About Eugene Genovese
Eugene Dominic Genovese (May 19, 1930 – September 26, 2012) was an American historian of the American South and American slavery. He was noted for bringing a Marxist perspective to the study of power, class and relations between planters and slaves in the South. His book Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made won the Bancroft Prize. He wrote during the Cold War; his political beliefs were viewed by some as highly controversial at the time. He later abandoned the left and Marxism and embraced traditionalist conservatism. == Early life and education == Genovese was born on May 19, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York. His father was an immigrant dockworker and Eugene was raised in a working-class Italian American family. In 1945, at the age of 15, he joined the Communist Party USA, and was active in the youth movement until he was expelled in 1950, at the age of 20, for disregarding party discipline or, as he said, "for having zigged when [he] was supposed to zag," a decision approved by then communist organiser and later fellow historian of slavery Robert Fogel. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College in 1953 and his Master of Arts in 1955 and a Ph.D. in history in 1959, both from Columbia University. He taught at another dozen universities, including Yale, Cambridge and Rutgers.
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