George M. Fredrickson

George M. Fredrickson (July 16, 1934 – February 25, 2008) was an American author, activist, historian, and professor. He was the Edgar E. Robinson Professor of United States History at Stanford University until his retirement in 2002. After his retirement he continued to publish several texts, authoring a total of eight books and editing four more in addition to writing various articles. One of his best known works remains White Supremacy: A Comparative Study of American and South African History, which received the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize and the Merle Curti Award as well as made him a finalist of the Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book Award.

Fredrickson's most fundamental pieces of work were centered on the history of race and racism in the United States and globally. It has been said that his analysis of the differing views expressed by northern and southern whites in the U.S. (before the Civil War) on black inferiority in his book The Black Image in the White Mind (1971) contributed greatly to the understanding of racism during that time. He continued to examine racial ideology during the American Civil War until his death in February 2008.

Early life and education

Fredrickson was born on July 16, 1934, in Bristol, Connecticut, and spent most of his early life in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He attended high school in South Dakota and was accepted into Harvard University where he graduated magna cum laude in 1956. He later attended the University of Oslo on a Fulbright Scholarship before joining the Navy, he was discharged in 1960 after serving for three years.