James Ronald Warren (May 25, 1925 – September 13, 2012) was a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

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 ...

instrumental in rediscovering the source of the Seattle fire of 1889. He also fought as a member of the 242nd Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Infantry "Rainbow" Division at the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

and was a German POW. He was an Emeritus Director of the

Museum of History and Industry The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) is a history museum in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest private heritage organization in Washington state, maintaining a collection of nearly four m ...

in Seattle, Washington.

Early life

Born in

Goldendale, Washington Goldendale is a city and county seat of Klickitat County, Washington, United States, near the Columbia River Gorge. The population within city limits was 3,760 at the 2000 census and 3,407 at the 2010 census, a 9.4% decrease. It is situated i ...

, on May 25, 1925 to Mr. Chappelle and Dorthy Hope Rodgers Chappelle. Mr. Chappelle died when James was a baby. His mother remarried Hubert Samuel Warren from whom he took his last name. James is the half brother of archeologist

Claude Nelson Warren Claude Nelson Warren (March 18, 1932 – November 4, 2021) was a Deserts of California, California Desert anthropologist and specialist in early humans in the Far West and was instrumental in defining the San Dieguito complex, San Dieguito and La ...

. He attended Goldendale Jr. High School in

, and graduated from Wishram High School in

Wishram, Washington Wishram is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Klickitat County, Washington, United States. The population was 342 at the 2010 census, up from 213 at the 2000 census. The site of the historic Celilo Falls is nearby. ...

in 1943 and was drafted shortly thereafter.

War Years

Warren attended boot camp near

Twentynine Palms, California Twentynine Palms (also known as 29 Palms) is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Twentynine Palms serves as one of the entry points to Joshua Tree National Park. History Twentynine Palms was named for the palm trees found there in ...

as well as

Camp Gruber Camp Gruber is an Oklahoma Army National Guard (OKARNG) training facility. It covers a total of . The base is named after Brigadier General Edmund L. Gruber, a noted artillery officer and the original composer of the U.S. Field Artillery Marc ...

, Oklahoma. He was training for deployment in North Africa but was deployed to Northern France where his Division participated in the Battle of the Bulge where he was captured. His regiment was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Warren received the Bronze Star Medal and a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

for his participation in the battle. Following his liberation from a German POW camp he returned to the US to recuperate and was preparing to deploy into the Pacific Theatre when the war ended.

University Years

Warren returned home from World War II in 1945. He began attending

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

in 1946 where he earned his bachelor's degree in Public Speaking. It was there that he met his future wife Gwen Davis. Warren worked a year for a radio station in Bend, Oregon. He began attending the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

where he earned a Masters in Communications. In 1963 Warren earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of Washington

Professional life

Between 1963 and 1970 Warren worked as a classical music radio host in the Seattle area. He was the president of Edmonds Junior College from 1970 to 1980. Warren became the director of the

in 1980 and remained in that position until his retirement in 1987. In 1983 Warren began writing a weekly history column for the

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was f ...

. Warren served on multiple boards including the Seattle Opera, Seattle Historical Society, Maryhill Museum, and Northwest Chapter of the 42nd (Rainbow) Division Veterans, as well as serving as the president of the Washington State and Seattle chapters of the American Ex-Prisoners of War. In his 1989 Monograph, ''The Day Seattle Burned'', Warren correctly re-identified Victor Clairmont's cabinet shop as the source of the Seattle fire rather than the commonly attributed James McGough's paint shop on the floor above.

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, James Ronald 2012 deaths 1925 births Washington State University alumni University of Washington alumni People from Goldendale, Washington Historians from Washington (state)