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Obituary - Wednesday September 6th
Dedication of Munroe Hall
Photographic History

John A. Munroe          (updated with unpublished personal writings and memoirs 13 Sept 2006)
H. Rodney Sharp Professor of History, Emeritus, University of Delaware.

    Education:
Wilmington public schools.
University of Delaware, B.A. 1936; M.A. 1941.
University of Pennsylvania, Ph.D. 1947.
 
    Employment
Newark (DE) High School, teacher, 1936-39.
University of Pennsylvania, graduate assistant, 1940-42.
University of Delaware, instructor in history, 1942-47; alumni secretary, 1943-45; assistant professor, 1947-49; associate professor, 1949-52; assistant to dean of Arts and Sciences, 1949-51; chairman, history department, 1952-69; professor, 1952-82; H. Rodney Sharp Professor, 1961-82.
 
    Fellowships, Visiting Professorships, etc.
Ford Foundation (Fund for Advancement of Education) fellowship, 1951-52, largely spent at U.C.L.A., University of Washington, and University of Wisconsin.
Social Science Research Council, director of student project, 1956.
Visiting Professor, University of Wisconsin, summer, 1960.
Visiting Professor, Bath University (England), summer, 1969.
Visiting Professor, Seminar in American Culture, New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, 1975.
 
    Honors and Awards
Phi Kappa Phi.
Phi Beta Kappa.
Award of American Association for State and Local History, 1955.
Honorary member, Society of the Cincinnati.
Outstanding Alumnus Award, University of Delaware, 1963.
Governor's Gold Medal, 1973, for Service.
News Journal Award, 1976.
Governor's Award for Contribution to Delaware History and Culture (State House Symposium), 1977.
University of Delaware Medal of Distinction, 1980.
Francis Alison Faculty Award (University of Delaware), 1981.
Governor Ruth Anne Miner’s Award in 2004—First award for contributions

    Publications - Books
"Federalist Delaware, 1775-1815." Rutgers University Press, 1954; paperback ed., University of Delaware, 1976.
"Louis McLane: Federalist and Jacksonian." Rutgers University Press, 1974.
"Colonial Delaware:  A History." KTO Press, 1978.
"History of Delaware." University of Delaware Press, 1979; 2nd ed. 1984; 3rd ed., 1993; 4th ed., 2001, 5th ed, 2006.
"Books, Bricks, and Bibliophiles:  The University of Delaware Library." (with Carol E. Hoffecker). University of Delaware, 1984.
"The University of Delaware:  A History." University of Delaware, 1984.
"Colonial Delaware: A History." Delaware Heritage Foundation, Second Edition, 2003 (Includes footnotes  not included in first edition.) Hardback and soft cover
"Philadelawareans and Other Essays Relating to Delaware." University of Delaware  Press, 2004.
 
    Publications - Booklets
"Delaware Becomes a State.University of Delaware, 1953, reprints 1956, 1969, revised and expanded, 1987.
"Timoleon’s Biographical History of Dionysius, Tyrant of Delaware." University of Delaware, 1958 (edited).
"Delaware: A Students’ Guide to Localized History."  Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1965, 1972 (3rd printing);  reprint, Delaware State College, 19__.
"Church vs. State:  The Early Struggle for Control of Delaware College." (Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series).  Newark:  University of Delaware, College of Arts and Science, 1982. 
 
    Publications - Outlines - Informally Reproduced
"Outline of the History and Government of Delaware."  University of Delaware, 1962, 1971, 1973.

    Unpublished Personal Writings and Memoirs (some samples and excerpts)
Munroe, John A., Dating Dorothy, 14 pages, Spring1996, self published-limited
Munroe, John A., Detlings In My Past: A Memoir for My Children and Grandchildren, 69 pages, 1996, self published-limited
Munroe, John A., Tales of My Father, 33 pages, self published-limited
Munroe, John A., Paternal Ancestry of John A. Munroe, (The Munroes of Gallway and Delaware) 31 pages1988, self published-limited
Munroe, John A., Arden as I Knew It, 4 pages, 200?
Munroe, John A., Eulogy for Richard P. McCormick, 2 pages, March 2006
Munroe, John A.,  n.n.
 
