Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 26, 2026

James Merrell

James Hart Merrell is an American historian specializing in early American history. He has written extensively on Native American history during the colonial era, and is one of only five historians to be awarded the Bancroft Prize twice. He is the Lucy Maynard Salmon Professor of History Emeritus at Vassar College.

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Jul 26, 2026
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James Merrell
Born
James Hart Merrell

1953 (age 72–73)
EducationLawrence University
Johns Hopkins University (PhD)
OccupationHistorian
AwardsFrederick Jackson Turner Award (1990)
Merle Curti Award (1990)
Bancroft Prize (1990, 2000)

James Hart Merrell (born 1953 in Minnesota) is an American historian specializing in early American history. He has written extensively on Native American history during the colonial era, and is one of only five historians to be awarded the Bancroft Prize twice. He is the Lucy Maynard Salmon Professor of History Emeritus at Vassar College.1

Education

Merrell was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota.1 He earned his undergraduate degree at Lawrence University and continued his studies at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.2 He received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1982.

Career

Merrell was a Fellow at The Newberry Library Center for the History of the American Indian in Chicago and at the Institute of Early American History and Culture in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has also received fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation,3 and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

He has taught at Vassar College since 1984, except for the 1998–1999 academic year, when he was a professor at Northwestern University.

Awards

Bibliography

Bibliography

References

References

  1. "James H. Merrell, PhD - Faculty - Vassar College". www.vassar.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  2. "Student Outcomes | Lawrence University". www.lawrence.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  3. "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | James H. Merrell". Retrieved 2019-01-22.