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John A. Zahm, C.S.C.: Scientist and Americanist

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Thomas F. O’Connor
Thomas F. O’Connor*
Affiliation:
St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri
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Extract

In 1898 Bernard Moses, professor of history at the University of California, published the first of the series of volumes which contributed in a preeminent degree to the inception of a new era of Hispanic-American historical studies in the United States. Six years later appeared Edward Gaylord Bourne’s Spain in America, 1450–1580, which enjoyed a wider circulation and probably exerted a more immediate influence in English-speaking historical circles than Moses’ pioneer work. Bourne’s career was cut short by death in 1908, and one can only speculate on what might have been his influence on the development of Hispanic-American studies in the United States. Moses, however, lived on until 1930, active to the last in turning out the succession of volumes which have earned for him a distinguished place among the Anglo-American pioneers of the new era of Hispanic-American historiography. His scholarship, it is true, rested content with the utilization of the printed sources of his field, but these were abundant and Moses used them exhaustively and with discernment. The interest he stimulated sent his disciples on their highly rewarding researches in archives and manuscript depositories.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , 1951 , pp. 435 - 462
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1951

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References

1 The Establishment of Spanish Rule in America (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1898). For an account of Moses’ life see Charles Chapman, E., “Bernard Moses,” Dictionary of American Biography, ed. Johnson, Allen and Malone, Dumas, XIII, 274–275.Google Scholar (Hereafter cited as DAB).

2 Vol. 3 of The American Nation: A History, ed. Albert Bushnell Hart (New York: Harper and Bros., 1904).

3 For brief accounts of Bourne’s life see Pittman, Frank W., “Edward Gaylord Bourne,” DAB, II, 484–485 Google Scholar; Hart, Albert Bushnell, “The Literary Career of Edward Gaylord Bourne,” Yale Alumni Weekly, XVII (1908), 641–644 Google Scholar; and Rhodes, James Ford, Historical Essays (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1909), 191–200.Google Scholar

5 South America on the Eve of Emancipation: the Southern Spanish Colonies in the Last Half Century of their Dependence (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1908); The Spanish Dependencies in South America: an Introduction to the History of their Civilization (2 vols., New York and London: Harper and Bros., 1914); Spain’s Declining Power in South America, 1730–1806 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1919); Spanish Colonial Literature in South America (New York and London: Hispanic Society of America, 1922); The Intellectual Background of the Revolution in South America, 1810–1824 (New York: Hispanic Society of America, 1926).

5 South America: Observations and Impressions (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1912).

6 Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1910); Along the Andes and Down the Amazon (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1911); Through South America’s Southland (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1916); and The Quest of El Dorado (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1917).

7 The most extensive account of Zahm’s life is that by Patrick J. Carroll, C.S.C., “Mind in Action,” Ave Maria, vol. 63 (new series), Jan. 5-June 29, 1946, and vol. 64, July 6–20, 1946. A briefer sketch by the same writer will be found in the DAB, XX, 641–642. An interpretative obituary, “Father Zahm,” by John Cavanaugh, C.S.C., appeared in the Catholic World, Feb., 1922, 577–588, and one by Kerndt M. Healy, C.S.C., “Father Zahm, Priest and Scientist,” in America, Dec. 3, 1921, 154–156.

8 The Twenty-ninth Annual Catalogue of the University of Notre Dame, 1872–73, lists him as “Assistant in Chemistry, Physics and the Natural Sciences.”

9 Sorin still awaits a biographer. The best account of his activities will be found in Hope, Arthur J. C.S.C., Notre Dame: One Hundred Years (Notre Dame: University Press, 1943).Google Scholar

10 Zahm’s activities as professor and administrator are treated in some detail in Hope, op. cit., 175 f.

11 Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Co., 1892.

12 New York: Harper and Bros., 1863.

13 New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1874.

14 2 vols., New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1896.

