Elizabeth Cobbs: Difference between revisions

{{short description|American historian and author}}{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2017}}

| native_name = Elizabeth Cobbs

| image = Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| pseudonym = Elizabeth= Cobbs

| birth_name = Elizabeth= Cobbs

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1956|07|28}}

| birth_place = [[Gardena, California]]

| death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->

| death_place =

| resting_place =

| occupation = Writer, lecturer, historian, professor, producer

| language = English

| nationality = American

| ethnicity =

| citizenship = American

| education = Literature/writing

| alma_mater = [[University of California, San Diego]]

| period = 20th18th andthrough 21st centuries

| genre = U.S. Modernand 20th CenturyModern World historyHistory <!-- or: | genres = -->

| subject = History, Literature/Writing

| movement =

| notableworks = Fearless Women, The Tubman Command, The Hello Girls, The Hamilton Affair, American Umpire, Broken Promises, The Rich Neighbor Policy, All You Need Is Love, Major Problems in American History

| spouse = James Shelley

| partner = <!-- or: | partners = -->

| children = Gregory Shelby and Victoria Shelby

| relatives =

| awards = Allan Nevins Prize, Telly Award, Emmy Award, San Diego Book Award Start Bernath Prize

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| years_active = 1971–present

| module =

| website = {{url|elizabethcobbs.com}}

| portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc; or omit -->

'''Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman''' is an American [[historian]], commentator, and author of eightnine books including three novels, a two-volumehistory textbook, and fourfive non-fiction works.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/weblogs/volumes-and-visions-books-arts/2010/jun/11/san-diego-book-awards-are-back/|title= The San Diego Book Awards are back" by Volumes and Visions|work= SanDiegoUnionTribune.com|access-date= June 1, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160804210451/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/weblogs/volumes-and-visions-books-arts/2010/jun/11/san-diego-book-awards-are-back/|archive-date= August 4, 2016|url-status= dead}}</ref> She holdsretired thefrom Melbern G. Glasscock Chair in American History<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historian Who Pushed for the Tubman Twenty is Cheered by its Revival – The College of Arts & Sciences at Texas A&M University |url=https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/blog/2021/02/04/historian-who-pushed-for-the-tubman-twenty-is-cheered-by-its-revival/ |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=liberalarts.tamu.edu}}</ref> at [[Texas A&M University]] (2015-2023), following upon a four-decade career in California where she began working for the Center for Women's Studies and Services as a teenager. She writes on the subjects of [[feminism]] and human rights, and the [[history of U.S. foreign relations]]. She is known for advancing the controversial theory that the United States is not an empire, challenging a common scholarly assumption. She asserts instead that the federal government has played the role of “umpire” at home and abroad since 1776.<ref>{{Cite web |title=American Umpire — Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman |url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674055476}}</ref>

She is also credited as a screenwriter on the film adaptation of her book ''American Umpire'',<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.hoover.org/profiles/elizabeth-lisa-cobbs-hoffman|title= Elizabeth Cobbs |work= Hoover Institution|access-date=June 1, 2016|archive-date=June 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613121859/http://www.hoover.org/profiles/elizabeth-lisa-cobbs-hoffman|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.worldaffairsdesert.org/index.php/dr-elizabeth-cobbs-hoffman |title= Dr. Elizabeth Cobbs |work= Hoffman |access-date= June 1, 2016 |archive-date= April 21, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160421082315/http://www.worldaffairsdesert.org/index.php/dr-elizabeth-cobbs-hoffman |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url= http://www.americanumpire.com/#featuring|title= Elizabeth Cobbs |work= American Umpire}}</ref><ref andname=":0">{{Cite web |last=Wilkens |first=John |date=2019-03-24 |title=Spring arts 2019 {{!}} Books: Catching up with historian Elizabeth Cobbs |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/books/sd-gr-et-spring-arts-books-cobbs-20190324-story.html |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref> as a producer on the film adaptation of her book ''The Hello Girls,'' and as a screenwriter and producer of the public television documentary ''CyberWork and the American Dream: The History and Future of Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt8120072/|title=The Hello Girls|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>

Elizabeth Cobbs was born on July 28, 1956, in [[Gardena, California]]. Cobbs studied literature at the [[University of California, San Diego]] and graduated [[summa cum laude]] in 1983. She earned her M.A. and PhD in American History from Stanford University in 1988. While at Stanford, she won the David Potter Award for Outstanding History Graduate Student. Following graduation, she won the [[Allan Nevins#Death and legacy|Allan Nevins Prize]] from the Society of American Historians for bestthe dissertationBest Dissertation on U.S. historyHistory.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Book awards: Allan Nevins Prize {{!}} LibraryThing |url=https://www.librarything.com/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=LibraryThing.com |language=en}}</ref>

