Fred Albert Shannon

Fred Albert Shannon (February 12, 1893 – February 4, 1963) was an American historian. He had many publications related to American history, and he won the 1929 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Organization and Administration of the Union Army, 1861-1865.

Early life He was born February 12, 1893, in Sedalia, Missouri, the son of Louis Tecumseh Shannon and Sarah Margaret (Sparks) Shannon. By 1900, his family was living in Harrison Township, Clay County, Indiana. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the Indiana State Teachers College and an Master of Arts degree at Indiana University in 1918.

Career He worked as a school teacher and then became professor of history at Iowa Wesleyan College in 1919. Five years later, he completed a Ph.D. degree at the University of Iowa and became assistant professor of history at the Iowa State Teachers College.

In 1926, he moved to the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, where he was associate professor of history for several years. Meanwhile, he also taught at Cornell College (1924) and Ohio State University (1929) in the summer session. From 1939 to 1961, he was professor of history at the University of Illinois and served many years as chairman of its history department.

He was a member of the American Historical Association and was on the executive committee of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. He was buried with his wife in Mount Hope Cemetery, Urbana, Illinois.

Work Shannon edited various publications and contributed to professional journals.

In 1928, Shannon wrote a two-volume book The Organization and Administration of the Union Army, 1861-1865, which covered the history of the Union Army. In fact, Shannon's own description of southern agriculture after the Civil War was strongly critical of the exploitation of black sharecroppers by white landowners.

Selected bibliography The Organization and Administration of the Union Army, 1861-1865 (1928) The Farmer’s Last Frontier: Agriculture, 1860-1897 (1945, reprinted in 1968 online American Farmers’ Movements (1957) The Centennial Years: A Political and Economic History of America from Late 1870s to the Early 1890s (1967)