Edward Pessen

Edward Pessen (1920–1992) was an American historian.

Life Edward Pessen was born to a working-class Jewish immigrant family in New York City. After army service Pessen completed undergraduate education (in 1947) and gained a PhD (in 1954) from Columbia University. He taught at several universities, ending as professor of history at the graduate school of the City University of New York before retiring to south Florida where he taught his final class, a senior seminar on the Cold War, as an adjunct professor at Florida International University. He was a founder of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, and was the society's president in 1985–6.

Works The social philosophies of early American leaders of labor, 1954 Most uncommon Jacksonians: the radical leaders of the early labor movement, 1967 New perspectives on Jacksonian parties and politics, 1969 Jacksonian America: society, personality, and politics, 1969 Riches, class, and power before the Civil War, 1973 Three centuries of social mobility in America, 1974 Jacksonian panorama, 1976 The Many-faceted Jacksonian era: new interpretations, 1977 The log cabin myth: the social backgrounds of the presidents, 1984