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{{Short description|American author and historian (born 1947)}}
{{For|the stream in Missouri|Taylor Branch (Wolf Creek)}}
{{BLP sources|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox writer
|name         = Taylor Branch
|image        = Taylor branch 2009.jpg
|birth_date   = {{birth date and age|1947|1|14}}
|birth_place  = [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], U.S.
|death_date   = 
|death_place  = 
|education    = [[University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Princeton University]] ([[Master of Public Administration|MPA]])
|genre        = Nonfiction
|notableworks = ''[[America in the King Years]]''
|spouse       = Christina Macy
|children     = 2
|awards       = [[MacArthur Fellowship]]<br>[[National Humanities Medal]]<br>[[Pulitzer Prize for History]]
}}
'''Taylor Branch''' (born January 14, 1947) is an American author and historian who wrote a [[Pulitzer Prize]] winning trilogy chronicling the life of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and much of the history of the American [[civil rights movement]]. The final volume of the 2,912-page trilogy, collectively called ''[[America in the King Years]]'', was released in January 2006, and an abridgment, ''The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement'', was published in 2013.

==Biography==

===Early life and education===
Branch graduated from [[The Westminster Schools]] in [[Atlanta]] in 1964. From there, he went to the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]] on a [[Morehead Scholarship]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=BHS senior awarded Morehead-Cain scholarship |url=https://www.transylvaniatimes.com/education/bhs-senior-awarded-morehead-cain-scholarship/article_cbec1ef4-cb07-11ec-be5b-9fa695a04687.html |access-date=2022-05-20 |website=The Transylvania Times |date=3 May 2022 |language=en}}</ref> He graduated in 1968 and went on to earn an [[Master of Public Administration|M.P.A.]] from the [[Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs]] at [[Princeton University]] in 1970.

===Career===
[[File:President Bill Clinton with Taylor Branch.jpg|thumb|right|Branch with [[President of the United States|President]] [[Bill Clinton]] in 1993]]
Branch served as an assistant editor at ''[[The Washington Monthly]]'' from 1970 to 1973; he was Washington editor of ''[[Harper's]]'' from 1973 to 1976;
and he was Washington columnist for ''[[Esquire Magazine]]'' from 1976 to 1977. He also has written for a variety of other publications, including ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'', ''Sport'', ''[[The New Republic]]'', and ''[[Texas Monthly]]''.

In 1972, Branch worked for the [[Texas]] campaign of Democratic presidential nominee [[George McGovern]]. Branch shared an apartment in Austin with [[Bill Clinton]], and the two developed a friendship that continues today. He also worked with [[Hillary Rodham]], Bill's then-girlfriend and Yale Law School classmate, and later Clinton's wife.
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?197839-14/taylor-branch-interview Discussion with Branch on his preparations for writing ''The Clinton Tapes'', April 29, 2007], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?289217-6/the-clinton-tapes ''Washington Journal'' interview with Branch on ''The Clinton Tapes'', September 30, 2009], [[C-SPAN]]| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?289344-1/after-words-taylor-branch ''After Words'' interview with Branch on ''The Clinton Tapes'', October 17, 2009], [[C-SPAN]] | video4 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?289995-4/the-clinton-tapes Presentation by Branch on ''The Clinton Tapes'', November 14, 2009], [[C-SPAN]]}} 
Branch's book on former president [[Bill Clinton]], ''The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With The President'', was written from many tape-recorded interviews and conversations between the two, most of which occurred in the White House during Clinton's two terms in office and which were not disclosed publicly until 2007. <ref>{{cite news |last1=Bosman |first1=Julie |title=Historian Plans Book From Chats With Clinton |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/books/22tape.html |work=The New York Times |date=22 March 2007}}</ref>

Branch was a [[lecturer]] in [[politics]] and [[history]] at [[Goucher College]] from 1998 to 2000.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} Branch has [https://www.usmd.edu/cai/university-baltimore%E2%80%99s-taylor-branch-course also taught] at the [[University of Baltimore]].

Taylor Branch received a five-year [[MacArthur Foundation]] Fellowship (also known as a "genius grant") in 1991 and the [[National Humanities Medal]] in 1999.  In 2008, he received the [[Dayton Literary Peace Prize]]'s Lifetime Achievement Award,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.daytondailynews.com/l/content/oh/story/living/2008/05/16/ddn051808lifepeaceprize.html|title=King biographer latest Literary Peace Prize honoree}}</ref> presented to him by special guest [[Edwin C. Moses]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.daytonliterarypeaceprize.org/2008-ecm.htm|title=Dayton Literary Peace Prize - Edwin C. Moses|website=www.daytonliterarypeaceprize.org|access-date=2009-09-22|archive-date=2017-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107033646/http://www.daytonliterarypeaceprize.org/2008-ecm.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2013, he co-produced ''[[Schooled: The Price of College Sports]]'' based on his 2011 book ''The Cartel''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

in 2015, he received the BIO Award from [[Biographers International Organization]], for his contributions to the art and craft of biography.<ref>[http://biographersinternational.org/about/annual-awards/the-bio-award/ The BIO Award, Biographers International Organization] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307105436/http://biographersinternational.org/about/annual-awards/the-bio-award/ |date=2016-03-07 }}</ref>

