Russell Kirk
Russell Kirk (1918-1994), a founder of the modern conservative movement in the United States, was born in Plymouth, Michigan. He graduated from Michigan State College in 1940 and received his M.A. in history from Duke University the following year. After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II, Kirk taught history at Michigan State and pursued graduate studies at St. Andrews University in Scotland. In 1952 he became the first American to earn a Doctor of Letters from St. Andrews. His landmark book, The Conservative Mind, was published in 1953. It received positive reviews nationwide, making it an immediate success. This launched Kirk’s career lecturing and writing about the roots of American society and political thought. The seven editions of this seminal work considered thinkers from Edmund Burke to T. S. Eliot.