She taught nine years at the [[University of San Diego]], becoming chair of the History Department, and then accepted the Dwight E. Stanford Chair in American Foreign Relations at [[San Diego State University]]. She has been a Fulbright scholar in Ireland and a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington D.C]] and a Senior Fellow of [[Hoover Institution|Stanford's Hoover Institution]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url=https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Allan+Nevins+Prize |title= Allan Nevins Prize, Book awards |work= LibraryThing}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.langumtrust.org/pastwin.html#2009|title= Past Winners of the David J. Langum Sr. Prize|work= The Langum – Charitable Trust|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120630015353/http://www.langumtrust.org/pastwin.html#2009|archive-date= June 30, 2012|df= mdy-all}}</ref>

Elizabeth Cobbs served on the jury for the [[Pulitzer Prize for History|Pulitzer Prize in History]] in 2008. andShe also served two terms on the Historical Advisory Committee of the US State Department from 1999 to 2006., Sheadvising advisedon thetransparency in government onand the declassification of top secret documents and transparency in government.

Elizabeth Cobbs started her writing career at the age of 15 as a community organizer and publications coordinator for the Center for Women's Studies and Services in [[Southern California]]. During this period, she founded and headed several innovative projects for adults and young people. Insupported recognitionpartly forby herthe efforts,Robert sheF. earnedKennedy Memorial. She received the international John D. Rockefeller Youth Award in 1979, at the age of 23 for exceptionalher serviceservices to humanity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.clementscenter.org/events/item/117-elizabeth-cobbs-hoffman |title= Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman |work= Clements Center for National Security}}</ref>

Elizabeth Cobbs has written over forty40 articles for media such as ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'', ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[Reuters]]'', ''[[China Daily News (Taiwan)|China Daily News]]'', [[NPR|''National Public Radio'']], ''[[American Independent Institute|Washington Independent]]'', ''[[The San Diego Union-Tribune|San Diego Union Tribune]]'', ''[[The Washington Post]]'', and several other publications. Her first nonfiction book was ''The Rich Neighbor Policy''; she has since written five more books about American history and politics.<ref name="auto"/>

Cobbs also wrote and co-produced the [[PBS]] documentary ''American Umpire'' which is based on her book of the same name. It explores America's foreign policy "grand strategy" for the next 50 years.<ref name="auto1"/>

Her first non-fiction book, ''The Rich Neighbor Policy,'' claimed the Allan Nevins Prize from the [[Society of American Historians]] and also the Bernath Prize from the [[Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://history.tamu.edu/faculty/cobbs.shtml|title= PROFESSOR'S NAME – Department of History|work= Texas A&M University|access-date= June 1, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160526220516/http://history.tamu.edu/faculty/cobbs.shtml|archive-date= May 26, 2016|url-status= dead}}</ref>

=== ''The Rich Neighbor Policy: Rockefeller and Kaiser in Brazil'' ===

''Major Problems in American History'', in two volumes,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cobbs |first=Elizabeth|title= Major Problems in American History, Volume I: To 1877, Fourth Edition|publisher =Wadsworth/Cengage Learning |date=2016|isbn = 978-1305865297 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Cobbs |first=Elizabeth|title= Major Problems in American History, Volume II: Since 1865, Fourth Edition|publisher = Wadsworth/Cengage Learning |date=2016|isbn = 978-1305585300 }}</ref> introduces college undergraduates to the major events and phases of American history. It brings primary documents together with contrasting historical interpretations and challenges students to come to their conclusions. As co-editor with Jon Gjerde and later Edward Blum, Cobbs has edited four editions of the book, selling over 100,000 copies since its first edition2002 (Houghton-Mifflin, Cengage). in 2002.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wH9TCwAAQBAJ&dq=Major+Problems+in+American+History+Volume+II&pg=PP1|title= Major Problems in American History – Elizabeth Cobbs, Edward J. Blum, Jon Gjerde |isbn= 9781305585300 |last1= Cobbs |first1= Elizabeth |last2= Blum |first2= Edward J. |last3= Gjerde |first3= Jon |date= 2016-01-01 |publisher= Cengage Learning }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cengage.com/search/showresults.do?Ns=P_CopyRight_Year%7C1&N=+16+4294921192 |title= Major Problems in American History Series – Higher Education |work= Google Books}}</ref>

