![Henry Morse Stephens-1902](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Henry_Morse_Stephens-1902.jpg)
H. Morse Stephens (October 3, 1857 – April 16, 1919) was an
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
and professor of history at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
who helped to purchase the
Bancroft Library, and who worked to build archives of California history, the
1906 San Francisco earthquake, and
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Early life
Henry Morse Stephens (he generally went by his middle name) was born on October 3, 1857 in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. He was educated at
Haileybury College Haileybury may refer to:
Australia
* Haileybury (Melbourne), a school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
** Haileybury Rendall School, an offshoot in Berrimah, North Territory, Australia
China
* Haileybury International School, an internatio ...
, and attended
Balliol College
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...
,
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
, where he was granted a
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in 1880 and an
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in 1892. He was a staff lecturer on the Oxford University Extension System from 1892–1894, and lecturer on Indian history at Cambridge, writing also for
The Academy,
The Daily Chronicle
''Daily Chronicle'' may refer to:
* ''Daily Chronicle'' (United Kingdom), a British newspaper which merged into the ''News Chronicle''
* ''Daily Chronicle'' (Illinois), a newspaper in DeKalb County, Illinois
* ''Daily Chronicle'' (New Zealand), ...
,
The Speaker, and 'acting as London correspondent for
The Statesman
A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level.
Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to:
Newspapers United States
* ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...
and the Calcutta Friend of India.'
Career as Professor of History, Dean, AHA member and President
Stephens immigrated to the United States in 1894 and took the position of Professor at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
in the
Department of History, where he taught European History. At Cornell, Stephens took a particular interest in advising undergraduates, starting two traditions which endured at Cornell for the next two decades: Thursday nights for upper classmen, and career conferences and advice to seniors as to their future professional careers. He was also an avid fundraiser for Cornell's athletic teams.
In 1902, Stephens went to the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
as Professor of History and Director of University Extension, a position he held from 1902–1909. He served as Dean of the University of California College of Arts and Sciences from the fall of 1918 until his death. During his time at Berkeley, he worked to build the
Bancroft Library's collection of historical materials, with special success in the area of Spanish and Mexican History, now known as the Bolton Collection.
Stephens was involved with the
Bohemian Club and wrote the script for ''St. Patrick at Tara'', the main Grove Play performed in 1909 at the
Bohemian Grove
Bohemian Grove is a restricted 2,700-acre (1,100 ha) campground at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in Monte Rio, California, United States, belonging to a private San Francisco–based gentlemen's club known as the Bohemian Club. In mid-July each year, ...
. The play depicted
Saint Patrick and his interaction with
druids, chieftains and kings of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
Stephens was an active member of the
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
serving as its President in 1915. His most notable contribution in the AHA, however, was as a member of the
Committee of Seven, which in 1899 produced the report ''The Study of History in Schools'' for the AHA, and which influenced the teaching of history in American schools for the next 40 years.
Stephens Hall on the U.C. Berkeley campus is named for him, as was the Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, chartered by the Grand Lodge of F. & A. Masons of California and Hawaii: Henry Morse Stephens #541, for which membership was open only to UC administrators, alumni, faculty and students. The lodge merged with other Berkeley, CA Lodges and is now part of Bay Cities Lodge #337, now in Richmond.
History of the San Francisco earthquake, World War I archives
After the
1906 San Francisco earthquake, at the suggestion University of California President
Benjamin Ide Wheeler
Benjamin Ide Wheeler (July 15, 1854– May 2, 1927) was a professor of Greek and comparative philology at Cornell University, writer, and President of the University of California from 1899 to 1919.
Life and career
Early years
Benjamin ...
, Morse joined the Committee of 50, and in consultation with
Governor Pardee, moved to the Earthquake History and Statistics Committee. As a member of this committee, he worked until his death to gather as many accounts and as much historical material as he could that was related to the earthquake. Morse collected over 800 individual accounts of the earthquake and fire as well as numerous newspaper articles, photographs, and other archival material. Unfortunately, after his death, the archive was never incorporated into the Bancroft library collection, as he had intended, and was lost in the 1920s, perhaps in a 1923 Berkeley fire.
When World War I broke out, Stephens began actively soliciting materials from around the world to document and formed a "Great War History Committee," work that was cut short by his death on April 16, 1919.
"Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco"
Bibliography
*''A history of the French revolution,'' by H. Morse Stephens, In three volumes. Vol. I–II. New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1886–91.
*''The principal speeches of the statesmen and orators of the French revolution,'' 1789–1795; ed. with introductions, notes, and indices, by H. Morse Stephens. 2 vols. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1892.
*''The story of Portugal.'' New York, AMS Press 1971
''Revolutionary Europe, 1789–1815''
By H. Morse Stephens. London: Rivingtons, 1900, fifth edition
''Sir Robert Peel''
a memorial biography
*Stephens, Henry Morse; Wallace Arthur Sabin, Charles Caldwell Dobie, Bohemian Club
''St. Patrick at Tara''
1909 Grove play
Notes
External links
*
*
AHA Reports: The Study of History in Schools(1898)_Committee of Seven: Table of Headings
at www.historians.org Online index to The Committee of Seven Report.
at www.historians.org Partial bibliography of H. Morse Stephens
* Essay by Stephens on History in "Counsel on the Reading of Books", edited by Henry van Dyke, American Society for the Extension of Teaching, 1900, as digitized by Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
.
The Directors
at bancroft.berkeley.edu Online history of the Directors of the Bancroft library which describes Stephens' role in recruiting Herbert Eugene Bolton, the first Director.
at bancroft.berkeley.edu Photo of Stephens and description of the importance of his role in purchasing the Bancroft Library.
Guide to the H. Morse Stephens Papers
at The Bancroft Library
The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, H. Morse
1857 births
1919 deaths
Historians of the French Revolution
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Cornell University Department of History faculty
People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College
University of California, Berkeley faculty
Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Historians from California