Charles W. Akers

Charles W. Akers
Born
Charles Wesley Akers

April 2, 1920
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
DiedFebruary 1, 2009(2009-02-01) (aged 88)
Alma materEastern Nazarene College (BA)
Boston University (MA, PhD)
Occupation(s)Historian, author, educator
Employer(s)Eastern Nazarene College (1948–1959)
Quincy College (1957)
Geneva College (1959–1966)
Oakland University (1966–1995)

Charles Wesley Akers (April 2, 1920 – February 1, 2009) was an American historian, author, and educator.

Early life and education

Charles was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Ira and Mary Bird Akers.[1] Akers received his bachelor's degree in history from the Eastern Nazarene College in 1947.[2] He received his master's degree and Ph.D. from Boston University.[1]

Career

Akers was a U.S. Navy veteran and served from 1942 to 1946 in the Second World War.[1]

He began his career in education by teaching in the history department at his alma mater, the Eastern Nazarene College starting in 1948, took a leave of absence in 1957 to become the Director of Quincy Junior College, and left ENC in 1959. His next teaching position was at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.[3][4][5] He began teaching history at Oakland University in 1966[1] and was appointed as chair of the history department there in 1968.[6] He retired from OU in 1995[1] and was named professor emeritus of history there.[7]

He was a member of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, an Associate of Early American History and Culture, and received the Oakland University Excellence in Research Award and the Distinguished Faculty Award of the Michigan Association of Governing Boards.[1]

Published works

Akers' best known published work is Abigail Adams, an American Woman,[8] published by Little, Brown and Company (Boston) in 1980, republished by Addison Wesley Longman (New York) in 2000,[9] and called one of the three best books about Abigail Adams.[10] He is also known for Called unto Liberty: A Life of Jonathan Mayhew, 1720-1766[11] and The Divine Politician, a biography of Samuel Cooper that won the American Revolution Roundtable Award.[1][3]

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Mackenzie, Macaela (February 5, 2009). "Former Oakland University professor dies at 89". The Oakland Press. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
  2. ^ "Cameron Center". Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  3. ^ a b "Dr. Charles Akers". NazNet Community. February 6, 2009. Archived from the original (F) on July 14, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
  4. ^ "JAMES R. CAMERON'S SPEECH AT THE DEDICATION OF THE JAMES R. CAMERON CENTER FOR HISTORY, LAW, AND GOVERNMENT". October 15, 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-01-08. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
  5. ^ "History of the History Program at the Eastern Nazarene College". Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  6. ^ "MINUTES OF THE MEETING of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES". July 11, 1968. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
  7. ^ "History Department". GRADUATE PROGRAM CATALOG 2005-2007. Oakland University. Archived from the original on September 2, 2006. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
  8. ^ "The Historical Society, Boston University". www.bu.edu.
  9. ^ "The Adams Family Papers Editorial Project". The Massachusetts Historical Society. 2009. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
  10. ^ Parsons, Lynn Hudson (2001). "Abigail Smith Adams". In Gould, Lewis L. (ed.). American First Ladies: Their lives and their legacy (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 19. ISBN 0-415-93021-9.
  11. ^ Rossiter, Clinton (1965). "Reviewed work: Called unto Liberty: A Life of Jonathan Mayhew, 1720-1766, Charles W. Akers". The American Historical Review. 70 (4): 1126–1127. doi:10.2307/1846945. JSTOR 1846945.