30 Facts About Henry Graff

Henry Franklin Graff was an American historian who served on the faculty of Columbia University from 1946 to 1991, including a period as chairman of the History Department.

Henry Graff has twice served as chairman of the Pulitzer Prize jury in American history.

In 2005, Henry Graff received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Columbia in recognition of his contributions to the field of American history, service to presidents and to the university.

Henry Graff died from complications brought on by COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Henry Graff's parents were natives of New York, and of German Jewish extraction.

Henry Graff was studying for his master's at Columbia, as the first Jewish student in the History Department of the university, in 1942 when he enlisted in the army.

Henry Graff earned the degree later, and returned to teach at Columbia in 1946 and earned his Ph.

Henry Graff enlisted in the army shortly after Pearl Harbor, and rose from private to first lieutenant in the Signal Corps prior to his discharge in 1946.

Henry Graff translated a message from Japan to the Soviet Union, detailing Japan's plan to get out of the war.

Henry Graff received a War Department Citation and the Army Commendation Medal for his service.

BBC noted in its documentary Hiroshima that Henry Graff translated an intercepted communique from the Japanese to the Soviet Union, making Henry Graff the first American to know of Imperial Japan's imminent surrender.

Henry Graff remained on the faculty of Columbia until he retired in 1991, serving for a period as chairman of the Department of History.

Henry Graff has been the distinguished speaker at the United States Air Force Academy, and the Sol Feinstone Memorial Lecturer at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Henry Graff twice served as chairman of the Pulitzer Prize jury for American history and served as chairman of the jury for the Bancroft Prize.

Henry Graff was a historical consultant to Time magazine, CBS and ABC for various publications and television programs.

In 2005, Graff was a commentator for George W Bush's second inauguration on the Public Broadcasting Service.

Henry Graff served similarly on the CBS network in April 1994 during its coverage of the funeral of President Richard Nixon, anchored by Connie Chung, and with Peter Jennings on ABC during its coverage of the D-Day anniversary commemoration on June 6,1994.

Henry Graff served for years as a member of the board of directors of the Rand McNally Company.

Henry Graff served on the board of trustees of the Columbia University Press.

Henry Graff was a Fellow of the Society of American Historians.

Henry Graff was a member of the Century Association and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Henry Graff is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, primarily on topics in American history, including several widely used text books.

On invitation, Graff presented successive editions of the book to Presidents Reagan, Clinton and George W Bush for placement in the White House Library.

Henry Graff wrote extensively for leading historical and popular journals and magazines.

Henry Graff contributed many articles to the Dictionary of American Biography and to other encyclopedias and compilations, including the Encyclopedia of the American Presidency and Scribner's Encyclopedia of American Lives for which he wrote biographies of famous baseball players.

Henry Graff was on the editorial board of the Presidential Studies Quarterly.

Henry Graff has been honored with Columbia's Great Teacher Award, and with the Mark Van Doren Award, bestowed by the student body of Columbia College for distinguished teaching and scholarship.

Henry Graff received City College's Townsend Harris Medal in recognition of distinguished post-graduate achievement in his chosen field.

Henry Graff married the former Edith Krantz on June 16,1946.

Henry Graff died at a hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut, on April 7,2020, at the age of 98 from complications of COVID-19.