| Jackson Turner Main | |
| Birth Date: | 6 August 1917 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education: | University of Wisconsin–Madison (BA, MA, PhD) |
| Spouse: | Gloria Jean Lund |
| Children: | 3 |
| Parents: | John Smith Main Dorothy Kinsey Turner |
| Relatives: | Frederick Jackson Turner (grandfather) |
Jackson Turner Main (1917–2003) was an American professor, historian and author who researched and wrote about the colonial American social order before, during and after the American Revolution. He was the grandson of Frederick Jackson Turner, author of the influential Frontier Thesis. Main worked most of his adult life as a professor and author of American Revolution history where it involved the social order during that period and wrote seven ground-breaking works in this area.
Main was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 6, 1917, although he was raised in Madison, Wisconsin. His parents were John Smith and Dorothy Kinsey (Turner) Main. He married Gloria Jean Lund and they had three children, Jackson Turner Main Jr., Eifiona Llewelyn Main and Judson Kempton Main. Main was the grandson of Frederick Jackson Turner,[1] who was widely known for his acclaimed and sometimes controversial work Frontier Thesis.[2] In 1942, he was a sergeant in the United States Army Signal Corps stationed at Camp Crowder, Missouri.[3]
While attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Main earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1939; a Master of Arts in 1940 and his Doctor of Philosophy in 1949. In 1980, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania.[4]
Main began his literary and academic career as an assistant professor at Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania, 1948–1950; professor, San Jose State University, California, 1953–1965; professor, University Maryland, College Park, 1965–1966. Thereafter he was a professor of history at the State University New York at Stony Brook, 1966–1983.[4] [5]
| Assistant Professor | Washington and Jefferson College | Washington, Pennsylvania | 1948-1950 | |
| Professor | San Jose State University | California | 1953-1965 | |
| Professor | University of Maryland | College Park, Maryland | 1965-1966 | |
| Professor of History | State University of New York | Stony Brook, New York | 1966-1983 |
In his work, Social Structure of Revolutionary America, published in 1965, Main asserts:
Main was also a member of the Department of History at the University of Colorado, Boulder.[8]
. Jackson Turner Main . The Antifederalists : critics of the Constitution, 1781-1788 . 2 . University of North Carolina Press . 1961 . main1961.
Jackson Turner Main died at the age of 85 in Boulder, Colorado, on October 19, 2003, from a lung illness.[6]
. The social structure of revolutionary America . Jackson Turner Main . Princeton University Press . 1965 . main1965.