Carl L. (Carl Lotus) Becker

Born near Waterloo, Iowa, on September 7, 1873, Carl Lotus Becker became one of the most influential American historians of his generation. He studied at the University of Wisconsin, where he was shaped by the historian Frederick Jackson Turner, and later taught at several colleges before joining Cornell University, where he spent the central part of his career.

Becker was known for writing history that was both intellectually serious and readable. His work often focused on the American Revolution, early American ideas, and the Enlightenment in Europe and America. Among his best-known books are The Declaration of Independence (1922) and The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers (1932), works that show his gift for combining scholarship with clear, memorable prose.

He also became closely associated with a thoughtful, skeptical view of history, emphasizing that historians interpret the past rather than simply recover it untouched. That approach, together with his elegant style, made him widely respected far beyond the classroom. He died in Ithaca, New York, on April 10, 1945.