Hans L. Trefousse | Historian, author, 88
Hans L. Trefousse, 88, a specialist in Civil War and Reconstruction-era history and known for his well-received books about Presidents Andrew Johnson and Rutherford B. Hayes, died Jan. 8 at his home on Staten Island, N.Y., his son, Roger, said.
Hans L. Trefousse, 88, a specialist in Civil War and Reconstruction-era history and known for his well-received books about Presidents Andrew Johnson and Rutherford B. Hayes, died Jan. 8 at his home on Staten Island, N.Y., his son, Roger, said.
His books include Impeachment of a President: Andrew Johnson, the Blacks, and Reconstruction; Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian, about the congressman who led the impeachment effort; and Rutherford B. Hayes.
At his death, Dr. Trefousse was distinguished professor emeritus of history at Brooklyn College, where he taught full time from 1950 until 1998. He also taught at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Dr. Trefousse was born into a Jewish family in Frankfurt. His family left Germany in the mid-1930s and settled on Staten Island. He received a bachelor's degree from City College of New York and master's and doctoral degrees in history from Columbia. He served in Army intelligence in World War II.
His wife died in 1999. He is survived by his son. - N.Y. Times News Service