Herbert Aptheker | |
|---|---|
 Aptheker transferring W. E. B. Du Bois papers to University of Massachusetts, 1973 | |
| Born | July 31, 1915 |
| Died | March 17, 2003 (aged 87) |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation(s) | Marxist historian, editor, activist |
| Notable work | American Negro Slave Revolts, Documentary History of the Negro People in the United States, History of the American People, The Correspondence of W. E. B. Du Bois, Anti-Racism in U.S. History |
| Political party | Communist Party USA, Peace and Freedom Party |
| Spouse | Fay Aptheker (1942–1999) |
| Children | Bettina Aptheker |
Herbert Aptheker (July 31, 1915 – March 17, 2003) was an American Marxist historian and political activist. He wrote more than 50 books, mostly in the fields of African-American history and general U.S. history, most notably, American Negro Slave Revolts (1943), a classic in the field. He also compiled the 7-volume Documentary History of the Negro People (1951–1994). In addition, he compiled a wide variety of primary documents supporting study of African-American history. He was the literary executor for W. E. B. Du Bois.
From the 1940s, Aptheker was a prominent figure in U.S. scholarly discourse. Aptheker was blacklisted in academia during the 1950s because of his Communist Party membership. He succeeded V. J. Jerome in 1955 as editor of Political Affairs, a communist theory magazine.