Herman Vandenburg Ames
Herman Vandenburg Ames | |
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U.S. Constitution | |
Notable works | The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States During the First Century of Its History (1896) |
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Herman Vandenburg Ames (
A member of the Ames family, Herman Ames was born in Massachusetts and educated at Amherst College. He received his doctorate from Harvard University, where he was the Ozias Goodwin Memorial Fellow in Constitutional and International Law, and studied under Albert Bushnell Hart. Like Hart, Ames spent time in Europe learning German historical methodology and was influenced in his own research by its approach. He was a driving force behind the establishment of the Pennsylvania State Archives and helped guide the widespread establishment of government archives throughout the United States. His papers are housed at the University of Pennsylvania's University Archives.
Early life
Childhood and family
Herman Ames was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, in 1865 to Marcus Ames and Jane Angeline Ames (née Vandenburg).[2][3]
Ames' father, Marcus, was educated at
The family's surname may have been a corruption of the name Amyas (meaning "merchant of Amiens").[10][11] In the 16th century Amyas was frequently confused with Ames.[10][11]
Education
Ames was educated at the
Ames graduated from Amherst with an
Between 1891 and 1894, Ames lectured in history at the University of Michigan under an appointment as acting assistant professor to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of J.H.T. McPherson.[4][16] Though his interest was in U.S. history, at Michigan Ames was charged with teaching courses covering a variety of periods of world history, an assignment to which he would admit he was "not particularly prepared", but he resigned himself to the idea that "one must make a beginning somewhere, and this was the opening offered".[15] He later recalled this first teaching experience "was a valuable one to me, far more so, I fear, than to the students taught. I was afforded the opportunity to become acquainted with the life and work of the leading state university of the time".[17]
Ames spent 1895 abroad, taking advanced studies in history at
Career
Teaching
The year following his return from Germany, Ames was hired as an assistant professor in the history department at
At Pennsylvania, Ames established a reputation for "tact, firmness and high ideals of scholarship".[3] John Musser, one of his former students and graduate assistants, recalled that Ames' relationship with his students was accessible, courteous, and helpful and that he was known for welcoming students to his home and keeping notes on their careers after they had graduated.[15] University provost Josiah Penniman would echo Musser's assessment, stating that he knew "of no dean who was more deeply interested in the graduate students of the University, not only those who were studying American History, but all who were studying in any courses".[15]
During the 1901–02 academic year, Ames was one of Ezra Pound's instructors at Pennsylvania; Pound scholar David Ten Eyck credits him with stimulating the poet's interest in American history.
As a scholar of legal history, his view of the
In his view on history, Ames was both presentist and relativist; during a public lecture given at Muhlenberg College in 1909 he characterized the daily customs and behavior of early American settlers as "barbarous" compared to contemporary standards, and credited the growth of democracy with the development of more liberal social norms.[15][28] At the same time, however, he cautioned about passing moral judgments on leaders of the past based on modern expectations.[28] As an instructor of history, Ames was described by contemporary historian Wayne Journell as "unabashedly" supportive of its use to invigorate support for the government's policies during World War I, quoting him that "it is the duty of the teacher of history and civics to seize the wonderful opportunity afforded by the war to aid in promoting an intelligent and patriotic public opinion in support of the government in these critical times".[29] Musser offered contradictory recollections of Ames' academic approach, describing him as having a completely objective and impartial view towards both history and current affairs and viewing with skepticism the idea that concerns such as politics or national interest should influence his teaching or research.[15]
In the summer of 1908, Ames was a visiting lecturer at the
After 21 years as head of Pennsylvania's graduate school, Ames resigned his post in 1928 and was succeeded by the classicist
Writing and research
Ames' administrative and teaching duties were an ongoing encumbrance on his research activity, limiting him to a small, albeit influential, body of work.[15]
The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States
Ames' 1897 monograph The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States During the First Century of Its History, which indexed 1,736 amendments proposed to the United States Constitution, was an expansion of his doctoral dissertation.[17] According to Ames, he had returned from his travels in Europe too late in the year to find a teaching assignment and decided to spend the ensuing months writing and researching instead.[15]
Ames' 400-page opus marked the first exhaustive catalog of proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution ever compiled.[36] Ames personally visited a large number of state and federal offices to record the details of the thousands of amending resolutions that had been proposed during the preceding hundred years.[36] In discussing his research, Ames concluded that many of the amendments had failed as they were "cures for temporary evils ... were trivial or impracticable ... [or] found a place in that unwritten constitution that has grown up side by side with the written document".[37] He also opined that the majorities required for ratification of amendments were so large as to create "insurmountable constitutional obstacles" to amendment, a frequent criticism leveled during the Progressive Era.[37]
A review of the volume in the
Other works
Other works by Ames included John C. Calhoun and the Secession Movement of 1850, Slavery and the Union 1845–1861, and The X.Y.Z. Letters, the latter of which he authored with John Bach McMaster.[18] Ames also edited a volume of State Documents on Federal Relations, a multi-issue compendium of state legislative documents pertaining to the U.S. government.[3][40]
Archival preservation
At the turn of the 20th century, the American Historical Association (AHA) undertook a nationwide effort to examine repositories of manuscripts and archival documents, and make specific recommendations for their future preservation.
