archive
"Civil War Chicago: Eyewitness to History" on October 20th
Professor of History Theodore J. Karamanski, PhD and Loyola alumna Eileen M. McMahon, PhD, will discuss their new book on the Civil War’s transformative role in Chicago's development.
Richard Pryor Biographer to Speak at Loyola
Scott Saul, the author of Becoming Richard Pryor, will give a public lecture on the comedian entitled "Living with Richard Pryor: A Biographer's Tale" on Friday, April 24 at 3 PM.
Timothy Gilfoyle on "The Changing Forms of History"
Should history be a book discipline? What constitutes "acceptable scholarship" in history? Professor Timothy Gilfoyle considers the rich and diverse forms that historical scholarship take from books, digital media, and public history projects in his article "The Changing Forms of History" in April's edition of Perspectives on History, the AHA newsmagazine.
"The Rise of the Nation-Saint" on November 5th
Prof. Kathleen Sprows Cummings, University of Notre Dame, discusses a pre-circulated paper on the efforts of U.S. Catholics to secure their first canonized saint for the third meeting of the 2015-2016 Ramonat Seminar Series.
Voices of Chicago Women Activists
Celebrate Women's History Month with the Women & Leadership Archives and the Chicago Area Women's History Council. Come hear multimedia excerpts of oral histories by Columbia College honors students featuring Chicago women activists and leaders. The event will be held on Sunday, March 16th from 2:00pm-5:00pm on the 1st floor of Piper Hall.
What was Chrysler Village and how did it get its name?
Public History graduate students know and shared their work on a historic nomination for the neighborhood with Ask Geoffrey on WTTW the other night.
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Closing the Gap
Sarah Doherty (PhD '12) reflects on the importance of the Preparing Future Faculty Program in equipping her, and other minority doctoral students, with the skills necessary for a career in academia.
LEARN MOREWalter Gray, Former Department Chair, Passed on April 18
It is with great sadness that the Department of History writes that Walter Gray, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of History, passed away on Saturday, 18 April 2015 after a long illness.
Walter Gray was born on 30 July 1925 in Yakima, Washington. He served in the United States Army in World War II and, at age 19, was present as a member of Patton's 3rd Army at the liberation of Ohrdruf concentration camp. After the war, Walter earned his BA at Gonzaga University and his MA and Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. He joined the Department of History at Loyola in 1964 and served as chair of the Department 1969-70 and 1980-86. He also served as Graduate Program Director from 1976 to 1980, taught a wide variety of courses, and supervised nine doctoral dissertations before his retirement in 1994. At Loyola, he specialized in French History, particularly French diplomatic history. He was the author of Interpreting American Democracy in France: The Career of Edouard Laboulaye, 1811-1883 (University of Delaware Press, 1994), which was based upon archival research in Paris, Chantilly and the Laboulaye chateau, Le Quesnay, in Normandy. He also wrote articles on George Sand, Charles De Gaulle, Napoleon III's foreign policy and the Annalist historians. This research was assisted by a Fulbright Fellowship as well as numerous trips and cultural exchanges, many of them taken with his beloved wife and Loyola colleague, Professor Anne Callahan. Anyone lucky enough to have been invited to spend time in their home in the John Hancock building knows that it was a center of Gallic culture and its necessary corollary, elegant hospitality.
Walter had this to say about his life's experience and its connection to his scholarship and teaching:
"My experience in WWII and afterward, living in Europe, did have an effect on my choice of profession. My small part in the war has made me very interested in Europe. In my classes, I try to teach my students about the origins of racism and genocide and the terrible consequences they can have. I always make a point to express these things; I don't ignore these problems. If I'm confronted by a student who does not believe in the Holocaust, I speak very strongly about the truth of it. I let them know I was there."
An oral history interview of Walter on this subject may be found at http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn507454 . Transcript: http://collections.ushmm.org/oh_findingaids/RG-50.031.0022_tcn_en.pdf .
Another such interview is here: http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn507479.
A memorial service will be held in July.
In the meantime, in lieu of flowers, Prof. Callahan has requested that contributions be made in Walter's memory to the Midwest Palliative and Hospice Care Center (http://www.carecenter.org/).