Bessie Louise Pierce

Bessie Louise Pierce
Born(1886-04-20)April 20, 1886
DiedOctober 3, 1974(1974-10-03) (aged 88)
OccupationHistorian

Bessie Louise Pierce (April 20, 1886 – October 3, 1974) was an American historian[1] known for her three-volume work, A History of Chicago.[2]

Pierce was born in Caro, Michigan,[2] and grew up in Waverly, Iowa.[3] She earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Iowa and obtained a master's degree at the University of Chicago in 1918.[3] She joined the faculty of the University of Iowa history department under Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., who urged her to get a doctorate.[4]

In 1929, she returned to the University of Chicago at the request of Charles Edward Merriam to oversee the History of Chicago project.[3] For the Century of Progress in 1933, she wrote As Others See Chicago: Impressions of Visitors, 1673–1933.[4] She then began her most notable work, A History of Chicago. The first two volumes were published in 1937 and 1940. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1955.[5] She completed the third volume in 1957, three years after she retired[2] and became a professor emeritus.[6] Pierce began work on a fourth volume, which was to cover the years 1894 to 1915,[6] but it was never completed. She returned to Iowa in 1973 and died the following year.[2]

  1. ^ "Pierce, Bessie Louise". American National Biography. Oxford University Press. (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c d Kogan, Rick (7 February 2014). "Bessie Louise Pierce: Gatekeeper to Chicago history". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Moss, Ruth (15 June 1958). "Chicago's Boswell: Bessie Pierce Chronicles Vivid Life of the City She Loves." Chicago Daily Tribune, p. G45.
  4. ^ a b Hutchinson, Louise (29 Aug. 1965). "Distinguished Chicagoans: She Labors 36 Years to Write Chicago's History." Chicago Tribune, p. B3.
  5. ^ "Fellows". Guggenheim Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  6. ^ a b Powers, Irene (3 March 1967). "Chicago Chronicler, Miss Pierce, Honored." Chicago Tribune, p. B18.