Anyone can make history. Only a great man can write it. ”
History Department, CSU, Chico
Robert Cottrell
Research
Dr. Cottrell is completing work with his co-author on a book titled American Lives, a two-volume biographical reader that pairs key figures in American history to highlight several of the most significant themes and developments scanning the history, thought, and culture of the United States. His Lives in American Popular Culture, which contains biographical treatments of 20 people and thematic chapters, is now under consideration for publication. He also has begun conducting research and writing on two new monographs in Sports History—Liberating the American Spirit: The Saga of Hutchins Hapgood and Two Pioneers: Hank Greenberg and Jackie Robinson.
Publications
Professor Cottrell has written 15 books. Most recently, he contributed six volumes to the series Arbitrary Borders in History. His notable earlier works are The Best Pitcher in Baseball: The Life of Rube Foster, Negro League Giant (New York University Press, 2001), Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union (Columbia University Press, 2000), and Izzy: A Biography of I. F. Stone (Rutgers University Press, 1992). His articles have appeared in the Historian, Reviews in American History, the South Atlantic Quarterly, Mid-America, Journalism History, and the History Teacher. In addition to dozens of encyclopedia entries, he has published hundreds of book reviews for such journals as Choice, Library Journal, the American Historical Review, the Journal of American History, Journalism Quarterly, the History Teacher, the Journal of Sport History, History, and Chronicles of Oklahoma.