John Everett Lankford was born July 31, 1934 in Washington, D.C. He spent his childhood in Washington public schools, and as a junior high and high school student exhibited an interest in astronomy. As a young amateur astronomer, Lankford studied independent variable star observations. By the time he had graduated from high school in 1952 and entered Oberlin College, Lankford had turned his attention to the liberal arts. He majored in history with special concentration on American social history. He also studied political science, sociology, American literature and philosophy. During his time at Oberlin he refined his writing skills as the editor for the Yeoman, the college literary magazine which he edited, 1954-1955. He also wrote articles for the Oberlin Review, the Alumni Magazine, and the Year Book.
After graduating in 1956 Lankford entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a graduate student in American history, studying with Merle Curti. It was during this time that Lankford began to concentrate on the study of Protestant benevolence in the early twentieth century. As a graduate student from 1956 to 1957, then as a doctoral candidate and non-resident graduate fellow from 1957 to 1960, Lankford served as a graduate teaching assistant to Curti, Irvin G. Wyllie, Howard K. Beale, and Eugene Boardman. In 1958, while still in Madison, Lankford married fellow student Laurie Gaskins. The two divorced in 1961.
In September, 1961 Lankford was appointed to his first professional teaching position as an instructor in history at Wisconsin State College, River Falls. It was here that Lankford took on the task of helping to organize the Area Research Center. He also finished his dissertation and assisted in writing a history of the State College. During his stay from 1961-1964, Lankford served as the co-director of the American Studies Program, secretary/treasurer for the River Falls chapter of the American Association of University Professors, and co-chair of Committee V, for which he produced a paper concerning conditions of faculty service and morale. Lankford’s teaching duties at River Falls included the development of a course on new views on American History.
During the period 1962-1964, Lankford published several articles and reviews including “20th Century Protestant Giving” in Methodist History, 1963, “Nettie Fowler McCormick: Profile of an American Philanthropist” for Wisconsin Magazine of History, 1963, and “The Impact of the Religious Depression Upon Protestant Benevolence 1925-1935” in the Journal of Presbyterian History, 1964.
In 1962 Lankford met Nancy Jo Zank, whom he married in 1965. In that year he left Wisconsin for a position at the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart to teach social history. In 1966 he accepted a position as a professor of American social history at the University of Missouri. Since that time he has edited two books, Essays on American Social History, 1970 with Dave Reimers, and History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia, 1997, and has written American Astronomy: Community, Careers, and Power, 1859-1940, 1997.