Ames and Shimmel ended their work with several recommendations.[18] First, they advised that original manuscripts, where they could be found, be printed and bound to guarantee the preservation of their contents even if the original records became destroyed, lost, or stolen.[18] Second, they called for storing documents in steel—rather than wooden—filing cabinets as a fireproofing measure.[18] Finally, they called for the cataloging and centralization of important historical documents.[18] In 1903, at the behest of Pennsylvania governor Samuel W. Pennypacker, himself a noted historian, Ames and Shimmel's recommendations were realized and the Pennsylvania State Archives formally established.[18][41]
Ames continued his advocacy of archival preservation as a member of the AHA's Public Archives Commission, serving as its chair from 1903 to 1913, and continuing as a member for many years thereafter.[42] By 1904, the commission had secured the services of historians in 32 states to study the status of public records and in 1907 Ames authored a detailed status report regarding archival preservation legislation throughout the United States, which would later be credited as the first report of its kind.[42] Two years later, in 1909, Ames organized the first national conference of American government archivists.[42]
With his well-established expertise on archival issues,
Professional societies
Ames served as corresponding secretary of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and was elected to the American Antiquarian Society.[44][45] He also served as president of the History Teachers' Association of the Middle States and Maryland.[2] In 1918 he was appointed—along with John Bach McMaster, Hampton Carson, William Cameron Sproul, and others—to the Pennsylvania War History Commission, which was formed to preserve records related to Pennsylvania's participation in World War I.[46]
Death
Ames had planned his retirement for 1936, and was intending to spend his final year at Pennsylvania laying the groundwork for two new research projects: a biography of Robert J. Walker, and a study of the presidential veto power.[15]
Neither of Ames' two planned projects bore fruit; he died at his home at 203 St. Mark's Square in Philadelphia on February 7, 1935, from a
On May 7, 1935, three months after his death, a memorial meeting was held at Houston Hall in which Ames was eulogized by his colleagues and former students.[15][51] A record of these speeches, along with letters contributed by those who could not attend—including his doctoral supervisor Albert Bushnell Hart—was compiled and edited by Edward Cheyney and Roy Franklin Nichols.[15][51] The compilation was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 1936 as the 31-page Memorial: Herman Vandenburg Ames.[15][51]
Personal life
Ames was unmarried.[3] He had an older sister, Ella Elizabeth, who resided with him at the time of his death.[47] His older brother, Marcus Judson, died in childhood.[6][9][17]
In his personal mannerisms, it was said that Ames had a keen sense of humor and a relaxed disposition.[15]
Ames' personal interests included music and travel.
Recognition
Honors
- Justin Winsor Prize, American Historical Association (1897)[2]
- Elected Member of the American Philosophical Society (1921)[54]
- Honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt.D.), University of Pennsylvania (1925)[2]
- Honorary Legum Doctor (LL.D.), LaSalle College (1927)[3]
Legacy
Ames' portrait, by Alice L. Emmong, is cataloged in the United States National Portrait Collection.[55] The Ella E. and Herman V. Ames Fund, established in 1951 through a bequest by Ames' sister, who left most of her estate to the University of Pennsylvania, supports the acquisition of materials in American history by the University of Pennsylvania library system.[56][57][58] His papers are housed at the University of Pennsylvania's University Archives.[2]
Publications
Books
- Ames, Herman V. (1897). The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States During the First Century of Its History. Washington, District of Columbia: American Historical Society.[59]
- Ames, Herman V. (1904). Slavery and the Constitution, 1789–1845. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.[59]
- Ames, Herman V. (1906). Slavery and the Union, 1845–1861. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.[59]
- Ames, Herman V. and McMaster, John B. (1912). X.Y.Z. Letters. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.[59]
Curricula guides
- Ames, Herman V. (1898). Outline of Lectures on American Political and Institutional History During the Colonial and Revolutionary Periods: With References for Collateral Reading. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.[60]
- Ames, Herman V. and Root, Winfred (1912). Syllabus of American Colonial History from the Beginning of Colonial Expansion to the Formation of the Federal Union. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.[61]
Journal articles
- Ames, Herman V. (October 1896). "A Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature on Additional Amendments to the Federal Constitution, 1790". JSTOR 1833618.
