School

John eventually obtained a certificate to teach and worked as a teacher until he saved up enough money to attend Northwestern University in Illinois for two years. He then had to return home and work again until he saved enough money to go back and finish his degree. John completed his undergraduate degree in 1911 and then earned his Master’s degree. In 1914 he went to the University of Wisconsin for his Ph.D. in Philosophy, and he graduated in 1916.

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Work
He took a job as an assistant professor at Hamline University in St. Paul where he met his wife Lucile, and they married in 1921. Soon after that in 1922 Hicks left Hamline to work at North Carolina College for Women in Greensboro. He was in North Carolina for just a short time before leaving to take a job at University of Nebraska in Lincoln in 1923, where he served as the Dean of Arts and Sciences. During this time, Hicks earned his reputation as a reputable scholar. In 1931 John's first book The Populist Revolt was published. In this book, he revised the common understanding of populism at the time, which scholars tended to view as a misguided, chaotic movement. Hicks instead described populism as a movement by oppressed people who were engaging in the democratic system. With his growing reputation, he gave guest lectures at colleges including, George Washington University, Whitman College, Cambridge, and Harvard.

In 1932 he moved with his wife and three daughters to Madison to teach at the University of Wisconsin. Even though he liked this university, he decided to make another career move to the University of California in Berkeley, a position he held from 1942 to 1957. In 1950 John was offered an appointment for one year as “Visiting Professor of American History” at the University of Cambridge in England.

 

Even upon his retirement, John continued to be active as a scholar and teacher by acting as a visiting professor as more than twenty colleges and universities in the United States. Despite his busy schedule, he and his wife found time to travel the world. John D. Hicks passed away on February 5, 1972, leaving behind an illustrious career.