Roy Rosenzweig, 1950-2007
March 30, 2011
When Roy Rosenzweig passed away of lung cancer on October 11, 2007, the history profession reeled from the loss of one of its most gifted and generous members. At ASHP/CML, we were privileged to know those qualities firsthand, from a long and rewarding collaboration with Roy that dated back to the project’s earliest years. Roy had a hand in so many ASHP productions, as an editor and author of the Who Built America? textbook, board member, and, perhaps most significantly, a key partner in our work creating digital media and supporting history educators in their use of it. He was an executive producer of our Who Built America? and Liberty, Equality, Fraternity CD-ROMs, and of the History Matters, Lost Museum, and September 11 Digital Archive websites; he was also instrumental in planning and carrying out the first two New Media Classroom summer seminars for humanities teachers in 1996 and 1997. Around conference and dining room tables, over the phone, and via pixels winging across the Internet, Roy’s deep knowledge of history, keen sense of politics, dry wit, and relentless work ethic were always evident. We continue to mourn the passing of our partner and friend.
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The American Historical Association and the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University have established the Roy Rosenzweig Prize in History and New Media, to be awarded annually for an innovative and freely available new media project that reflects thoughtful, critical, and rigorous engagement with technology and the practice of history. You can read and share memories of Roy at www.thanksroy.org.