Francis Parkman

Lore & Background

Parkman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to a distinguished family. As a young boy, he was sent to live with his maternal grandfather on a 3,000-acre tract of wilderness in Medford, Massachusetts, where he developed a love of forests and learned to hunt and ride bareback. He enrolled at Harvard College at age 16 and conceived his life's work during his second year. After graduating in 1844, he studied law at his father's urging but continued to pursue his historical plan. In 1846, he traveled west on a hunting expedition and lived with the Sioux tribe, an experience that shaped his writing about American Indians.

Reader's Guide

Parkman's works remain valued as historical sources and as literature. He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1855 and a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1865. After the Civil War, he helped secure Confederate imprints for the Boston Athenæum, creating one of the world's most extensive collections. The Society for American Historians annually awards the Francis Parkman Prize for the best book on American history. His work has been praised by historians such as C. Vann Woodward, Allan Nevins, and Samuel Eliot Morison, but also criticized for bias against Native Americans, France, and women. Parkman's essay against women's suffrage was a best-seller for decades and was used by anti-suffrage groups long after his death.

Did You Know?

• Parkman suffered from a debilitating neurological illness that left him effectively blind for long periods, requiring him to dictate much of his writing.
• He was a trustee of the Boston Athenæum from 1858 until his death in 1893.
• Parkman built a house at 50 Chestnut Street on Beacon Hill in Boston, which became a National Historic Landmark.
• The United States Postal Service honored Parkman with a Prominent Americans series 3¢ postage stamp in 1967.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"In the middle of the sixteenth century, Spain was the incubus of Europe. Gloomy and portentous, she chilled the world with her baneful shadow." — Francis Parkman "America was still a land of wonder. The ancient spell still hung unbroken over the wild, vast world of mystery beyond the sea,—a land of romance, adventure, and gold." — Francis Parkman "Pt. II, Ch. 2 La Roche. Champlain. De Monts." — Francis Parkman "Humanity, morality, decency, might be forgotten, but codfish must still be had for the use of the faithful in Lent and on fast days." — Francis Parkman