Carman, Harry James

Carman, Harry James, 1884–1964, American historian and educator, b. Greenfield, Saratoga co., N.Y. He was a elementary-school teacher and a high-school principal before becoming an instructor and then an assistant professor at Syracuse Univ. (1914–17). In 1918 he began teaching at Columbia, where he attained the rank of professor in 1931. From 1925 to 1931 he was assistant to the dean of Columbia College, and from 1943 to 1950 he was dean. He was appointed a member of the Board of Higher Education of New York City in 1938 and served on the New York State Board of Mediation from 1941 to 1955. Among his works are Social and Economic History of the United States (2 vol., 1930–34), Lincoln and the Patronage (with R. H. Luthin, 1943), A History of the American People (with H. C. Syrett, rev. ed. 1962), and A Short History of New York State (with others, 1957). He also edited several works concerning early American agriculture, on which he was a leading authority and was the editor of a valuable compilation, A Guide to the Principal Sources for American Civilization, 1800–1900, in the City of New York (with A. W. Thompson, 2 vol., "Manuscripts," 1960, and "Printed Sources," 1962).