The American historian Vernon Louis Parrington (1871-1929) is known for his three-volume intellectual history of America, Main Currents in American Thought.

Born at Aurora, Ill., on Aug. 3, 1871, Vernon Parrington was of Scotch and Irish descent. His father was a school principal in New York and Illinois, served in the Union Army, and became a judge of probate in Kansas. While growing up near Pumpkin Ridge, Kans., Vernon early became acquainted with the sources of agrarian discontent, and he later recalled his bitter feelings at seeing a year's corn crop used for fuel. Searching for answers, he found inspiration in the writings of William Morris, who "laid bare the evils of industrialism ... and convinced me ... that the businessman's society, symbolized by the cash register and existing solely for profit, must be destroyed to make way for another and better ideal."

After 2 years at the College of Emporia, a Presbyterian...