Samuel Flagg Bemis (October 20, 1891 – September 26, 1973) was an American historian and biographer. For many years he taught at Yale University. He was also president of the American Historical Association and a specialist in American diplomatic history. He was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes. Jerald A. Combs says he was "the greatest of all historians of early American diplomacy."[1]
Pinckney's Treaty: America's Advantage from Europe's Distress, 1783–1800, John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy, John Quincy Adams and the Union, The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy series
Bemis was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on what he remembered as "the wrong side of the hedge".[2] He received his B.A. degree in 1912 from Clark University. Influenced by George Hubbard Blakeslee of the Clark faculty, Bemis also acquired an A.M. from Clark the following year.[3] In 1916 he was granted his Ph.D. by Harvard University. He first taught at Colorado College from 1917 to 1921.[4] From 1921 to 1923, he taught at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. In 1923–1924, he served as a research associate at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Division of Historical Research. Bemis joined the faculty at George Washington University in 1924, remaining there a decade, and accepted the history department's chairmanship in 1925. From 1927 to 1929, he led the Library of Congress's European Mission.[5] He left George Washington University in 1934, first serving as lecturer at Harvard University for the 1934–1935 academic year while James Phinney Baxter III was on research leave.[6] Then, in 1935, he took up his position at Yale University, where he remained through the end of his career. He was first the Farnham Professor of Diplomatic History and then in 1945 became the Sterling Professor of Diplomatic History and Inter-American Relations.[7][8][9] In 1958, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[10] He retired in 1960, and served as president of the American Historical Association in 1961. His presidential address for the AHA engaged the topic of "American Foreign Policy and the Blessings of Liberty".[11] He died in Bridgeport, Connecticut, aged 81.
He originally supported the League of Nations but after two decades changed his mind:
The League of Nations has been a disappointing failure. ... It has been a failure, not because the United States did not join it; but because the great powers have been unwilling to apply sanctions except where it suited their individual national interests to do so, and because Democracy, on which the original concepts of the League rested for support, has collapsed over half the world.[12]
Scholarly impactedit
First page of the readings list for Bemis's diplomatic course at Yale, Fall 1949
Mark Gilderhus says Bemis was a "founding father" of the field of diplomatic history in the United States. His tone was nationalistic, typically blaming America's antagonists for conflicts, but he rose above jingoism and provided analysis which ran counter to State Department views. For Bemis, the great achievement US–Latin American relations was Franklin Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy. He praised it for unifying the Pan American nations, along with the US leadership against Fascists and Nazis. During the Cold War, Bemis saw Latin America as a minor backwater of diplomacy.[13]
Bemis was a strong writer, and his works attracted prizes for their quality. He also impressed upon his students the importance of good writing, a trend which they frequently passed down to their own students. He won the Pulitzer Prize twice. Bemis's books include Jay's Treaty: A Study in Commerce and Diplomacy (1924 and later reprint editions), which won the Knights of Columbus Historical Prize. His Pinckney's Treaty: America's Advantage from Europe's Distress, 1783–1800 (1926) was the published version of the Albert Shaw Lectures on Diplomatic History, and was the winner of the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for History. His other works include The Latin American Policy of the United States (1943) and The Diplomacy of the American Revolution (1935).
His single greatest scholarly achievement was his two-volume life of John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy (1949) won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1950; its sequel, John Quincy Adams and the Union (1956), covered Adams's life from his Presidency through his second political career as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. Bemis's favorable view of Adams is distilled in his observation that Adams grasped "the essentials of American policy and the position of the United States in the world."
His 18-volume series The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy appeared first in ten volumes (published by Knopf in 1927–1929) covering Robert R. Livingston to Charles Evans Hughes. These were reprinted in 1958, and the success of the series prompted the creation of a further eight volumes, covering Frank B. Kellogg to Christian Herter, published through 1972.[14] He also authored a well-known textbook on diplomatic history that first appeared in 1936 and went through four revisions.[15]
"American Foreign Policy and the Blessings of Liberty", presidential address was delivered to the American Historical Association, December 29, 1961. American Historical Review 67#2 (January 1962): 291–305.
