Historian Morison to Retire

Pulitzer prize-winner Samuel Eliot Morison '08, Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History, will retire June 30, it was learned yesterday. The eminent historian will, however, remain in his post of official Harvard historian.

Morison won the Pulitzer prize in biography for his 1942 life of Columbus, "Admiral of the Ocean Sea." His research for this book took a unique turn: in a sailing ship he visited all the coasts and islands that Columbus had touched in his explorations.

A more stirring set of experiences at sea were the background for his monumental "History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II." Morison served on 11 different ships during the war, received seven battle stars and the Legion of Merit and finally retired from the Naval Reserve in 1951 with the rank of Rear Admiral. Nine of the 14 volumes of the naval history have been published, and with his coming retirement, Morison expects to complete the work within the next few years.

As Harvard historian, Morison wrote the four-volume "Tercentennial History of Harvard University" and "Three Centuries of Harvard."

Holds Nine Honorary Degrees

Alexander Wolcott once described him as "the Babe Ruth of history." Morison's numerous academic honors justify this description. He has been awarded honorary degrees by nine colleges and universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Oxford, and Yale, and he has served as president of the American Historical Association and of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts.

Morison now teaches History 160 on American colonial history and History 260, a seminar on American history.

As an historian, Morison in 1953 offered this advise to future historians: "Bring all your knowledge of life to bear on everything you write. Never let yourself bog down in pedantry and detail. Bring History, the most humane and noble form of letters, back to the proud position she once held."