- Ames, Herman V. (April 1900). "Pennsylvania and the English Government, 1699–1704". JSTOR 20085897.
- Ames, Herman V. (January 1924). "The Amending Provision of the Federal Constitution in Practice". JSTOR 984442.
- Ames, Herman V. (March 1931). "The Public Career of Benjamin Franklin: A Life of Service". JSTOR 20085897.
- Ames, Herman V. (April 1933). "Recent Development of the Amending Power as Applied to the Federal Constitution". JSTOR 20086770.
Published lectures
- Ames, Herman V. (1921). "Dalmatia and Adjacent Lands of the Jugo-Slavs". (delivered to the University of Pennsylvania Free Public Lecture Course on April 7, 1920, and published in University Lectures Delivered by Members of the Faculty in the Free Public Lecture Course Volume 7 1919–1920).[62]
Reports
- Ames, Herman V. (1898). "History of Delta Upsilon". (published in The Delta Upsilon: An Annual Containing the Records of the Sixty-fourth Annual Convention of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity)[63]
- Ames, Herman V. and Shimmel, L.S. (1900). "Report on the Public Archives of Pennsylvania". (published in the Annual Report of the American Historical Association)[64]
- Ames, Herman V. and McKinley, Albert. (1901). "Report on the Public Archives of the City and County of Philadelphia". (published in the Annual Report of the American Historical Association)[64]
- Ames, Herman V. and Kelker, Luther. (1904). "List of the Contents of the Pennsylvania Archives". (published in the Annual Report of the American Historical Association)[64]
- Ames, Herman V. (1906). "The Work of the Public Archives Commission". (published in the Annual Report of the American Historical Association)[64]
Notes
- ^ The graduate school would move to Bennett Hall after its completion in 1925; H. Lamar Crosby would later note that the additional space meant Ames "had a room all to himself".[15]
- University of Heidelberg under the supervision of Ludwig Häusser who, in turn, received his doctorate at Heidelberg under the supervision of Friedrich Christoph Schlosser.[22][23]
- ^ Ping pong was a new game at the turn of the 20th century and became a "craze" in the United States during the period 1901 to 1903.[15][26]
- ^ While Ames was among Bolton's instructors, Bolton's dissertation supervisor was John Bach McMaster, with whom Ames would later collaborate on the X.Y.Z. Letters.[27]
References
- ^ "The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States". Harvard Library. Harvard University. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Herman Vandenburg Ames Papers 1897–1935". Archival Collections. University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on December 27, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Herman Vandenburg Ames" (PDF). Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. American Antiquarian Society. April 1935. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 7, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g Chamberlain, Joshua (1901). University of Pennsylvania: Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics; with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Founders, Benefactors, Officers and Alumni. R. Herndon Company. p. 442.
- ^ Hinman, Royal (1852). A Catalogue of the Names of the Early Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut. Case, Tiffany. p. 50.
- ^ a b c Ford, David (1899). History of Hanover Academy. H.M. Hight. pp. 164–165.
- ^ Shaw, Albert (1901). The American Monthly Review of Reviews, Volume 24. p. 121.
- ^ a b Register. Order of the Founders and Patriots of America. 1902. p. 41.
- ^ a b White, Almira (1909). Genealogy of the descendants of John White of Wenham and Lancaster, Massachusetts. Nicholas Print. pp. 60–64.
- ^ a b c Cutter, William (1914). New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 3. Lewis Historical Publishing. p. 1288.
- ^ a b Reaney, P.H. (1997). A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press. p. 10.