    Publications - As Editor
Delaware Folklore Bulletin, 1951.
Delaware History (magazine of Historical Society of Delaware), 1969-95.
University News (University of Delaware), 1943-45.
 
    Publications - Articles
The Lyceum in America before the Civil War.  Delaware Notes, 1942, 15th series, pp, 65-76.
The Philadelawareans: A Study in the Relations between Philadelphia and Delaware in the Late Eighteenth Century,
(condensed from speech of Nov. 24, 1944, before Pennsylvania’s Historical Junto, Washington, D.C.), The Pennsylvanian, Dec. 1944, VII, no. 5, p.19-20.
The Philadelawareans:  A Study in the Relations Between Philadelphia and Delaware in the Late Eighteenth Century. 
Pennsylvania
Magazine of History and Biograph
y, April 1945, pp. 128-149, v.LXIX.  (With R. O. Bausman.) 
James Tilton’s Notes on the Agriculture of Delaware in 1788.   Agricultural History (1946), v. XX, no.3, pp.176-187.
 The Eve of the Revolution,”  “The Revolution and the Confederation,” and “Party Battles, 1789-1850.  Three chapters in
H. Clay Reed, ed., Delaware:  A History of the First State. New York, 1947.
Albert Newton Raub and the Administration of Delaware College, 1888-1896.  Delaware Notes  21st series (1948), pp.1-18.
James Hemphill’s Account of a Visit to Maryland in 1802.  Delaware History (1948), III, no.2, p.61-78.
Conference on American History:  ‘Do we need a “New History” of American Political Democracy?  (With R. P. McCormick and R. F. Nichols, eds.) The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, January 22 and 23, 1948.”  Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (1948).
“State's Rites.  American Heritage (1949), III no. 1, p.4-8.
Robert Kirkwood,The Picket Post (Valley Forge), March, 1949.
Senator Nicholas Van Dyke of New Castle.  Delaware History (1951), IV, no.3, pp. 207-226.
“Folklore – And a Folklore Society.  Delaware Folklore Bulletin (1951).
“The New Castle Tercentenary.  In Old New Castle and Modern Delaware:  An Exhibition in the Library of Congress. Washington:  Government Printing Office, 1951, p.1-11.
“William Plumer’s Biographical Sketches of James A. Bayard, Caesar A. Rodney, and Samuel White.”  Delaware History (1951), IV, 354-377.
“History – It’s All Around You.”  Wilmington Sunday Star (June 10, 1951).
“Unity of Delaware River Valley.” Wilmington Sunday Star (October 21, 1951).
“Nonresident Representation in the Continental Congress:  The Delaware Delegation of 1782.”  William and Mary Quarterly IX (April, 1952): 166-90.    
“The Delaware Physician of 1800.”  Delaware State Medical Journal (1955), XXVII, no. 10, p.255-261.
“Senator Henry Moore Ridgely, of Delaware, Dickinson 1797.”  In “John and Mary’s College,”  The Boyd Lee Spahr Lectures in Americana, 1951-56, Dickinson College (1956).
“The Negro in Delaware.”  South Atlantic Quarterly, LV (no. 4, autumn 1957):  428-444.
“James A. Bayard and the Milligans.”  Delaware History,  VIII, no.2 (1958), pp. 148-158.
“The Delaware River Valley:  An Historical Appreciation.”  Bulletin of the Historical Society of Montgomery County (PA), (1958).
“Louis McLane.”  University News (1958), pp. 3, 5, v.XXII.