15 Ave Maria, XIX (Mar. 31, Apr. 7, 1883), 241–248, 261–268.

16 Ibid., XXI (Mar. 7–28, 1885),. 191–198, 212–216, 233–237, 247–252. Later published in pamphlet form, What the Church Has Done for Science (Notre Dame, Indiana: c. 1885).

17 American Catholic Quarterly Review, XV (July, 1890), 434–457.

18 Ibid., (Oct., 1890), 630–657.

19 North American Review, 157 (Sept., 1893), 315–324.

20 Catholic World, 56 (Jan., 1893), 445–463.

21 American Catholic Quarterly Review, XVIII (Apr., July, Oct., 1893), 225–248, 562–588, 719–734; XIX (Apr., 1894), 260–272.

22 American Ecclesiastical Review, VIII (Jan., Feb., 1893), 14–34, 84–99.

23 Philadelphia: H. L. Kilner and Co., 1893. French translation by Flageolet, J., Science catholique et savants catholiques (Paris: P. Lethielleux, 1895).Google Scholar

24 X (Mar., 1894), 161–176.

25 Ibid., 176–187.

26 Ibid., 187–194.

27 Ibid., 194–210.

28 Ibid., 210–227.

29 Ibid., XI (Oct., 1894), 241–271.

30 Baltimore: John Murphy and Co., 1894.

31 Chicago: D. H. McBride and Co., 1896.

32 Chicago: D. H. McBride and Co., 1896.

33 Chicago: D. H. McBride and Co., 1896. French translation by Flageolet, J., L’evolution et le dogme (Paris: P. Lethielleux, 1897); Italian translation by Galea, Alfonso Maria, Evoluzione e dogma (Siena: Presso l’ufficio della Biblioteca del clero, 1896).Google Scholar

34 The Catholic Summer School movement grew out of the desire of a group of thoughtful Catholics, clerical and lay, to provide an opportunity for serious minded Catholics to meet together during the summer months “to foster intellectual culture in harmony with Christian faith by means of lectures and special courses along university extension lines. …” The first session was held at New London, Connecticut, in 1892. The 1893 session was held at Plattsburg, New York, where, at nearby Cliff Haven, a permanent foundation was eventually made under the name of the Catholic Summer School of America. The Columbian Summer School was founded at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1895, and a Winter School at New Orleans in 1896. The Cliff Haven School continued in operation until the outbreak of World War II. See Driscoll, John T., “Catholic Summer Schools,” Catholic Encyclopedia, XIV, 334–335.Google Scholar

35 A “Synopsis of the Course” will be found in the Catholic Reading Circle Review, III (Sept., 1893), 697–707.

36 Ibid., V (Sept., 1895), 488–490.

37 Carroll, op. cit., Ave Maria, 64, Feb. 2, 1946, 144.

38 Ibid., Feb. 9, 1946, 173–174.

39 Published as The Necessity of Developing Scientific Studies in Ecclesiastical Seminaries (Brussels: Polleunis and Cruterick, 1895).

40 Published under the same title in Popular Science, 52 (Apr., 1898), 815–824.

41 Wassmann, Erich S.J., Modern Biology and the Theory of Evolution. English translation from the Third German edition by Buchanan, A. M. (St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1923).Google Scholar

42 de Dorlodot, Henri, Darwinism and Catholic Thought. English translation by Messenger, E. (London: Burns Oates and Washbourne, Ltd., 1922).Google Scholar

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44 Sertillanges, Antonin G. O.P., St. Thomas d’Aquin (Paris: E. Flammarion, 1931).Google Scholar

45 de Sinety, R. S.J., various articles in the Archives de Philosophie, Etudes, and particularly his article, “Transformisme,” Dictionnaire Apologétique de la Foi Catholique, IV, col. 1794–1848.Google Scholar

46 For examples of this divergence of opinion see Carroll, op. cit., Ave Maria, Feb. 2, 9, 1946, 141–144, 170–175.

47 Vol. XIV (June, 1896), 568–570.

48 Vol. 119 (Oct., 1896), 245–255.

49 New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1871.

50 Paris, 1891.

51 Messenger, op. cit., 232–233.

52 Corrigan, Michael A. Cf. to McQuaid, Bernard J., March 11, 1899, in Letters of Archbishop Corrigan to Bishop McQuaid and Allied Documents (Rochester, 1946), 201.Google Scholar

