Lasting Memories

George Fredrickson
July 16, 1934-Feb. 25, 2008
Stanford, California

George Fredrickson, professor emeritus of U.S. history at Stanford, died of heart failure Feb. 25, 2008, at his campus home. He was 73.

He was born July 16, 1934, in Bristol, Conn., and grew up in Sioux Falls, S.D.

He earned bachelor's and doctorate degrees in history from Harvard. He taught at Harvard and Northwestern before coming to Stanford in 1984.

At Stanford he became active in political issues, urging the university to divest its stock in companies that do business with South Africa.

His most recent book was "Racism: A Short History" in 2002. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for his 1981 book, "White Supremacy: A Comparative Study of American and South African History," and was the author of several other books on American history and on racial issues in America.

"The thing I have tried to work on for the last 20 years has been the history of race relations," he told the San Jose Mercury News in 1986. "I tried to study racism in a rather clinical way, but when confronted with racism I have a rather strong reaction."

"George Fredrickson was a remarkable scholar," Hazel Rose Markus, a Stanford professor in the behavioral sciences, said. "The scope and depth of his knowledge was breathtaking."

Fredrickson is survived by his wife, Helene, and their four children, Anne Hope Fredrickson of Grass Valley, Calif.; Laurel Fredrickson of Durham, N.C.; Thomas Fredrickson of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Caroline Fredrickson of Silver Springs, Md. He is also survived by a sister, Lois Rose, of Great Barrington, Md.; and four grandchildren.