“Judgment and Reasoning in Reading.”  In Reading – A Thinking Process, Proceedings of the 40th Annual Education Conference (Newark, 1959).
“The Museum and the University.”  The Curator (1959), II, p.252-258.
“The Hagley Program.”  American Studies (1959), IV, no.4, p.5-6.
“A Shipment of Furniture to Australia and China.”  Winterthur Newsletter (1959), v.V, no.6.
“Ardent Love,” William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd ser., XVII (January, 1960), 112-113.
“Catholicism's Start in Delaware.”  In Coffee Run, 1772-1960:  The Story of the Beginning of the Catholic Faith in Delaware (Wilmington, 1960).
“A Brave Man–or a Foolish One.”  The American Archivist (1963), XXV, no.2, p.151-160.
“Mrs. McLane’s Colored Boy and Peggy O’Neal.”  Delaware History (1963), X, 361-366.
Preface to "Betty Harrington Macdonald," Historic Landmarks of Delaware and the Eastern Shore (1963).
“Willard Hall.”  Delaware History (1964), XI, 36-39.
Dickinson and the Constitution,” A Newsletter from the Friends of the John Dickinson Mansion, II, no.2 (April, 1964), p.4.
Introduction to Daniel O. Hastings, "Delaware Politics, 1904-1954" (Wilmington, 1964).
“Regional Influences in the American Colonies,” in Cultural Contrasts in Colonial Capitals, The 17th
Annual Williamsburg Antiques Forum, Summaries of the Lectures and Suggested Reading,
Jan. 24-29, 1965.
“The Great Quarter Century, 1763-1788,Spring In-Service Institute in American History (Cleveland Public  Schools Division of Social Studies, 1965.)
Delaware as an Antique.”  The Delaware Antiques Show Catalogue (Wilmington, 1965), p.27-29.
“Just What and Where Is the Mason-Dixon Line.”  The Colonial Courier (1968).
“The Philadelphia Connection.”  The Delaware Antiques Show Catalogue (Wilmington, 1970), p.43-51.
“Address at Dedication of Cowgill’s Corner School Museum.”  In Fiftieth Anniversary of the Delaware State Board of Education (Dover, 1972), p.47-50.
“Separation Day.”  First State Bicentennial Newsletter (summer, 1973).
“Early Naval Activities in Delaware Bay.”  Transactions of the Delaware Academy of Science 1970 and 1971 (Newark, 1973), II, p. 127-136.
Introduction to "Collected Essays of Richard S. Rodney on Early Delaware" (Wilmington, 1975).
 “A Known, Respected Institution.”  The University of Delaware News (fall 1975), pp. 2-5.
“Reflections on Delaware and the American Revolution,”  Delaware History (1976), XVII, no.1, p.1-11.
“Delaware Moved Quickly after July 4,” in Supplement to Sunday News Journal, July 4, 1976,  p.4, 6.
New Castle, 1776” in Historic New Castle ’76 ( a Public Education Program of Six Presentations for 1976) Volume II.
“The Battle of Cooch’s Bridge,” Delaware Conservationist  (1978), XXI: 4, pp.11-15.
“Speech on Early History of Lewes” in Papers Given at Lewes Historical Society’s ... Seminars, 1978, p.1-12.
"Church vs. State: The Early Struggle for Control of Delaware College," Distinguished Faculty Lecture, May 5, 1982. College of Arts and Science, University of Delaware, 1983.
“Benjamin Eastburn, Thomas Noxon, and the Earliest Map of the Lower Counties.”  Delaware History XXI (1985): 217-252.
