Alden graduated from the University of Michigan with A.B. in 1929), M.A. in 1930, and Ph.D. in 1939.[2] After teaching at Michigan State Normal College (now called Eastern Michigan University), and subsequently at Bowling Green State University in Ohio,[1] he taught at the University of Nebraska from 1945 to 1955. He joined the faculty of Duke University in 1955, where he chaired the Department of History from 1957 to 1960, and in 1963 was appointed James B. Duke Professor of History.[2] He retired from Duke University in 1976.[1] He also taught at the University of Chicago and Columbia University.[2] He was a reviewer for the New York Times Book Review.[3]
In 1934, Alden married Pearl B. Wells (1906–1979). In 1980 he married Kathleen C. Smith, who died in 1990. Upon his death in 1991 he was survived by a daughter from his first marriage and by a granddaughter.[1]
^Billington, Ray Allen (1945). "Review of John Stuart and the Southern Colonial Frontier. By John Richard Alden". The Journal of Economic History. 5: 114–115. doi:10.1017/S0022050700112616.
^Carter, Clarence E. (1945). "Review of John Stuart and the Southern Colonial Frontier: A Study of Indian Relations, War, Trade, and Land Problems in the Southern Wilderness, 1754–1775. By John Richard Alden". The American Historical Review. doi:10.1086/ahr/50.3.545.
^Siebert, Wilbur H. (1946). "Reviewed work: John Stuart and the Southern Colonial Frontier, by John Richard Alden". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 25 (1): 100–102. JSTOR30138623.
^Carter, Clarence E. (1949). "Review of General Gage in America: Being Principally a History of his Role in the American Revolution. By John Richard Alden". The American Historical Review. doi:10.1086/ahr/54.2.370.
^Willcox, William B. (1952). "Review of General Charles Lee: Traitor or Patriot? By John Richard Alden". The American Historical Review. doi:10.1086/ahr/57.2.462.
^Sosin, Jack (1975). "Review of Robert Dinwiddie: Servant of the Crown". The American Historical Review. doi:10.1086/ahr/80.3.716.
^Akers, Charles W. (1984). "Review of Stephen Sayre: American Revolutionary Adventurer". The Journal of American History. 71 (2): 380. doi:10.2307/1901773. ISSN0021-8723. JSTOR1901773.
^Land, Aubrey C. (1985). "Reviewed work: George Washington, A Biography by John R. Alden". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 64 (2): 199–201. JSTOR30146662.