Nord, David Paul

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Nord, David Paul

PERSONAL:

Education: Valparaiso University, B.A., 1969; University of Minnesota, M.A., 1972; University of Wisconsin, Ph.D., 1979.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of History, Ballantine 742, Indiana University, 1020 E. Kirkwood, Bloomington, IN 47405-7103. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Indiana University, Bloomington, professor of journalism and adjunct professor of history.

MEMBER:

American Antiquarian Society.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Ralph D. Gray Prize for best article of the year in Early Republic, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, 1995; Catherine Covert Award for best article of the year in mass media history, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 1984, 1990, 2003; Book of the Year award for best book in journalism or mass communication history, American Journalism Historians Association, 2004; Harold L. Nelson Award for distinguished contribution to journalism and mass communication, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2005.

WRITINGS:

A Guide to Old Wade House Historical Site, State Historical Society of Wisconsin (Madison, WI), 1978.

Newspapers and New Politics: Midwestern Municipal Reform, 1890-1900, UMI Research Press (Ann Arbor, MI), 1981.

Communities of Journalism: A History of American Newspapers and Their Readers, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 2001.

Faith in Reading: Religious Publishing and the Birth of Mass Media in America, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to journals, including Journal of American History, American Quarterly, Journal of the Early Republic, Journal of Urban History, Journal of Communication, and Journalism History; interim editor and associate editor of the Journal of American History.

SIDELIGHTS:

As a professor of journalism and an adjunct professor of history at Indiana University, David Paul Nord has taught classes in the history of journalism, media and society, and news reporting and writing. He is also a member of the American Studies faculty, faculty advisory board of the Lilly Library, and of the faculty committee of the Individualized Major Program. Nord is a member of the American Antiquarian Society and is affiliated with that group's Center for the History of the Book in American Culture in Worcester, Massachusetts. He has served on the Center's board of overseers and is a volume editor for the "A History of the Book in America" series, a joint project of the Society and the University of North Carolina Press.

Nord's books include Faith in Reading: Religious Publishing and the Birth of Mass Media in America, a study that in part relies on previously published articles about how the American Bible Society, American Tract Society, and American Sunday School Union, all of which were rooted in the New England religious tradition of the colonial period, were largely responsible for the development of mass media during the nineteenth century. Visionaries who excelled at business applied their savvy to expand nonprofit religious publishing that enabled every person in the United States who wished it to have the identical printed message, at low or no cost, to lead them in their faith. These publishers were instrumental in combating ignorance of, and apathy toward, the printed word, thereby encouraging literacy among religious readers.

There were challenges, however. The societies could not provide materials free to all, as to do so would place them at risk of bankruptcy. Traveling distribu- tors called colporteur sometimes made the decision regarding who could or could not afford the inexpensive publications. While there were some who could afford to pay but did not wish to, others gave the last of what they had just to own a bible or other devotional literature. Secular literature soon became more readily available, offering a temptation to readers of the religious materials. The religious societies also published stories, but only true stories, and many potential readers were disinterested or illiterate. The economic depression of 1837 affected the industry, as did growing support for abolition and denominational divisions.

In reviewing Faith in Reading in Church History, Charles H. Lippy wrote: "Nord deftly demonstrates how religious publishing, fueled by the belief that reading itself was a salvific exercise, helped give birth to mass media in the United States. Well-written, fast-paced, and grounded in research in archival accounts, the story Nord tells adds fresh dimensions to our understanding of just how deeply intertwined religious currents are with other social and cultural forces and how often religious impulses spur consequences—in this case the entire mass culture industry—that were unintended."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, October, 1983, review of Newspapers and New Politics: Midwestern Municipal Reform, 1890-1900, p. 1082; June, 2003, Joseph P. McKerns, review of Communities of Journalism: A History of American Newspapers and Their Readers, p. 822; October, 2005, R. Laurence Moore, review of Faith in Reading: Religious Publishing and the Birth of Mass Media in America, p. 1171.

Business History Review, spring, 2005, Peter Wosh, review of Faith in Reading, p. 133.

Choice, May, 2002, R.A. Logan, review of Communities of Journalism, p. 1579.

Church History, March, 2007, Charles H. Lippy, review of Faith in Reading, p. 216.

Historian, spring, 2006, Thomas W. Jodziewicz, review of Faith in Reading, p. 157.

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, June, 2005, review of Faith in Reading.

Journal of American History, March, 1982, review of Newspapers and New Politics, p. 958; September, 2005, Meredith L. McGill, review of Faith in Reading, p. 608.

Journal of Religion, October, 2005, Candy Gunther Brown, review of Faith in Reading, p. 707.

Journal of the Early Republic, summer, 2005, Sally G. McMillen, review of Faith in Reading, p. 312.

Journal of Urban History, May, 2005, Thorin Tritter, review of Communities of Journalism, p. 571.

Journalism History, fall, 2002, Betty Houchin Winfield, review of Communities of Journalism, p. 148.

Library Quarterly, April, 2003, Wayne A. Wiegand, review of Communities of Journalism, p. 209.

Times Literary Supplement, December 24, 2004, John Whale, review of Faith in Reading, p. 38.