“Afterword:  A Short History  of the University of Delaware.”  In The American University:  Problems, Prospects, and Trends.  Jan H. Blits, ed.  Buffalo:  Prometheus Books, 1985, pp. 157-176.
“The First Map of Delaware after Statehood.”  Fully, Freely and Entirely.  Delaware Heritage Commission, 1986.
“Pierre Charles Varlé  and His Map of Delaware.”  Delaware History, XXII (1986): 22-38.
University of Delaware Roster of Presidents,” Update (University of Delaware), Feb 9, 1987, p. 8-10.
“University’s Leadership Leaves Legacy of Growth,” Compass (supplement of Wilmington News Journal), June 25, 1987, p. 1, 12-13.
Delaware and the Constitution:  An Overview of Events Leading to Ratification.”  Delaware  History  XXII (1987): 219-238.
Introduction to "University of Delaware." Louisville:  Harmony House, 1988.
Introduction  to "New Sweden," an Exhibition Catalog (University of Delaware Library, Newark, 1988).
“Musical Memoirs:  A Sheet Music Collection.” University of Delaware Library Collections,  III (1988): 1-19.
“A Parson in Politics:  The Expulsion of John C. Brush from the Delaware General Assembly in 1801,”  Delaware History, XXIII (1989): 189-202.
“James Tilton (1745-1822)” and “Martin Waltham Bates (1787-1869).”  Delaware Medical Journal LXI (April 1989): 231-232 and 239-240.
“Tales Told Out of School.”  University of Delaware Messenger, II, No. 1 (1992): 15.
“Judge Morris in Memory.”  In Remembering Judge Morris.  University of Delaware Library Associates, 1993, pp. 43-46, in  Collections, VIII.
Delaware in Encylopedia Yearbook  (Danbury, CT: Grolier, Inc.) for 1993, 1995, 1998.
“Armistice Day in France, 1918:  A Letter from John Wilson (Mike) O’Daniel.”  Delaware History XXV (1994): 264-268.
Foreword to "Julian Winslow, Samuel Maxwell Harrington:  A Pioneer Judge." New York:  Vantage, 1994.
“From the Past – Presidential Profiles.”  University of Delaware Messenger, v.6, no.5 (1997) p.16-19.
Preface to "Press, Politics and Perseverance:  Everett C. Johnson and the Press of Kells," by Robert C. Barnes and Judith Pfeiffer.  New Castle: Oak Knoll, 1999.
“Historic Setbacks Recalled.”  Newsletter of University of Delaware Association of Retired Faculty, Nos. 39 and 40 (November 1999 and February 2000).
“The Academy of Newark in the Early 1790s.”  University of Delaware Library Associates Collections, V (2000): 11-15.
 “A Brief History of the University of Delaware (2000), University of Delaware Home Page (last modified, 2000).
Seven  biographical sketches:  Allen McLane, Louis McLane, George Read, Caesar Rodney, Caesar A. Rodney, James Tilton, Nicholas Van Dyke,
in American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Delaware, The First State  Fully, Freely and Entirely  (Delaware Heritage Commission), vol. 13, No. 2 (2002), pp. 4-6.
Three biographies (accepted and scheduled):  Thomas McKean, George Read, Caesar Rodney, New Dictionary of National Biography.  Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 2004.
Memorial to Walther Kirchner in booklet published in Germany, 2005
"Arden, as I Knew It." ~2004, not published 3 pages.
 