53 Messenger, op. cit., 233–234. Messenger gives no source for the original of this letter of Zahm to his translator.

54 Carroll, op. cit., Ave Maria, Feb. 23, 1946, 243–244.

55 Ibid., January 19, 26, 1946, 81–82, 111.

56 Ibid., January 26, 1946, 111.

57 The Great Southwest, Its Attractions, Resources and People (Notre Dame: University Press, 1883); Colorado: Its Past, Present, and Future (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 1883); Alaska, the Country and Its People (Notre Dame: University Press, 1886); Letters from the Hawaiian Islands (Notre Dame: University Press, 1887).

58 American Ecclesiastical Review, VII (August, 1892), 81–101.

59 The substance of the correspondence on this matter that passed between Français and Zahm will be found in Carroll, op. cit., Ave Maria, May 4, 1946, 559–560.

60 New York and London: D. Appleton and Co., 1910.

61 New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1911.

62 Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena, 3. Hereafter referred to as Up the Orinoco.

63 Up the Orinoco, 112–113, note. The difficulties of this trip are listed in this note, which also mentions those known to have made the down journey prior to 1907.

64 Ibid., 316–317.

65 Ibid., 426–427.

66 Along the Andes and Down the Amazon, 127. Hereafter referred to as Along the Andes.

67 Ibid., 152.

68 Ismael Montes (1861–1933) was President of Bolivia, 1904–1909 and 1913–1917.

69 Along the Andes, 186–188.

70 Ibid., 242.

71 Ibid., 265–266.

72 Ibid., 296.

73 Ibid., 513–514.

74 Carroll, op. cit., Ave Maria, May 4, 1946, 563–564.

75 Along the Andes, IX.

76 Through the Brazilian Wilderness [1929 edition], 1–2. This account of the expedition, written by Colonel Roosevelt, will hereafter be referred to as Brazilian Wilderness. Father Zahm’s account of this meeting will be found in his narrative of the expedition, Through South America’s Southland (New York and London: D. Appleton and Co., 1916), 9. Zahm’s volume will hereafter be referred to as Southland.

77 Brazilian Wilderness, 8.

78 The Works of Theodore Roosevelt. National Edition (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1926), Vol. V, xi–xii.

79 Roosevelt to Zahm, New York, June 17, 1913. Zahm Papers, Community Archives, Congregation of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana.

80 This correspondence will be found in the Zahm Papers, Community Archives, Congregation of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana.

81 Theodore Roosevelt, Brazilian Wilderness, 8–9.

82 Ibid.

83 Buenos Aires Herald, November 14, 1913. Clipping, Zahm Papers, Community Archives, Congregation of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana.

84 Southland, 173.

85 Ibid., 384.

86 Zahm’s unpleasant experiences after leaving Utiarity are recounted in his letter of March 14, 1914, to Roosevelt. Roosevelt Papers, Library of Congress.

87 Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1910); Along the Andes and Down the Orinoco (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1911); and Through South America’s Southland (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1916).

88 New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1913.

89 New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1917.

90 New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1917. This had originally appeared in part, under the pseudonym of Manso, J. A., in the Bulletin of the Fan American Union, XXXIV (Jan.–June, 1912), 55–66, 165–176, 317–327, 447–457, 607–621, 733–743.Google Scholar

91 XLVIII (April, 1913), 385–392.

92 The completed portion of this work was published after his death under the above title (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1922).

93 See, for example, Padre Juan Rivero, missionary on the Meta and author of Historia de las Misiones de los Llanos de Casanare y los Ríos Orinoco y Meta (Up the Orinoco, 148–150).

94 Along the Andes, 260–262

95 Carroll, op. cit., Ave Maria, July 6, 1946, 19.