born Nov. 14, 1861, Portage, Wis., U.S.
died March 14, 1932, San Marino, Calif.
U.S. historian.
He taught at the University of Wisconsin and at Harvard University. Deeply influenced by his Wisconsin childhood, Turner rejected the doctrine that U.S. institutions could be traced mainly to European origins, and he demonstrated his theories in a series of essays. In "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" (1893) he asserted that the American character had been shaped by frontier life and the end of the frontier era. Later he focused on sectionalism as a force in U.S. development. His essays were collected in The Frontier in American History (1920) and Significance of Sections in American History (1932, Pulitzer Prize).