===''Broken Promises: A Novel of the Civil War''===

''Broken Promises: A Novel of the Civil War'' was published by Ballantine Books on March 29, 2011, the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter. The historical novel explores diplomacy at a time of high tension during the war. The book won the San Diego Book Award and also Director's Mention for the Langum Prize in American Historical Fiction.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DnigThvaffcC&dq=elizabeth+cobbs+2011+Broken+Promises,+A+Novel+of+the+Civil+War.+New+York:+Random+House&pg=PA2|title= Broken Promises: A Novel of the Civil War |isbn= 9780345524560 |last1= Hoffman |first1= Elizabeth Cobbs |date= 2011-03-29 |publisher= Random House Publishing }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cwbr.com/civilwarbookreview/index.php?q=4815&field=ID&browse=yes&record=full&searching=yes&Submit=Search|title= Broken Promises: A Novel of the Civil War |work= Civil War Book Review|access-date= June 1, 2016|archive-date= June 17, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160617064640/http://www.cwbr.com/civilwarbookreview/index.php?q=4815&field=ID&browse=yes&record=full&searching=yes&Submit=Search|url-status= dead}}</ref>

===''American Umpire''===

''American Umpire'', a reinterpretation of the United States' role in global affairs from 1776 to 2012, was published by Harvard University Press in March 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/152676|title= Bernard von Bothmer: Review of Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman's "American Umpire" (Harvard, 2013) |work= History News Network}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hdlKqA3fwmwC&q=Broken+Promises:+A+Novel+of+the+Civil+War|title= American Umpire – Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman |isbn= 9780674073814 |last1= Hoffman |first1= Elizabeth Cobbs |date= 2013-03-04 |publisher= Harvard University Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674055476|title= American Umpire – Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman |work= Harvard University Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffman |first=Elizabeth Cobbs |url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674055476 |title=American Umpire |date=2013-03-04 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-05547-6 |location=Cambridge, MA}}</ref>

===''The Hamilton Affair''===

Cobbs's novel ''The Hamilton Affair'' was published by Skyhorse Publishing in August 2016. ''The Hamilton Affair'' is based on the remarkable lives of [[Alexander Hamilton]] and his wife [[Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton|Eliza Schuyler]], who survived him following his infamous duel with US vice-president Aaron Burr and raised their surviving seven children alone while workinghelping to improve the lives ofother impoverished families.<ref>{{cite book|urlname= https"://books.google.com/books?id=jWs9jwEACAAJ&q=The+Hamilton+Affair|title=0" The Hamilton Affair – Elizabeth Cobbs |isbn= 9781628727203 |last1= Cobbs |first1= Elizabeth |date= 2016-08-02 }}</ref>

=== ''The Hello Girls: America's First Women Soldiers'' ===

Cobbs's ''The Hello Girls: America's First Women Soldiers'' was published by [[Harvard University Press]] in 2017, the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I. The book chronicles the [[Hello Girls]]' service in France during [[World War I]] with the United States Army Signal Corps and their later battle to receive veterans benefits for their military service. <ref>{{citeCite book|title=Themagazine Hello Girls: America's First Women Soldiers|first=Elizabeth|last=Cobbs|date=AprilYorker 6, 2017|publisherfirst=HarvardThe UniversityNew Press|isbn date= 9782017-06-0674971479}}</ref><ref>{{Cite26 book|last=Cobbs |first=Elizabeth|title=Briefly TheNoted HelloBook Girls:Reviews America's First Women Soldiers|publisher language=Harvard University Pressen-US |datemagazine=2017|isbnThe =New Yorker 978-0674971479}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.hupnewyorker.harvard.educom/magazine/catalog.php?isbn=9780674971479|title=The2017/07/03/the-hello-girls-the-souls-of-china-miss-burma-and-my-cat-yugoslavia Hello Girls — Elizabeth Cobbs – Harvard University Press|website=www.hup.harvard.edu|access-date=June2023-08-15 24, 2017|issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