- ^ "Letters from Chapters". The Delta Upsilon Quarterly. 6: 28–29. 1888.
...under the leadership of our efficient President, Herman V. Ames, '88, have done some of the best campaign work that our chapter has ever seen.
- ^ The Delta Upsilon Quarterly, Volume 7. Delta Upsilon. 1889. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ Miller, Thomas (1934). Delta Upsilon One Hundred Years 1834–1934. Delta Upsilon.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Memorial: Herman Vandenburg Ames. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1936. pp. 2–25.
- ^ The President's Report to the Board of Regents for the Academic Year Ending September 30. University of Michigan. 1884. p. 5.
- ^ a b c d Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1943. pp. 28–29.
- ^ S2CID 248876335.
- ^ Undergraduate Courses of Study Bulletin. University of Pennsylvania. 1921. p. 19.
- ^ "University of Penna. Announces Scholarships". Altoona Tribune. June 2, 1923. p. 8. Retrieved February 12, 2018.(subscription required)
- ^ "Albert Bushnell Hart Biography". historians.org. American Historical Association. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
- ISBN 978-3412347055.
- ISBN 978-0300128291.
- ^ a b Howard, Alexander (2014). "Light Enough Against Darkness? Historicizing Ezra Pound". Affirmations: of the Modern. 2 (1). Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
- ^ Stock, Noel (1964). Poet in Exile: Ezra Pound. Manchester University Press. p. 7.
- ^ "Topics in Chronicling America – Ping-Pong". loc.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0313298950.
- ^ a b "Colonial Customs Were Barbaraous". The Morning Call. May 5, 1909. p. 5. Retrieved February 12, 2018.(subscription required)
- ISBN 978-1475818130.
- ^ Lynch, William (1938). "Editor's Pages A Transition Period, 1907–1911". Indiana Magazine of History. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
- University of Indiana. Archived from the originalon February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
- ^ "University Conference" (PDF). Cornell Alumni News. January 13, 1909. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
Seventeen universities were represented at the tenth annual convention of the Association of American Universities, held at Cornell on Thursday and Friday of last week. Only one member of the association, Clark University, was not represented. The presidents of nine—Chicago, Cornell, Harvard, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin and Yale—were present, and the eight others were represented as follows: California, Professor George M. Stratton; Catholic University of America, the Rev. Edward Aloysius Pace and Professor George Melville Boiling; Columbia, Professors Munroe Smith and William Henry Carpenter; Johns Hopkins, Professor J. Mark Baldwin; Stanford, Professor Oliver Peebles Jenkins and Mr. George Edward Crothers Pennsylvania, Professor Herman V. Ames; Princeton, Professors Andrew F. West, Harry B. Fine and William F. Magie; Virginia, Professor James Morris Page.
- ^ "Dr. Herman Ames is Commencement Speaker Tonight". Central New Jersey Home News. January 26, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved February 12, 2018.(subscription required)
- ^ "One Hundred and Sixty-Sixth Commencement" (PDF). archives.upenn.edu. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
- newspapers.com. February 21, 1928. p. 2. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
Dr. H. Lamar Crosby was elected dean of the graduate school of the University of Pennsylvania at a meeting of the trustees today. He succeeds Dr. Herman V. Ames, who has resigned after serving for 21 years.
(subscription required) - ^ U.S. Department of Justice. Archived from the original(PDF) on February 7, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
The first comprehensive list of proposed amendments was made possible in 1897 by the American Historical Association ... The list, with extensive discussion and detail classifying the many types of proposals, was prepared by Herman Vandenburg Ames. The preface to Proposed Amendments of the Constitution of the United States during the First Century of its History states he received the Justin Winsor prize of $100 for his efforts, awarded by a committee of the association ... Dr. Ames did future scholars an invaluable service by personally visiting offices and officials and meticulously recording details relevant on virtually every proposal.
- ^ ISBN 978-1851094288.
- S2CID 220849628.
- ^ "Discontinued Awards". historians.org. American Historical Association. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ Ames, Herman (1906). State Documents on Federal Relations. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 1–2.
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original(PDF) on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
Established in 1903 as an administrative unit of the Pennsylvania State Library, the State Archives was combined with the Pennsylvania Historical Commission in 1945 to form the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC).
- ^ Government Printing Office. 1921. pp. 153–157.