Referencesedit
^Jerald A. Combs, American diplomatic history: two centuries of changing interpretations (1983) p 156.
^Combs, 'American diplomatic history (1983) p 156.
^Russell H. Bostert and John A. DeNovo, "Samuel Flagg Bemis," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society vol. LXXXV (1973): 117
^Lester D. Langley, "The Diplomatic Historians: Bailey and Bemis," The History Teacher Vol. 6, No. 1 (November 1972): 60.
^. Archived from the original on 2012-05-07. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
^"Bemis is Chosen History Lecturer Replacing Baxter," Harvard Crimson, April 20, 1934.
^"Obituaries," Journal of American History, Vol. 60, No. 4 (March 1974): 1216–1217.
^Heinz Dietrich Fischer and Erika J. Fischer, Complete biographical encyclopedia of Pulitzer Prize winners, 1917–2000 (Walter de Gruyter, 2002): 18.
^Russell H. Bostert and John A. DeNovo, "Samuel Flagg Bemis," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society vol. LXXXV (1973): 117–129.
^"Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
^"Samuel Flagg Bemis - AHA". Historians.org. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
^Bemis, "Preface to New Volumes," in Robert A. Ferrell, Frank B. Kellogg, Vol. XI, The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy (New York: Cooper Square Publishers, 1963): vii.
^. Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
^Bemis, Samuel Flagg (1923-01-01). Jay's Treaty: A Study in Commerce and Diplomacy. Macmillan.
^Samuel Flagg Bemis (1960-01-01). Pinckneys Treaty Americans Advantage From Europes Distress 1783–1800. Yale University Press.
^Bemis, Samuel Flagg; Ferrell, Robert H. The American Secretaries of State and their diplomacy. New York: Cooper Square Publishers.
^Bemis, Samuel F. (1987-06-01). The Hussey-Cumberland Mission and American Independence. Peter Smith Publisher, Incorporated. ISBN978-0-8446-1069-6.
^ abBemis, Samuel Flagg (1957-01-01). The diplomacy of the American Revolution. Indiana University Press.
^Bemis, Samuel Flagg; Griffin, Grace Gardner (1935-01-01). Guide to the Diplomatic History of the United States: 1775–1921. US Government Printing Office.
^Bemis, Samuel Flagg (1936). A Diplomatic History of the United States. Holt.
^Cabon, Adolphe; Bemis, Samuel Flagg (1940-01-01). Early diplomatic missions from Buenos Aires to the United States, 1811–1824.
^Bemis, Samuel Flagg (1981-01-01). John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy. Greenwood Press. ISBN978-0-313-22636-6.
^Bemis, Samuel Flagg (1956). John Quincy Adams and the Union. Knopf.
Further readingedit
Gilderhus, Mark T. (1997). "Founding Father: Samuel Flagg Bemis and the Study of U.S.-Latin American Relations". Diplomatic History. 21 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1111/1467-7709.00048.
Wilson, Clyde N. (1983). Twentieth-Century American Historians. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 17. Gale. pp. 64–60.