=== ''The Tubman Command'' ===

[[Arcade Publishing|Arcade]]/[[Skyhorse Publishing]] publishedreleased Cobbs's historical novel ''The Tubman Command'' in May 2019.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cobbs |first=Elizabeth|title= The Tubman Command|publisher =Arcade/Skyhorse Publishing |date=2019|isbn = 978-1948924344}}</ref> The work is a fictional retelling of the 1863 [[RaidCombahee River raid on CombaheeConfederate Ferry]]positions during the Civil War and the role of abolitionist [[Harriet Tubman]] in that military operation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historian Who Pushed for the Tubman Twenty is Cheered by its Revival – The College of Arts & Sciences at Texas A&M University |url=https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/blog/2021/02/04/historian-who-pushed-for-the-tubman-twenty-is-cheered-by-its-revival/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=liberalarts.tamu.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=MARTIN |first=MICHEL |date=November 10, 2019 |title='The Tubman Command' Author On Harriet Tubman As A Patriotic Veteran |website=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/11/10/778098007/-the-tubman-command-author-on-harriet-tubman-as-a-patriotic-veteran }}</ref>

==FilmographyFilm awards==

•* ''2018'': "Why the Pulitzer Prize committee keeps ignoring women's history," ''The Washington Post'', April 13 <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/04/13/why-the-pulitzer-committee-keeps-ignoring-womens-history/|title=Perspective &#124; Why the Pulitzer Prize committee keeps ignoring women's history|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

•* ''2017'': "'HelloInternational GirlsWomen's answeredDay our- nation'sAmerican women behind, as callusual," ''HoustonThe ChronicleHill'', MayMarch 277 <ref>{{Citecite web |url=https://www.houstonchroniclethehill.com/opinionblogs/outlookpundits-blog/articlecivil-rights/Cobbs322602-Hellointernational-Girlswomens-answeredday-ouramerican-nationwomen-sbehind-callas-11178504.phpusual/|title=Cobbs:International Women'Hellos Girls'Day answered— ourAmerican nation'swomen callbehind, as usual|date=May 27, 2017|website=HoustonChronicle.com-03-07}}</ref>

•* ''2017'': "InternationalWoodrow WomenWilson's Daywoman -problem, Americana womencase behind,study asfor usualthe Trump era," ''TheLos Angeles HillTimes'', MarchJanuary 718 <ref>{{citeCite web |url=httphttps://thehillwww.latimes.com/blogsopinion/punditsop-bloged/civilla-rights/322602oe-internationalcobbs-wilson-womens-day-american-womenmarch-behind20170118-as-usualstory.html|title=InternationalOp-Ed: WomenWoodrow Wilson's Daywoman —problem, Americana womencase behind,study asfor usualthe Trump era|date=January 18, 2017-03-07|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

•* 2016: "For U.S. foreign policy, it''2017''s "Cantime Historyto Preparelook Usagain forat the Trumpfounding Presidency?fathers' 'Great Rule'," ''PoliticoLos Angeles Times'', JanuaryJuly 224 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politicolatimes.com/magazineopinion/storyop-ed/2017/01/canla-historyoe-preparecobbs-usglobal-forpoliceman-the20160704-trumpsnap-presidency-214676story.html|title=CanOp-Ed: For U.S. foreign policy, it's time Historyto Preparelook Usagain forat the Trumpfounding Presidency?fathers' 'Great Rule'|firstdate=Politico|last=MagazineJuly 4, 2016|website=POLITICOLos Angeles MagazineTimes}}</ref>

•* ''2017''2016: "Woodrow Wilson's woman problem, a case studyBrexit forvote thehas Trumpglobal eraconsequences," ''LosSan AngelesDiego TimesUnion'', JanuaryJune 1811 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimessandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/op-edcommentary/lasdut-oebrexit-cobbsbritain-wilsonvote-womenseu-march-201701182016jun11-story.html|title=Op-Ed: Woodrow Wilson's woman problem, a case studyBrexit forvote thehas Trumpglobal eraconsequences|date=JanuaryJune 1811, 20172016|website=LosSan AngelesDiego TimesUnion-Tribune}}</ref>

•* 2014: "Metaphor Meets ''2016'' "ForReality: U.S. foreignand policy,China it'sAre time to look again atClearing the founding fathers' 'Great Rule'Air," ''Los Angeles Times''Reuters, July 4November 17<ref>{{Citecite webnews|url= https://www.latimesreuters.com/opinionarticle/op-ed/la-oe-cobbs-global-policeman-20160704-snap-story.htmlidUS428295990420141117|title=Op-Ed: ForMetaphor meets reality: U.S. foreignand policy,China it'sare time to look again atclearing the founding fathers' 'Great Rule'air|datenewspaper=July 4,Reuters 2016|websitedate=Los Angeles Times2014-11-17}}</ref>