David Patrick Henige (born 1938)1 is an American historian, bibliographer, academic librarian and Africanist scholar. The majority of Henige's academic career has been spent in affiliation with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where for over three decades he has held the position of bibliographer in African studies at UW-Madison's Memorial Library. Henige has authored over 170 scholarly papers and several books across a diverse topical range. While African studies and history form a central component of Henige's publications, he is also noted for substantial contributions to the theory and practice of historiography, librarianship, epistemology, the nature of oral history and myth, and critiques of historical methodologies.
As an undergraduate Henige attended the University of Toledo, Ohio in the 1960s, obtaining first a B.A. then an Master's degree in history.2 In 1967 he enrolled for postgraduate studies at UW-Madison, completing a PhD in African History in 1973. Fieldwork towards his degree was undertaken in Ghana, West Africa.3 Henige's long association with the Memorial Library began during his PhD studies, where part of his time was spent working for the library.
Henige returned to Wisconsin in 19744 to take up a position as bibliographer at the Memorial Library, and to undertake a Master's degree in Library and information science, which he completed in 1978.5
^ Henige preferred the "autonomy and research required [as a bibliographer]" over lecturing; see comments in University of Wisconsin Foundation (2005, p.24).