samuel, flagg, bemis, october, 1891, september, 1973, american, historian, biographer, many, years, taught, yale, university, also, president, american, historical, association, specialist, american, diplomatic, history, awarded, pulitzer, prizes, jerald, comb. Samuel Flagg Bemis October 20 1891 September 26 1973 was an American historian and biographer For many years he taught at Yale University He was also president of the American Historical Association and a specialist in American diplomatic history He was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes Jerald A Combs says he was the greatest of all historians of early American diplomacy 1 Samuel Flagg BemisBorn 1891 10 20 October 20 1891Worcester MassachusettsDiedSeptember 26 1973 1973 09 26 aged 81 Bridgeport ConnecticutSpouseRuth Marjorie Steele m 1919 wbr ChildrenBarbara Bemis Bloch 1921 2013 AwardsPulitzer Prize 1927 1950 Academic backgroundAlma materClark UniversityHarvard UniversityDoctoral advisorEdward ChanningOther advisorsJ Franklin JamesonAcademic workDisciplineHistorySub disciplineDiplomatic historyInstitutionsColorado CollegeWhitman CollegeGeorge Washington UniversityYale UniversityDoctoral studentsRobert H FerrellJohn A DeNovoWilliam W KaufmannNotable worksPinckney s Treaty America s Advantage from Europe s Distress 1783 1800 John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy John Quincy Adams and the Union The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy series Contents 1 Biography 2 Scholarly impact 3 Awards and prizes 4 Bibliography 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksBiography editBemis was born in Worcester Massachusetts on what he remembered as the wrong side of the hedge 2 He received his B A degree in 1912 from Clark University Influenced by George Hubbard Blakeslee of the Clark faculty Bemis also acquired an A M from Clark the following year 3 In 1916 he was granted his Ph D by Harvard University He first taught at Colorado College from 1917 to 1921 4 From 1921 to 1923 he taught at Whitman College in Walla Walla Washington In 1923 1924 he served as a research associate at the Carnegie Institution of Washington s Division of Historical Research Bemis joined the faculty at George Washington University in 1924 remaining there a decade and accepted the history department s chairmanship in 1925 From 1927 to 1929 he led the Library of Congress s European Mission 5 He left George Washington University in 1934 first serving as lecturer at Harvard University for the 1934 1935 academic year while James Phinney Baxter III was on research leave 6 Then in 1935 he took up his position at Yale University where he remained through the end of his career He was first the Farnham Professor of Diplomatic History and then in 1945 became the Sterling Professor of Diplomatic History and Inter American Relations 7 8 9 In 1958 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 10 He retired in 1960 and served as president of the American Historical Association in 1961 His presidential address for the AHA engaged the topic of American Foreign Policy and the Blessings of Liberty 11 He died in Bridgeport Connecticut aged 81 He originally supported the League of Nations but after two decades changed his mind The League of Nations has been a disappointing failure It has been a failure not because the United States did not join it but because the great powers have been unwilling to apply sanctions except where it suited their individual national interests to do so and because Democracy on which the original concepts of the League rested for support has collapsed over half the world 12 Scholarly impact edit nbsp First page of the readings list for Bemis s diplomatic course at Yale Fall 1949 Mark Gilderhus says Bemis was a founding father of the field of diplomatic history in the United States His tone was nationalistic typically blaming America s antagonists for conflicts but he rose above jingoism and provided analysis which ran counter to State Department views For Bemis the great achievement US Latin American relations was Franklin Roosevelt s Good Neighbor policy He praised it for unifying the Pan American nations along with the US leadership against Fascists and Nazis During the Cold War Bemis saw Latin America as a minor backwater of diplomacy 13 Bemis was a strong writer and his works attracted prizes for their quality He also impressed upon his students the importance of good writing a trend which they frequently passed down to their own students He won the Pulitzer Prize twice Bemis s books include Jay s Treaty A Study in Commerce and Diplomacy 1924 and later reprint editions which won the Knights of Columbus Historical Prize His Pinckney s Treaty America s Advantage from Europe s Distress 1783 1800 1926 was the published version of the Albert Shaw Lectures on Diplomatic History and was the winner of the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for History His other works include The Latin American Policy of the United States 1943 and The Diplomacy of the American Revolution 1935 His single greatest scholarly achievement was his two volume life of John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy 1949 won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1950 its sequel John Quincy Adams and the Union 1956 covered Adams s life