John F. Marszalek is an American historian who served as Executive Director and Managing Editor of the
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
Association and ''The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant'' project from 2008 to 2022.
Background and education
Marszalek was born in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
. He received his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
from
Canisius College
Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 ma ...
in 1961.
He received a
Master's Degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in 1963 and his
Ph.D. in 1968, both from the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
.
Career
Marszalek taught at
Canisius College
Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 ma ...
and
Gannon University before moving to
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...
for the remainder of his career. After 29 years as a professor, Marszalek retired in 2002 to become
Professor Emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
...
.
In 1994 he was appointed the
William L. Giles Distinguished Professor. From 1998 to 2012, he served as the Director of the Mississippi State University Distinguished Undergraduate Scholars Program.
Ulysses S. Grant Association and ''Papers of Ulysses S. Grant''
After
John Y. Simon's death in July 2008, Marszalek became the Executive Director and Managing Editor of the
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
Association and ''The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant'' project.
He was instrumental in the move of Grant's papers from
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Southern Illinois University (SIU) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. SIU enrolls students from all 50 sta ...
to
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...
. With Anne Marshall's appointment as his replacement in 2022, Marszalek was named Executive Director Emeritus of the Ulysses S. Grant Association.
Research
Over the course of his career, Marszalek has published more than 300 articles and book reviews and written or edited 13 books.
His research has primarily focused on the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, specifically Civil War generals
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
,
William T. Sherman
William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...
, and
Henry Halleck
Henry Wager Halleck (January 16, 1815 – January 9, 1872) was a senior United States Army officer, scholar, and lawyer. A noted expert in military studies, he was known by a nickname that became derogatory: "Old Brains". He was an important part ...
, but he has also written on local Mississippi history, the history of racial conflict at
West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
and the
Eaton affair.
Awards and other achievements
Marszalek's book ''Sherman: A Soldier's Passion for Order'' was a finalist for the 1993
Lincoln Prize.
The
Mississippi Historical Society awarded Marszalek the
Richard Wright Literary Award for lifetime achievement by a Mississippi author and the B.L.C. Wailes Award for national distinction in history, the society's highest award.
On April 13, 2018, Marszalek won the Nevins-Freeman Award, the most prestigious honor given by The Civil War Round Table of Chicago.
Showtime made Marszalek's book ''Court Martial: A Black Man in America'', into the motion picture ''
Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker''.
As of 2022, Marszalek serves on the Executive Committee of The Lincoln Forum.
Publications
* ''Court-Martial: A Black Man in America''. New York: Scribner, 1972; subsequently published as ''Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of
Johnson Whittaker'' (New York: Collier Books, Macmillan Pub. Co., 1994). Made into a movie.
* (With Sadye Wier) ''A Black Businessman in White Mississippi, 1886–1974''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1977.
* (Editor) ''The Diary of Miss
Emma Holmes, 1861–1866''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1979.
* ''
Sherman's Other War: The General and the Civil War Press''. Memphis State University Press, 1981. Revised ed., The Kent State University Press, 1999.
* (By Douglas L. Conner, M.D., with John Marszalek) ''A Black Physician's Story: Bringing Hope in Mississippi''. Foreword by
Aaron Henry. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1985.
* ''
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...
: A Bibliography''. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1988.
* (Editor with Charles D. Lowery. ''Encyclopedia of African-American Civil Rights: From Emancipation to the Present''. Foreword by
David J. Garrow. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1992.
* ''Sherman: A Soldier's Passion for Order''. New York: Free Press, 1993.
* (Co-editor with Wilson D. Miscamble) ''American Political History: Essays on the State of the Discipline''. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame, 1997.
* ''The
Petticoat Affair: Manners, Mutiny, and Sex in
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
's White House.'' New York: Free Press, 1997.
* ''
Sherman's March to the Sea''. Abilene, Texas: McWhiney Foundation Press, 2005.
* ''A Black Congressman in the Age of
Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...
: South Carolina's
George Washington Murray'' Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press, 2006.
* (Coeditor with David S. Nolen and Louie P. Gallo. ''The Personal Memoirs of
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
: The Complete Annotated Edition''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2017.
* (With David S. Nolen, Louie P. Gallo, and
Frank J. Williams
Frank J. Williams (born August 24, 1940) is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, a notable Abraham Lincoln scholar and author, and a justice of the Military Commission Review Panel.
Biography
Frank Williams was born ...
. ''Hold On With a Bulldog Grip: A Short Study of Ulysses S. Grant''. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2019.
References
External links
Ole Miss page on MarszalekAnnouncement about Grant Papers moving to Mississippi State*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marszalek, John
Living people
1939 births
Writers from Buffalo, New York
United States Army officers
Canisius University alumni
University of Notre Dame alumni
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
Mississippi State University faculty
Canisius University faculty
Gannon University faculty
American people of Polish descent
Historians from New York (state)
American male non-fiction writers