Taylor Branch(born January 14, 1947) is an American author and historian who wrote aPulitzer Prizewinning trilogy chronicling the life ofMartin Luther King Jr.and much of the history of the Americancivil rights movement.The final volume of the 2,912-page trilogy, collectively calledAmerica in the King Years,was released in January 2006, and an abridgment,The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement,was published in 2013.
Taylor Branch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | January 14, 1947 Atlanta,Georgia,U.S. |
| Education | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill(BA) Princeton University(MPA) |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Notable works | America in the King Years |
| Notable awards | MacArthur Fellowship National Humanities Medal Pulitzer Prize for History |
| Spouse | Christina Macy |
| Children | 2 |
Biography
editEarly life and education
editBranch graduated fromThe Westminster SchoolsinAtlantain 1964. From there, he went to theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hillon aMorehead Scholarship.[1]He graduated in 1968 and went on to earn anM.P.A.from theWoodrow Wilson School of Public and International AffairsatPrinceton Universityin 1970.
Career
edit
Branch served as an assistant editor atThe Washington Monthlyfrom 1970 to 1973; he was Washington editor ofHarper'sfrom 1973 to 1976; and he was Washington columnist forEsquire Magazinefrom 1976 to 1977. He also has written for a variety of other publications, includingThe New York Times Magazine,Sport,The New Republic,andTexas Monthly.
In 1972, Branch worked for theTexascampaign of Democratic presidential nomineeGeorge McGovern.Branch shared an apartment in Austin withBill Clinton,and the two developed a friendship that continues today. He also worked withHillary Rodham,Bill's then-girlfriend and Yale Law School classmate, and later Clinton's wife.
Branch's book on former presidentBill Clinton,The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With The President,was written from many tape-recorded interviews and conversations between the two, most of which occurred in the White House during Clinton's two terms in office and which were not disclosed publicly until 2007.[2]
Branch was alecturerinpoliticsandhistoryatGoucher Collegefrom 1998 to 2000.[citation needed]Branch hasalso taughtat theUniversity of Baltimore.
Taylor Branch received a five-yearMacArthur FoundationFellowship (also known as a "genius grant" ) in 1991 and theNational Humanities Medalin 1999. In 2008, he received theDayton Literary Peace Prize's Lifetime Achievement Award,[3]presented to him by special guestEdwin C. Moses.[4]
In 2013, he co-producedSchooled: The Price of College Sportsbased on his 2011 bookThe Cartel.[citation needed]
in 2015, he received the BIO Award fromBiographers International Organization,for his contributions to the art and craft of biography.[5]
Israeli citizenship controversy
editA group ofBlack Hebrew Israelitesdescribed as a cult inThe New York Timeswere systematically denied Israeli citizenship over several decades. In 1981, a group of American civil rights activists led byBayard Rustininvestigated and concluded that racism was likely not the cause of the Black Hebrews' treatment.[6]In 1992, Branch opined that the Black Hebrew Israelites' denial of citizenship under the Israeli law of return was because of alleged anti-Black sentiment among Israeli Jews.[7]In 1998, Branch was criticized bySeth Forman,who said Branch's claims seemed to be baseless, particularly in light of Israel's airlift of thousands of black Ethiopian Jews in the early 1990s.[8]
Family
edit
Branch lives inBaltimore, Maryland,with his wife, Christina Macy, and their two children, Macy (born 1980) and Franklin (born 1983).
Books
edit- Blowing the Whistle: Dissent in the Public Interest(withCharles Peters) (Praeger:1972)
- Second Wind(withBill Russell) (Random House:1979)
- The Empire Blues(fiction) (Simon & Schuster:1981)
- Labyrinth(withEugene M. Propper): (Viking:1982, Penguin Books: 1983,ISBN0-14-006683-7)
- Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63(Simon & Schuster: 1988)
- Pulitzer Prize for History,1989
- National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction,1988
- English-Speaking UnionBook Award, 1989
- Martin Luther King Memorial Prize,1989
- (Finalist):National Book Award,Nonfiction,1989
- Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65(Simon & Schuster: 1998)
- American Bar Association,Silver Gavel Award, 1999
- Imus Book Award,1999
- The Hillman Prize,1998[9]
- At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968(Simon & Schuster: 2006)
- Heartland Prizefor nonfiction,Chicago Tribune,2006.[10]
References
edit- ^"BHS senior awarded Morehead-Cain scholarship".The Transylvania Times.3 May 2022.Retrieved2022-05-20.
- ^Bosman, Julie (22 March 2007)."Historian Plans Book From Chats With Clinton".The New York Times.
- ^"King biographer latest Literary Peace Prize honoree".
- ^"Dayton Literary Peace Prize - Edwin C. Moses".daytonliterarypeaceprize.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-11-07.Retrieved2009-09-22.
- ^The BIO Award, Biographers International OrganizationArchived2016-03-07 at theWayback Machine
- ^Shipler, David K. (January 30, 1981)."Israelis Urged To Act Over Black Hebrew Cult".The New York Times.Retrieved2008-05-28.
- ^Branch, Taylor "Blacks and Jews: The Uncivil War", inBridges and Boundaries: African Americans and American Jews(Salzman, Ed), 1992
- ^Forman, Seth,Blacks in the Jewish Mind: A Crisis of Liberalism,NYU Press, 1998, p. 14-15
- ^"The Hillman Prize Previous Honorees".2009.Retrieved13 December2012.
- ^"Taylor Branch and Louise Erdrich Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2006 (video)".Chicago Humanities Festival.5 November 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 2 March 2012.Retrieved1 February2012.
- ^"The Clinton Tapes, Wrestling History with the President".RetrievedDecember 14,2012.
- ^Klein, Joe (September 24, 2009)."Bill Session".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon April 24, 2012.RetrievedAugust 26,2022.
External links
edit
- Official website
- Inventory of the Taylor Branch Papers, 1865-2005,at the Southern Historical Collection,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- AppearancesonC-SPAN