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Fred Magdoff

American soil scientist

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 25, 2026
Entity authorityQ93372966 ↗
Source-derived summary

Fred Magdoff is an American soil scientist. He is Emeritus Professor of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont.

He received a BA in history from Oberlin College in 1963 and both an MA in 1965 and Phd in 1969 from Cornell University in soil science.

He is the son of socialist commentator Harry Magdoff.

He is a regular contributor to Monthly Review.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Fred Magdoff” as american soil scientist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fred, Magdoff and American.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1963, 1965, 1969—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1942. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Fred, Magdoff and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Fred Magdoff”, the useful work is to connect “american soil scientist” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q93372966. VIAF identifies the subject as 117311961. The Library of Congress control number is n92063408. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1963, 1965 and 1969.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Fred Magdoff”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Fred Magdoff primary sources, Fred Magdoff archive and Fred research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fred Magdoff”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Fred Magdoff” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.