- ^ a b c d Ginsberg, Alan Harvey (1973). The Historian as Lobbyist: J. Franklin Jameson and the Historical Activities of the Federal Government (PhD). Louisiana State University.
He asked Herman V. Ames, Chairman of the AHA's public Archives Commission, to attend 'and lay before the committee whatever there has been in the practice or experience of states that deserves attention by persons who are planning a national building.' Herman Ames was planning to attend the 125th anniversary of the University of Pittsburgh on February 28 and 29; to attend the hearing, he would have to go directly to Washington without returning home. Ames nevertheless was willing to inconvenience himself if Jameson thought that his presence could not be spared. Jameson told Ames that 'under the circumstances...it would be unreasonable to ask you to be here.'
- JSTOR 20086783.
- ^ "Report of the Council" (PDF). americanantiquarian.org. American Antiquarian Society. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
Herman V. Ames, elected to this Society in 1909, professor of American constitutional history at the University of Pennsylvania and author on the institutional and political history of the colonial period, died February 7, 1935.
- ^ "Pennsylvania War History Commission". Reading Times. July 2, 1918. Retrieved February 12, 2018.(subscription required)
- ^ Philadelphia Inquirer. February 8, 1935. p. 2. Retrieved February 12, 2018.(subscription required)
- ^ "Dr. Herman Vandenburg Ames Dies in Philadelphia at 70". The Morning Call. Associated Press. February 8, 1935. Retrieved February 12, 2018.(subscription required)
- ^ a b "Herman Vandenburg Ames". The Michigan Alumnus. 41. 1935.
- newspapers.com. February 9, 1935. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
Funeral services for Dr. Herman V. Ames, former dean of the Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania, will be conducted In the Second Presbyterian Church, 21st and Walnut sts at 5 o'clock this afternoon by Rev. Dr. Alexander MacColl, pastor of the church. The following will be honorary pallbearers: Thomas S. Gates, Josiah H. Pennlman, H. Lamar Crosby, Edward P. Cheyney, St. George L. Bloussat, Arthur C. Howland. Paul H. Minyior, Roland S. Morris, Frederick H. Safiora, Albert E. McKlnley, Emory R. Johnson, Conyers Read, William E. Lingelbach, Roy F. Nichols, Cheesman A. Herrick, Edward W. Mumford, Albert Hand, Lewis, M. Stevens, Walter I. Cooper, Walter B. Mclnnes and Julian Boyd.
(subscription required) - ^ Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 3 (4): 287. October 1936.
A record of the addresses made at the memorial meeting, held at the University of Pennsylvania on May 7, 1935, together with letters and resolutions on the death of Dr. Herman Vandenburg Ames, late Professor of American Constitutional History at the university. The memorial closes with 'A Fragment of Autobiography Sent to an Amherst Reunion.'
- ^ Publications of the New York Society of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America. Ch. Van Benthuysen & Sons. 1904. p. 12.
- ^ Maxwell, W.J. (1898). Fraternity Men of Chicago. Umbdenstock. p. 69.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ "Herman Vandenberg Ames". si.edu. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on December 27, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ "U of P is Willed $98,111 by Woman". Philadelphia Inquirer. June 18, 1949. p. 5. Retrieved February 12, 2018.(subscription required)
- ^ "Ella E. and Herman V. Ames Fund". upenn.edu. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
In 1951 a bequest by Ella E. Ames established an endowed Library Fund in memory of her brother, Dr. Herman V. Ames, Professor of American Constitutional History. The fund supports the acquisition of materials in American History, or American and European History as desired by the Department of History. The Ames Fund is critical in making possible to Penn scholars new materials in this field.
- Philadelphia Inquirer. October 31, 1946. p. 3. Retrieved February 12, 2018.(subscription required)
- ^ a b c d "Ames, Herman Vandenburg 1865–1935". WorldCat. OCLC. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
- ISBN 9780722275191.
- ^ Syllabus of American Colonial History from the Beginning of Colonial Expansion to the Formation of the Federal Union. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co. 1912.
- ^ University Lectures Delivered by Members of the Faculty in the Free Public Lecture Course, Volume 7. University of Pennsylvania. 1921. p. 96.
- ^ Delta Upsilon Decennial Catalogue. Delta Upsilon. 1902. p. 51.
- ^ a b c d Publications, Volume 1. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania History Club. 1909.
External links
Media related to Herman Vandenburg Ames at Wikimedia Commons