After nine years of research and study, a Sacramento State assistant professor of history received an award for his book that the “Journal of American History” described as “the most important book on Populism in 30 years.”

On Nov. 5, Charles Postel was given the President’s Award for Research and Creative Activity in a ceremony held in his honor for his book, “The Populist Vision,” published in 2007.

“I’m thrilled and very honored. It’s a very nice thing to be recognized by my colleagues, and the university has been very supportive,” Postel said.

Subcommittee Chair Charlotte Xanders said the award is given annually to a Sac State staff member who has made a contribution to their subject within the last five years “through scholarly activity, research and publication, or creative and artistic endeavors.”

Besides winning the President’s Award, Postel’s work has also been recognized nationally. Since it was published, “The Populist Vision” has also received both the 2008 Frederick Jackson Turner Award, given to a historian’s first published work, and the 2008 Bancroft Prize, given to distinguished works that feature American history.

Chloe Burke, Postel’s friend and fellow professor, nominated him for the President’s award, saying that it was a credit to Sac State that a professor would be singled out for these awards.

“I am so very pleased that he was selected for this honor ? He is a historian of exceptional achievement, a devoted educator, and an inspiring colleague,” Burke said in an e-mail.

Alexander Gonzalez, president of Sac State, also had much to say on Postel’s work, describing his book as “simply staggering.”

“Dr.. Postel has made a resounding impact on our campus in a relatively short time, and his work exemplifies the very essence of the President’s Award,” Gonzalez said.

And this same professor receiving all the publicity for his accomplishments said when listing his credentials that he was one of the few professors who did not finish high school.

Instead of graduating, Postel spent several years doing an odd number of jobs, including farm work and building houses. He said his experiences doing these jobs provided him with perspective when he later studied the workers involved with the Populist movement.

During the 1990s, he went back to school at Laney Community College in Oakland, where he met a history instructor named Tom Wolfe, who inspired Postel in his future career.

“(He) showed great commitment to both understanding history and to his students,” Postel said. “After taking his class I set my sights on teaching history.”

Postel then enrolled at UC Berkeley, and in 1995, he received a bachelors degree in history and planned on becoming a high school teacher.

In 2002 he earned his doctorate degree in history and in the fall of 2003, joined the Sac State faculty.

It was during his time at Berkley that he first learned about the Populist movement. What began as an interest became what he called “a series of sharp questions” that “sharpened” in grad school.

“These were farmers, laborers and middle-class men. What brought these men together? ? I wasn’t satisfied with how the history books approached them,” he said.

Postel did not start writing about the Populists with the intent of publishing a book. It began as a part of his doctoral dissertation in which he attacked historians like Karel D. Bicha for describing the Populists as “narrow, conservative, and self-interested.” The dissertation then became the framework for “The Populist Vision.'”

Bicha’s book, “Western Populism: Studies in an Ambivalent Conservatism,” describes the Populists as a group of mostly farmers and workers in the late 19th century who believed in a government of “minimal scope and authority” and with a reputation of being reformers.

“My book became more of a rewriting of the Populist Party,” he said.

With an award winning book under his belt is Postel ready to retire? Not yet, he says.

“I enjoy what I am doing now,” he said. “I get much pleasure out of teaching and studying history,”

When he’s not teaching, Postel is working on two other books,

At the moment, his presence in the school has been appreciated by students like history major Samantha Brown said.

“It’s feels good to be his student at this time. We’re lucky to have someone like him teach here,” Brown said.

Though his work has been recognized by a number of his fellow scholars and historians, Postel said it is not these people he looks up to.

“I admire the five million young people who volunteered in the last election campaign with hopes of making a more just and humane world,” he said.

Kyrie Eberhart can be reached at [email protected]