Holdings Liberal Arts and Sciences History Department James G. Randall Papers Finding Aid Holdings Liberal Arts and Sciences History Department James G. Randall Papers Finding Aid Title: James G. Randall Papers, 1903-1953
ID: 15/13/20
Primary Creator: Randall, James G. (1881-1953)
Extent: 6.3 cubic feet
Arrangement: Chronologically and by subject thereunder.
Subjects: American Historical Association, Butler University, Civil War, Constitution, Constitutional History, Epworth League, Faculty Papers, Illinois College, League of Nations, Lincoln, Abraham, Mississippi Valley Historical Association, Reconstruction, Shipping Board, United States, World War I - Supply, Support and Transportation
Formats/Genres: Papers
Languages: English
Correspondence, manuscripts, notes and proofs of James Garfield Randall (1881-1953), professor of History (1920-1950), including correspondence with historians Laurence Larson, Evarts Green, William Dodd, Charles Van Tyne, Allan Nevins, Louis Pelzer, Louis Sears and Charles Ramsdell on historical subjects, especially Lincoln, the Civil War and Reconstruction. Manuscripts include student essays at Butler College (1903), seminar papers and notes from graduate study at the Univ. of Chicago (1904-1912), lectures by Albion Small, Charles Merriam, Andrew McLaughlin and others; lectures in History and Economics by Randall at Illinois College (1907); manuscripts and correspondence regarding his doctoral thesis on "Confiscation" (1912-1913); Epworth League and Sunday School addresses (1905-1919); drafts and finished copies of monographs and related correspondence on World War I, League of Nations, politics and Civil War history (1912-1950); manuscripts, correspondence, proofs and reviews of his books, Constitutional Problems under Lincoln (1918-1926) and The Civil War and Reconstruction (1929-1936); and lecture notes, syllabi, bibliographies, assignments, exams, rosters and other class records (1913-1950). The papers include exchanges with Frank Anderson, Charles Ramsdell and John F. Jameson on "The Diary of a Public Man" (1926-1927); comments of Roy Nichols, Fred Shannon, Earl Coulter, James Sellers and Charles Sydnor on his The Civil War and Reconstruction manuscript (1935-1936); material relating to his activities as a member of the American Historical Association Dunning Prize Committee (1933-1934); Nominating Committee (1934-1935); Beveridge Fund (1934-1938) and the Mississippi Valley Historical Association [Nominating and Executive Committees (1930-1939) and President (1939-1940)] and as U.S. Shipping Board Historian.
James Garfield Randall (1881-1953) was assistant professor (1920-24), associate professor (1924-30), and professor (1930-49) of history at the University of Illinois (UI). He was a renowned historian of the American Civil War and was recognized as a leading scholar on the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Randall was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on June 24, 1881. He earned a bachelor's degree from Butler University (1903) as well as a master's degree (1904) and a PhD (1911) from the University of Chicago. His doctoral dissertation was titled "The Confiscation of Property During the Civil War," and, over the course of his career, he continued to explore Civil War history as well as the life of President Abraham Lincoln, often through a political and constitutional lens. Examples of his many publications include, "The Genius Student" (1914), Constitutional Problems under Lincoln (1926), "Has the Lincoln Theme Been Exhausted?" (1936), The Civil War and Reconstruction (1937), Lincoln and the South (1946), Lincoln the Liberal Statesman (1947), and "Historianship" (1953). His widely acclaimed biography, Lincoln the President was published in four volumes: Springfield to Gettysburg (2 vols., 1945), Midstream (vol. 3, 1952; 1953 Loubat Prize), and Last Full Measure (vol. 4, 1955; 1956 Bancroft Prize). Randal was a dedicated educator and was active in his field, serving on the Federal Public Archives Commission (1926-31) and as Director of the Illinois State Historical Society (1937-51). He also held the presidencies of the Illinois State Historical Society (1945-46), the Mississippi Valley Historical Association (1940-41), and the American Historical Association (1952). He was granted honorary doctorates from Butler University and Washington and Lee University.
Randall was married to Edith L. Abbott (d. 1913) until her death, and he married biographer and collaborator Ruth Painter Randall (1892-1971) on August 21, 1917. He retired from teaching in 1949 and died in Urbana, Illinois, on February 20, 1953.
Sources:
Harry E. Pratt, "James Garfield Randall, 1881-1953," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984) 46, no. 2 (Summer 1953), pp. 119-131. Accessed June 4, 2020, www.jstor.org/stable/40189285.
"James G. Randall," Illinois Distributed Museum, accessed June 4, 2020, https://distributedmuseum.illinois.edu/exhibit/james-g-randall/.
"Randall To Retire in September," Daily Illini, 3 May 1949, accessed June 4, 2020, https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/?a=d&d=DIL19490503.2.57&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN-James+G.+Randall+--------.
Wikipedia, s.v. "James G. Randall," accessed June 4, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_G._Randall.
American Historical Association
Butler University
Civil War
Constitution
Constitutional History
Epworth League
Faculty Papers
Illinois College
League of Nations
Lincoln, Abraham
Mississippi Valley Historical Association
Reconstruction
Shipping Board, United States
World War I - Supply, Support and Transportation
URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/1513020.pdf
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