    Publications - Articles Reprinted Elsewhere
“The Unity of the Delaware River Valley.” The Historian.  Bucks Co., Pa., Historical Society, v. vi, No. 6,  1971, reprint.
“Still Federalist Delaware.” In The First American Party System:  Federalists and Republicans. W. N. Chambers, ed.  New York, 1972, reprint from Federalist Delaware, p. 198-208.
“Federalist Delaware.” In Readings in Delaware History. Ed., Carol E. Hoffecker, Newark, 1973.  A selection from the book of the same title.
“The Negro in Delaware.” In Slavery at the State and Local Level.  Edited by Paul Finkelman.  Articles on American Slavery, v. 7.  New York:  Garland, 1989, pp. 166-183.
“The Battle of Cooch’s Bridge,” in Cincinnati Fourteen (Newsletter of the Society of the Cincinnati), XXXI, no. 2 (May, 1995), p. 40-43.
 
    Publications - Column on Historical Subjects 
Wilmington Morning News.  Weekly, 1959-1960; and every third week, 1960-65. (145 articles)
 
    Publications - Encyclopedia Articles 
Encyclopedia Americana, Encyclopedia Britannica, Collier’s Encyclopedia, World Book Encyclopedia, Americana Annual, Encyclopedia Yearbook, etc.
 
    Publications - Anonymous Works
“Class of “75” and most unattributed content in The University News (University of Delaware Alumni quarterly), summer 1943 to spring 1945).
"The Hagley Museum:  A Story of Early Industry on the Brandywine" (guidebook). Eleutherian Mills—Hagley Foundation, 1957 and 1966. (Some of this guide was the work of others.)
“New Publications of Delaware Interest,” Delaware History, IV, no. 3 (June 1951), 307-312, and IV, no. 4 (September 1951), 384-386.

    Publications - Book Reviews
American Historical Review, The Journal of American History, American Quarterly, Journal of Southern History,
New England Quarterly, South Atlantic Quarterly, New York Historical Society Quarterly, New York History,
New Jersey History, Pennsylvania History, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Maryland Historical Magazine,
North Carolina Historical Review, History News, William and Mary Quarterly, West Virginia History,
Eighteenth-Century Studies, Wilmington Sunday Star. 
 
    Papers  and Speeches
American Historical Association, Pacific Coast Branch of A.H.A., Organization of American Historians, American Association for State and Local History,
Delaware State General Assembly (Washington’s Birthday speech and a televised address to the assembly, judiciary and executive on 100th anniversary of state constitution),
Northeast Museums Conference, Antiques Forum (Williamsburg, VA), Antiques Forum of Midwest (Dearborn, MI), Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland, OH),
Maryland Historical Society, New Jersey Historical Society, Friends Historical Association (Philadelphia), Historical Society of Delaware, Bucks County (PA) Historical Society,
Montgomery County (PA) Historical Society, Haddonfield (NJ) Historical Society, Cecil County (MD) Historical Society, Queen Anne’s County (MD) Historical Society,
Sussex County Historical Society, New Castle Historical Society, Friends of Old Dover, Delaware Bench and Bar Annual Conference, Medical Society Annual Meeting,
Kent County (Md.) Historical Society, University of Delaware commencement (1975), Delaware State Archives (2000), Lincoln Club of Delaware, Society of Colonial Wars of Delaware,
Colonial Dames of Delaware.

Also to many college, high school and preparatory school assemblies, graduations, clubs; to historical groups in Milwaukee,
Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, Valley Forge, Palm Beach, etc., including teachers’ meetings.

To alumni groups on the Pacific Coast (Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle), in Florida (Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota),
in Delaware, and at Richmond and New York City.
 
    Television Lecture Series
History and Government of Delaware, Station WHYY, 1963   Film in Morris Library (University of Delaware).
Earlier series on Delaware History (live), ca. 1956, on WDEL-TV.
 
    As a Participant in Scholarly Symposia by Invitation
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University,
Institute
of Early American History and Culture (Williamsburg),
Winterthur
, Hagley (and Eleutherian Mills),
Anglo-American historical conference (London, 1962).
 
    Professional and Academic Offices, Off Campus
Chairman, Publications Committee, and member, Board of Trustees Historical Society of Delaware.
Member, Board of Trustees, Eleutherian Mills—Hagley Foundation.
Member, State Review Board for Historic Properties, National Historic Register.
Historical committees, Medical Society of Delaware.
Member, State Boundary Commission.
Advisor to Delaware Heritage Commission.
Member, Resources Committee, Delaware Heritage Commission.
Member, Fellowship Committee, Winterthur Program
Member, board of directors, Delaware Society for the Preservation of Antiquities
President, Friends of the John Dickinson Mansion

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Obituary - Wednesday September 6th
Dedication of Munroe Hall
Photographic History