Bessie Louise Pierce (20 April 1886 – 3 October 1974) was an American historian^[1] known for her three-volume work, A History of Chicago.^[2]

Pierce was born in Caro, Michigan^[2] and grew up in Waverly, Iowa.^[3] She earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Iowa and obtained a master's degree at the University of Chicago in 1918.^[3] She joined the faculty of the University of Iowa history department under Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., who urged her to get a doctorate.^[4]

In 1929, she returned to the University of Chicago at the request of Charles Edward Merriam to oversee the History of Chicago project.^[3] For the Century of Progress in 1933, she wrote As Others See Chicago: Impressions of Visitors, 1673–1933.^[4] She then began her most notable work, A History of Chicago. The first two volumes were published in 1937 and 1940. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1955.^[5] She completed the third volume in 1957, three years after she retired^[2] and became a professor emeritus.^[6] Pierce began work on a fourth volume, which was to cover the years 1894 to 1915,^[6] but it was never completed. She returned to Iowa in 1973 and died the following year.^[2]

Notable works

• As Others See Chicago: Impressions of Visitors, 1673–1933. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1933.
• A History of Chicago, volume 1: The Beginning of a City, 1673-1848. New York : A.A. Knopf, 1937. Reprinted by the University of Chicago Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-226-66839-0
• A History of Chicago, volume 2: From Town to City, 1848-1871. New York : A.A. Knopf, 1940. Reprinted by the University of Chicago Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-226-66840-6
• A History of Chicago, volume 3: The Rise of a Modern City, 1871-1893. New York : A.A. Knopf, 1957. Reprinted by the University of Chicago Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-226-66842-0