Lawrence Henry Gipson (1880-1971) was born in Colorado, moved to Idaho, and graduated from the University of Idaho in 1903.  He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, taught in the Department of  History and Political Science at Wabash College (Indiana), and in 1918 received his PhD from Yale University.  Studying under Prof. Charles McLean Andrews, Gipson wrote his dissertation on the Connecticut loyalist Jared Ingersoll.  In 1924, Gipson moved to Lehigh University, where he served as head of the Department of History and Government from 1924 to 1946, and research professor from 1946 until his retirement in 1952.  As emeritus professor, he continued to research and write until his death.  Gipson completed his monumental life work, The British Empire Before the American Revolution (15 volumes) between 1936 and 1970, receiving the Pulitzer Prize in History in 1962 for Volume 10, subtitled, The Triumphant Empire: Thunder-Clouds Gather in the West, 1763-1766.  When Gipson died, he left his entire estate to Lehigh University, a gift that became the original endowment for the Gipson Institute. 

Professor Gipson’s papers are available for study in Special Collections, Linderman Library, Lehigh University.  For more information, contact Philip A. Metzger, Curator of Special Collections at pam5@lehigh.edu.