===Israeli citizenship controversy===
A group of [[Black Hebrew Israelites]] described as a cult in ''[[The New York Times]]'' were systematically denied Israeli citizenship over several decades. In 1981, a group of American civil rights activists led by [[Bayard Rustin]] investigated and concluded that racism was likely not the cause of the Black Hebrews' treatment.<ref name=Shipler>{{cite news |last=Shipler |first=David K. |title=Israelis Urged To Act Over Black Hebrew Cult |url=https://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F4071FFA395F0C738FDDA80894D9484D81 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 30, 1981 |access-date=2008-05-28 }}</ref> In 1992, Branch opined that the Black Hebrew Israelites' denial of citizenship under the Israeli law of return was because of alleged anti-Black sentiment among Israeli Jews.<ref>Branch, Taylor "Blacks and Jews: The Uncivil War", in ''Bridges and Boundaries: African Americans and American Jews'' (Salzman, Ed), 1992</ref> In 1998, Branch was criticized by [[Seth Forman]], who said Branch's claims seemed to be baseless, particularly in light of Israel's airlift of thousands of black Ethiopian Jews in the early 1990s.<ref name=Forman>Forman, Seth, ''Blacks in the Jewish Mind: A Crisis of Liberalism'', NYU Press, 1998, p. 14-15</ref>

==Family==
[[File:Taylor Branch 13618-008.jpg|thumb|Branch at the LBJ Presidential Library in 2014]]
Branch lives in [[Baltimore, Maryland]], with his wife, Christina Macy, and their two children, Macy (born 1980) and Franklin (born 1983).

==Books==
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?191032-1/depth-taylor-branch ''In Depth'' interview with Branch, February 5, 2006], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?6294-1/story-civil-rights-movement Interview with Branch on ''Parting the Waters'', January 16, 1989], [[C-SPAN]]| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?100454-1/pillar-fire-america-king-years ''Booknotes'' interview with Branch on ''Pillar of Fire'', April 12, 1998], [[C-SPAN]]| video4 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?194360-6/at-canaans-edge Presentation by Branch on ''At Canaan's Edge'', September 30, 2006], [[C-SPAN]]| video5 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?197838-15/america-king-years Interview with Branch on ''America in the King Years'', April 28, 2007], [[C-SPAN]]| video6 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?310639-1/the-king-years Presentation by Branch on ''The King Years'', January 22, 2013], [[C-SPAN]]| video7 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?315051-7/the-king-years Presentation by Branch on ''The King Years'', September 21, 2013], [[C-SPAN]]}}

=== America in the King Years books ===
The ''[[America in the King Years]]'' trilogy consists of:
* ''Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63'' (Simon & Schuster: 1988)

* ''Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65'' (Simon & Schuster: 1998)

* ''At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968'' (Simon & Schuster: 2006)

* ''The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement'' (Simon & Schuster 2013), an abridged version of the three books.

=== Standalone history books ===

* ''Blowing the Whistle: Dissent in the Public Interest'' (with [[Charles Peters]]) ([[Praeger Publishers|Praeger]]: 1972)
*''Second Wind'' (with  [[Bill Russell (basketball)|Bill Russell]]) ([[Random House]]: 1979)
* ''Labyrinth'' (with [[Eugene M. Propper]]): ([[Viking Press|Viking]]: 1982, Penguin Books: 1983, {{ISBN|0-14-006683-7}})
*''{{visible anchor|The Clinton Tapes}}: Wrestling History with the President'' (Simon & Schuster: 2009)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://taylorbranch.com/about/ | title=The Clinton Tapes, Wrestling History with the President | access-date=December 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Klein |first=Joe |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/books/review/Klein-t.html |title=Bill Session |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424173053/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/books/review/Klein-t.html |archive-date=April 24, 2012 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 24, 2009 |access-date=August 26, 2022}}</ref>
* ''The Cartel: Inside the Rise and Imminent Fall of the NCAA'' (Byliner, 2011)

=== Fiction ===

* ''The Empire Blues'' ([[Simon & Schuster]]: 1981)

== Awards and recognition ==
''Parting the Waters'' won the [[Pulitzer Prize for History]] in 1989, [[National Book Critics Circle Award#General nonfiction|National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction]] in 1988, [[English-Speaking Union]] Book Award in 1989, the [[Martin Luther King Memorial Prize]] in 1989, and was a Finalist for [[National Book Award for Nonfiction|the National Book Award for Nonfiction]] in 1989.

''Pillar of Fire'' won the [[American Bar Association]]'s Silver Gavel Award in 1999, the [[Imus Book Award]] in 1999, and [[the Hillman Prize]] in 1998<ref>{{cite web |year=2009 |title=The Hillman Prize Previous Honorees |url=http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/honorees?page=2 |access-date=13 December 2012}}</ref> ''At Canaan's Edge'' won the [[Heartland Prize]] for nonfiction from the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |date=5 November 2006 |title=Taylor Branch and Louise Erdrich Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2006 (video) |url=http://www.chicagohumanities.org/Genres/Literature/Heartland-Prize-2006-Erdrich-Branch.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302091659/http://www.chicagohumanities.org/Genres/Literature/Heartland-Prize-2006-Erdrich-Branch.aspx |archive-date=2 March 2012 |access-date=1 February 2012 |publisher=[[Chicago Humanities Festival]]}}</ref> 

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Official website|http://www.taylorbranch.com/}}
* [http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/b/Branch,Taylor.html Inventory of the Taylor Branch Papers, 1865-2005], at the Southern Historical Collection, [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]].
*{{C-SPAN|5925}}

{{Civil rights movement|state=uncollapsed}}
{{PulitzerPrize HistoryAuthors 1976–2000}}

{{Authority control}}

{{University of Baltimore}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branch, Taylor}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American historians]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American historians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for History winners]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:Writers from Atlanta]]
[[Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni]]
[[Category:National Humanities Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni]]
[[Category:The Westminster Schools alumni]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Historians from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Historians of the civil rights movement]]