DAVID MCCULLOUGH
David McCullough
Born July 7, 1933 (age 74)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Occupation Historian, Author
Spouse Rosalee Ingram McCullough
David Gaub McCullough (born July 7, 1933) is an American historian
and bestselling author. A two-time winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the
National Book Award, he is widely referred to as a "master of the art of
narrative history." Among his most well-known books are The Path Between the
Seas, Truman, John Adams, and his most recent volume, 1776 (a New York Times and
Amazon bestseller). He is also a familiar presence on public television — as the
host of Smithsonian World and The American Experience, and as the narrator of
many well-regarded, highly accessible, and facile documentaries.
McCullough was educated at Shady Side Academy in his hometown of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, and then attended Yale University, where he received his bachelor's
degree with honors in English literature in 1955. While at Yale, he became a
member of Skull and Bones; as an undergraduate with a first interest in art, he
often ate lunch with playwright and novelist Thornton Wilder, who inspired
McCullough to become a writer.
After graduating from college, McCullough went to work as an editorial assistant
at the newly-established Sports Illustrated magazine, in New York. During the
Kennedy administration, he moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the United
States Information Agency; he also began working as an editor and writer for the
American Heritage Publishing Company. While working at American Heritage,
McCullough began the research, in his spare time, for what became his first book,
The Johnstown Flood, about the catastrophic Johnstown Flood of 1889, which took
place not far from where he grew up in Pennsylvania.
Speaking of this period in his life, McCullough has said, "...what I did... was
to serve a kind of apprenticeship in... different magazine jobs, primarily
editing, writing. And after I'd done that for about 10 or 12 years, I felt that
I had reached the point where I could attempt something on my own."
In addition to the two PBS programs he has hosted, McCullough has also been the
narrator of numerous documentaries, including Ken Burns' Brooklyn Bridge, The
Statue of Liberty, The Congress, and The Civil War as well as David Grubin's FDR,
Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided, and Napoleon. He also narrated
portions of the motion picture Seabiscuit.
McCullough served as president of the Society of American Historians from 1991
to 1998. He has been elected to both the American Academy of Arts and Letters
and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. As of April 2007, he has received
40 honorary degrees.
In October 2002, McCullough delivered the 13th annual T.H. White Lecture,
sponsored by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public
Policy. "While a great deal about our country has changed since September 11,
everything hasn't, including our history — an inexhaustible source of strength,"
he said. "These are dangerous, uncertain times, but not the worst we've ever
been through, by any means." McCullough taught at Hamilton College in Clinton,
NY from 2003 to 2006.
In December 2006, McCullough was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In June 2007, as the featured speaker at the fiftieth anniversary opening of the
Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, McCullough spoke of the need to
reform education and emphasize history more strongly in American schools. On
September 11, 2007, McCullough received his first honorary high school diploma
from Wellesley High School, where he also gave a speech, and where his son now
teaches English. In 2008, he was named the Janet Weis Fellow in Contemporary
Letters at Bucknell University.
McCullough lives in West Tisbury, Massachusetts (Martha's Vineyard) with his
wife Rosalee Ingram (Barnes) McCullough, whom he met at Yale. They have five
children and 18 grandchildren.
David McCullough
Born July 7, 1933 (age 74)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Occupation Historian, Author
Spouse Rosalee Ingram McCullough
David Gaub McCullough (born July 7, 1933) is an American historian
and bestselling author. A two-time winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the
National Book Award, he is widely referred to as a "master of the art of
narrative history." Among his most well-known books are The Path Between the
Seas, Truman, John Adams, and his most recent volume, 1776 (a New York Times and
Amazon bestseller). He is also a familiar presence on public television — as the
host of Smithsonian World and The American Experience, and as the narrator of
many well-regarded, highly accessible, and facile documentaries.
McCullough was educated at Shady Side Academy in his hometown of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, and then attended Yale University, where he received his bachelor's
degree with honors in English literature in 1955. While at Yale, he became a
member of Skull and Bones; as an undergraduate with a first interest in art, he
often ate lunch with playwright and novelist Thornton Wilder, who inspired
McCullough to become a writer.
After graduating from college, McCullough went to work as an editorial assistant
at the newly-established Sports Illustrated magazine, in New York. During the
Kennedy administration, he moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the United
States Information Agency; he also began working as an editor and writer for the
American Heritage Publishing Company. While working at American Heritage,
McCullough began the research, in his spare time, for what became his first book,
The Johnstown Flood, about the catastrophic Johnstown Flood of 1889, which took
place not far from where he grew up in Pennsylvania.
Speaking of this period in his life, McCullough has said, "...what I did... was
to serve a kind of apprenticeship in... different magazine jobs, primarily
editing, writing. And after I'd done that for about 10 or 12 years, I felt that
I had reached the point where I could attempt something on my own."
In addition to the two PBS programs he has hosted, McCullough has also been the
narrator of numerous documentaries, including Ken Burns' Brooklyn Bridge, The
Statue of Liberty, The Congress, and The Civil War as well as David Grubin's FDR,
Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided, and Napoleon. He also narrated
portions of the motion picture Seabiscuit.
McCullough served as president of the Society of American Historians from 1991
to 1998. He has been elected to both the American Academy of Arts and Letters
and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. As of April 2007, he has received
40 honorary degrees.
In October 2002, McCullough delivered the 13th annual T.H. White Lecture,
sponsored by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public
Policy. "While a great deal about our country has changed since September 11,
everything hasn't, including our history — an inexhaustible source of strength,"
he said. "These are dangerous, uncertain times, but not the worst we've ever
been through, by any means." McCullough taught at Hamilton College in Clinton,
NY from 2003 to 2006.
In December 2006, McCullough was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In June 2007, as the featured speaker at the fiftieth anniversary opening of the
Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, McCullough spoke of the need to
reform education and emphasize history more strongly in American schools. On
September 11, 2007, McCullough received his first honorary high school diploma
from Wellesley High School, where he also gave a speech, and where his son now
teaches English. In 2008, he was named the Janet Weis Fellow in Contemporary
Letters at Bucknell University.
McCullough lives in West Tisbury, Massachusetts (Martha's Vineyard) with his
wife Rosalee Ingram (Barnes) McCullough, whom he met at Yale. They have five
children and 18 grandchildren.