams's shorter works *Henry Adams. Sketches for the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. Edited by Edward Chalfant. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1986* A self-help book New Entryways to Ten Important Works by William Shakespeare. Xlibris, 2005 The book provides key assistance—not too little, not too much—to persons of any age who would like to think for themselves about Shakespeare. The suggestions offered are all new and pivotal. The works considered are Romeo & Juliet, Othello, Julius Caesar, Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice, Sonnets 1-126, Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, and Anthony & Cleopatra. A new publication The Education of Henry Adams/by Henry Adams/A Centennial Version/ by Henry Adams/ Edited by Edward Chalfant and Conrad Edick Wright/ Published by the Massachusetts Historical Society/ Distributed by the University of Virginia Press, 2007
Articles considered most notable	"Academic Freedom for the Student in the Classroom," Hofstra Review, Spring 1969 "The Secret Service of Henry Adams/Anonymous Writer Reports from London," Civil War Times Illustrated, June 1984
Talks considered most notable	Talk given on February 15, 2007, at the Massachusetts Historical Society celebrating the release of The Education of Henry Adams/ A Centennial Version "Shylock's Good Deed," Shakespeare Festival Seminar, Hofstra University, March 1974 "Is There Any Such Thing as The Education of Henry Adams?" American Literature Society Conference, Long Beach, CA May 2002 "Do Romeo and Juliet Have to Die?" Hillsdale College, 2004 "Henry Adams, Historical Evolutionist," Hillsdale College, 2004 "Why There Has to Be a New Version of The Education of Henry Adams," Hillsdale College, 2004
TV Appearances	C-Span/Book TV, talk about The Education of Henry Adams/A Centennial Version, filmed February 15,2007, at the Massachusetts Historical Society
Newest Awards	Elected a Corresponding Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2004 Received The George Washington Award for Excellence in the Study of American Literature and Politics, Hillsdale College, 2004