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‘Populist’ Professor Earns 2008 President’s Award

At first glance, the populist movement of the 1890s does not seem to be a subject “ripped from the headlines.” Yet after reading Charles Postel’s The Populist Vision, an urgent sense of interest evolves. Postel’s book and a section of his scholarship are about the 19th century age of the robber barons and the response of ordinary people to a modern world so divided between rich and poor.

To honor Postel’s work, Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez will present him with the 2008-09 President’s Award for Research and Creative Activity at a ceremony Nov. 5, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the University Union’s Orchard Suite. The award follows the recommendation of the Faculty Senate’s Research and Creative Activity Subcommittee.

Postel also will give a lecture on his current research and the historical proximities within our new gilded age. His talk is titled, “The Populist Legacy in Light of the Financial Meltdown.”

President Gonzalez says, “Professor Postel’s outstanding work exemplifies the very essence of this award, and I appreciate the resounding impact he has made in his relatively short time here.”

Critics and scholars agree that Postel’s fresh look at the populist era is revelatory and unique. Postel is the 2008 recipient of the highly coveted Bancroft Prize, as well as the 2008 Frederick Jackson Turner Award from the Organization of American Historians.

Yet Postel says peer recognition is what makes this award special.

“To win the President’s Award is an affirmation from my faculty colleagues that this journey has been worth it and in fact I have not been journeying alone,” says Postel. “It says something important about our history department. My colleagues are not only dedicated and expert teachers, but are also publishing an impressive variety of state-of-the-art research. To be nominated from their ranks and to receive this award is a great honor.”

Since 1989, the President’s Award for Research and Creative Activity has annually honored a faculty colleague who has made significant contributions within the previous five years to a scholarly discipline through scholarly activity, research and publication or creative/artistic endeavors. Eligibility is limited to full-time faculty during the first ten years of their appointment at Sacramento State. The award is meant to recognize and honor colleagues in the early stage of their career.

On top of scholarly work, Postel assists and mentors in his discipline. Since 2002, He has been involved in the Teaching American History Grants, a program designed to improve content knowledge and historical thinking skills among public school history teachers from the Sierra foothills to urban Oakland.

And there is more to come.

“I have two book projects in the works inspired by my interest in the dynamic social upheaval of the late nineteenth century,” says Postel. “If I learned anything from The Populist Vision, it is that it takes years for all the pieces of a book project to fall in place. So we will just have to wait to see where my research takes me and what my books will ultimately look like.”