Commager, << KOM uh juhr, >> Henry Steele (1902-1998), an American educator and historian, won high praise for his books The Growth of the American Republic (with Samuel E. Morison, 1931) and America: the Story of a Free People (with Allan Nevins, 1942). Commager and Nevins also wrote The Heritage of America (1939). Commager edited Documents of American History (1934) and often wrote for periodicals on historical and public issues.
Commager was born on Oct. 25, 1902, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and earned a Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago. He taught history at New York University, Columbia University, and Amherst College. He died on March 2, 1998.
