Avery Odelle Craven (August 12, 1885 near Ackworth, Iowa – January 21, 1980, Chesterton, Indiana) was a historian who specialized in the study of the nineteenth-century United States and the American Civil War.
Craven's parents were Quakers who left North Carolina because of slavery and racism. Craven graduated from Simpson College in 1908. He earned an M.A. from Harvard in 1914, where he was influenced by Frederick Jackson Turner. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1923, Studying with Marcus Jernegan as well as William E Dodd. He taught at Michigan State University and the University of Illinois; in 1927, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago, where he spent the rest of his career. His works included The Coming of the Civil War (University of Chicago Press, 1942) and The Growth of Southern Nationalism, 1848-1861 (LSU Press 1953).
The Organization of American Historians gives an annual award named after Professor Craven, "for the most original book on the coming of the Civil War, the Civil War years, or the Era of Reconstruction, with the exception of works of purely military history. The exception recognizes and reflects the Quaker convictions of Craven, President of the Organization of American Historians 1963-1964."
Craven is a local government district of North Yorkshire, England centred on the market town of Skipton. In 1974, Craven district was formed as the merger of Skipton urban district, Settle Rural District and most of Skipton Rural District, all in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It comprises the upper reaches of Airedale, Wharfedale, Ribblesdale, and includes most of the Aire Gap and Craven Basin.
The name Craven is much older than the modern district, and encompassed a larger area. This history is also reflected in the way the term is still commonly used, for example by the Church of England.
Craven has been the name of this district throughout recorded history. Its extent in the 11th century can be deduced from The Domesday Book but its boundaries now differ according to whether considering administration, taxation or religion.
The derivation of the name Craven is uncertain, yet a Celtic origin related to the word for garlic (craf in Welsh) has been suggested as has the proto-Celtic *krab- suggesting scratched or scraped in some sense and even an alleged pre-Celtic word cravona, supposed to mean a stony region. In civic use the name Craven or Cravenshire had, before 1166, given way to Staincliffe. However the church Archdeaconry has kept its name as Craven throughout.
Craven is a local government district of North Yorkshire, England.
Craven may also refer to:
Craven is the surname of: