Government Professor Douglas Price Dies at 68

By Debra Bradley Ruder

Gazette Staff

Colleagues, students, and friends were shocked and saddened by the death this week of H. Douglas Price, a scholar of American political history in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Price, 68, died Sunday from head injuries suffered after he fell at his Weston home Friday night, according to his family. He died at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Price, the George D. Markham Professor of Government, had taught at Harvard for 30 years.

He was a popular, caring teacher who was best known for his pioneering work in quantitative approaches to American political history, according to Government Department Chair Kenneth Shepsle. He was particularly interested in congressional elections and the effects of party change on the evolution of the House and Senate, and he had recently focused his attention on the rise of McCarthyism.

At the time of his death, Price was teaching a junior seminar on Elite Decision-Making and was co-leading a research workshop for graduate students on American politics.

"He was one of the most broadly read people I know," remembered Sidney Verba, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor, who co-taught the research workshop with Price. "He had a deep knowledge of American history, and his work was a combination of quantitative analysis with a historical bent."

Price was often spotted meeting with students in his Littauer office, which was characteristically overflowing with books and papers, said Verba. He also had a helpful habit of copying articles that might be of interest to others and leaving them anonymously in people's mailboxes, Verba recalled. Everyone knew it was Professor Price. "That was sort of emblematic of the kind of person he was."

"Doug was always a low-profile person," echoed Richard Caves, George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration, whose friendship with Price dated back to their days as graduate students at Harvard. "He was very considerate and kind."

Michael Shinagel, Dean of Continuing Education and University Extension and Master of Quincy House, knew Price for many years "as a dedicated member of the Administrative Board of the Harvard Extension School, as a loyal member of the Quincy House Senior Common Room, and as a thoughtful teacher of government in the Harvard Extension School.

"What I remember most about Doug is that he never lost his Midwestern manner of openness and friendliness, despite more than 30 years at Harvard," Shinagel said. "He was a fine teacher and a valued colleague, and we will miss him. Needless to say, his passing was a shock. I just had lunch with him last week."

Price received A.B. and M.A. degrees from the University of Florida in 1952 and 1953, respectively, and his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1958 after spending a year in Washington as a Congressional Fellow. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Korea and Japan from 1946 to 1949.

Before joining the Harvard faculty in 1966, Price taught at the University of Florida, Columbia University, and Syracuse University.

He was the author or co-author of The Negro and Southern Politics and Readings in Political Parties and Pressure Groups, as well as numerous articles on political behavior, Congressional politics, and American political history. He had been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and a member of the editorial board of the American Political Science Review.

He leaves his wife, Judith Emerson Price; two sons, Edward D. and Robert J., both of New York City; a brother, John R. of Seattle; and two stepsons, Daniel Emerson of Palo Alto and Deryl Emerson of Boston. His first marriage, to Eileen McDonagh, ended in divorce.

Gifts in Price's memory will be used to support graduate students in American government and politics. Contributions may be sent to the Office of the Recording Secretary, Harvard University, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge, MA, 02138. Checks should be made to Harvard University in memory of H. Douglas Price.

The funeral service was private, and a more public service is planned for a later date.