Wilcomb E. Washburn

Born in 1925 and deceased on February 1, 1997, Wilcomb E. Washburn was an American historian whose work ranged across early American history, exploration, and Native American history. He earned his bachelor's degree at Dartmouth and completed a PhD in the history of American civilization at Harvard, then taught for several years at the College of William and Mary.

In 1958 he joined the Smithsonian Institution, where he served as a curator in political history and later led the Office of American Studies. Smithsonian archival descriptions portray him as a scholar with wide interests, from museums and cultural institutions to multicultural approaches to American history, and they show how central the Smithsonian became to his professional life.

Washburn also left a strong mark as an editor and author. He is associated with major reference and synthesis projects on Native American history, including work on The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, and wrote books such as The Indian in America. His work is often remembered for tackling the complicated history of Indian-white relations with both range and seriousness.