from his Presidency through his second political career as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Bemis s favorable view of Adams is distilled in his observation that Adams grasped the essentials of American policy and the position of the United States in the world His 18 volume series The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy appeared first in ten volumes published by Knopf in 1927 1929 covering Robert R Livingston to Charles Evans Hughes These were reprinted in 1958 and the success of the series prompted the creation of a further eight volumes covering Frank B Kellogg to Christian Herter published through 1972 14 He also authored a well known textbook on diplomatic history that first appeared in 1936 and went through four revisions 15 Awards and prizes editKnights of Columbus Historical Prize 1926 Albert Shaw Lectures on Diplomatic History 1927 Pulitzer Prize for History 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography 1954 Guggenheim Fellowship for Creatives Arts Biography 16 1958 Elected member of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesBibliography editJay s Treaty A Study in Commerce and Diplomacy 1923 17 Pinckney s Treaty America s Advantage from Europe s Distress 1783 1800 1926 18 The American Secretaries of State and their Diplomacy 18 vols 1927 1972 19 The Hussey Cumberland Mission and American Independence 1931 20 The Diplomacy of the American Revolution American Historical Association 1935 21 Guide to the Diplomatic History of the United States 1775 1921 with Grace Gardner Griffin 1935 reprinted 1951 22 A Diplomatic History of the United States 1936 23 Early Diplomatic Missions from Buenos Aires to the United States 1811 1824 1940 24 The Latin American Policy of the United States 1943 21 John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy 1949 25 John Quincy Adams and the Union 1956 26 American Foreign Policy and the Blessings of Liberty presidential address was delivered to the American Historical Association December 29 1961 American Historical Review 67 2 January 1962 291 305 References edit Jerald A Combs American diplomatic history two centuries of changing interpretations 1983 p 156 Combs American diplomatic history 1983 p 156 Russell H Bostert and John A DeNovo Samuel Flagg Bemis Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society vol LXXXV 1973 117 Lester D Langley The Diplomatic Historians Bailey and Bemis The History Teacher Vol 6 No 1 November 1972 60 Bemis Samuel Flagg GWUEncyc Archived from the original on 2012 05 07 Retrieved 2013 03 16 Bemis is Chosen History Lecturer Replacing Baxter Harvard Crimson April 20 1934 Obituaries Journal of American History Vol 60 No 4 March 1974 1216 1217 Heinz Dietrich Fischer and Erika J Fischer Complete biographical encyclopedia of Pulitzer Prize winners 1917 2000 Walter de Gruyter 2002 18 Russell H Bostert and John A DeNovo Samuel Flagg Bemis Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society vol LXXXV 1973 117 129 Book of Members 1780 2010 Chapter B PDF American Academy of Arts and Sciences Retrieved June 2 2011 Samuel Flagg Bemis AHA Historians org Retrieved 11 August 2017 Quoted in Combs p 158 Gilderhus 1997 Bemis Preface to New Volumes in Robert A Ferrell Frank B Kellogg Vol XI The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy New York Cooper Square Publishers 1963 vii Obituaries Journal of American History 1217 Samuel Flagg Bemis John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Archived from the original on 2012 06 04 Retrieved 2011 11 23 Bemis Samuel Flagg 1923 01 01 Jay s Treaty A Study in Commerce and Diplomacy Macmillan Samuel Flagg Bemis 1960 01 01 Pinckneys Treaty Americans Advantage From Europes Distress 1783 1800 Yale University Press Bemis Samuel Flagg Ferrell Robert H The American Secretaries of State and their diplomacy New York Cooper Square Publishers Bemis Samuel F 1987 06 01 The Hussey Cumberland Mission and American Independence Peter Smith Publisher Incorporated ISBN 978 0 8446 1069 6 a b Bemis Samuel Flagg 1957 01 01 The diplomacy of the American Revolution Indiana University Press Bemis Samuel Flagg Griffin Grace Gardner 1935 01 01 Guide to the Diplomatic History of the United States 1775 1921 US Government Printing Office Bemis Samuel Flagg 1936 A Diplomatic History of the United States Holt Cabon Adolphe Bemis Samuel Flagg 1940 01 01 Early diplomatic missions from Buenos Aires to the United States 1811 1824 Bemis Samuel Flagg 1981 01 01 John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy Greenwood Press ISBN 978 0 313 22636 6 Bemis Samuel Flagg 1956 John Quincy Adams and the Union Knopf Further reading editGilderhus Mark T 1997 Founding Father Samuel Flagg Bemis and the Study of U S Latin American Relations Diplomatic History 21 1 1 12 doi 10 1111 1467 7709 00048 Wilson Clyde N 1983 Twentieth Century American Historians Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol 17 Gale pp 64 60 Encyclopedia Americana 1969 ed p 533 External links editSamuel Flagg Bemis papers MS 74 Manuscripts and Archives Yale University Library 1 Works by or about Samuel Flagg Bemis at Internet Archive Samuel Flagg Bemis at Find a Grave nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Samuel Flagg Bemis amp oldid 1126861292, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
