American national biography

By Jo Payne, Head of Biographical and General Reference, Oxford University Press

Our masthead proudly proclaims “The life of a nation is told by the lives of its people,” and we take that mandate seriously at the American National Biography.  The more than 19,000 entries in the ANB primarily capture figures of national prominence, but we also aim to include those whose influence was felt primarily at the regional or local levels. Can we enlist your help in expanding our biographical reach?

A commitment to diversity – to representing all facets of the American experience, including but not limited to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, region, occupation, and more – is our primary goal at the ANB. We want this biographical reference work to mirror American society, with well-known figures such as presidents and generals sharing space with midwives, Native American trappers, bank robbers, and cartoonists. All fit our broadly defined standard of significance, which includes achievement (superior accomplishment as judged by contemporaries), fame (celebrity or notoriety), or influence (effect on one’s own time despite lack of public notice).  The only hard and fast rule is that all our subjects must be deceased.

Any biographical dictionary that lacks the ability to u

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