Harold Perkin

Harold James Perkin (11 November 1926 – 16 October 2004) was a British social historian and founder of the Social History Society (1976).

Perkin was born in Hanley, Staffordshire to humble origins and attended Hanley High School and then obtained a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge from 1945, gaining a starred First Class degree in 1948 followed by National Service in the RAF. Rejected by his Cambridge college to study for a PhD, he commenced an extramural history teaching post from 1950 at Manchester University. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Academic career

Lecturer in Social History, Manchester University 1951-65; Senior Lecturer in Social History, Lancaster University 1965-67, Professor 1967-84, Director, Centre for Social History 1974-84; Professor of History, Northwestern University, Illinois 1985-97 (Emeritus);

He had a visiting professorship at Rice University, founded and chaired the Social History Society, and served as chief salary negotiator for the Association of University Teachers and was later its president. As a distinguished social historian Perkin secured an academic stature as lasting as that of Asa Briggs and Eric Hobsbawm.

Publications

• New Universities in the United Kingdom, Case Studies on Innovation in Higher Education, Paris: OECD, 1969^[5]
• Key Profession: History of the Association of University Teachers, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969 ISBN 0-7100-6501-9
• The Origins of Modern English Society 1780-1880, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969 ISBN 0-7100-4567-0
• The Age of the Railway, UK: Panther Books, (1970)
• History (Outline), Law Book Co of Australasia, (1970) ISBN 0-7100-6814-X
• Age of the Automobile, UK: Quartet Books, (1976) ISBN 0-7043-2112-2
• The Structured Crowd: Essays in English social history, UK: Harvester Books, (1981) ISBN 0-85527-413-1
• The Rise of Professional Society, England Since 1880, London; New York: Routledge, 1989 ISBN 0-415-30178-5
• The Third Revolution: Professional Elites in the Modern World, London: Routledge, 1996 ISBN 0-415-14337-3
• The Making of a Social Historian, (autobiography) UK: Athena Press, 2002 ISBN 1-84401-014-7

Television

Television shows for Granada TV

• The Age of the Railway (1970)
• The Age of the Automobile (1976)

Both later issued in book form.

References

1. Professor Harold Perkin (Obituary), The Times, 15 December 2004
2. David Cannadine,Harold Perkin Obituary, The Guardian, Saturday 23 October 2004
3. Jeffrey Richards, Professor Harold Perkin: Obituary The Independent, 2 November 2004
4. In Memoriam: Harold Perkin, American Historical Association Obituary
5. Complete text in pdf

External links

• Harold Perkin Entry at 'Making History' website, Institute of Historical Research, University of London. Accessed December 2011