Von Holst, Hermann Eduard. Collection, 1869-1902

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University of Chicago - Founding and Early History

The collection is open for research.

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Von Holst, Hermann Eduard. Collection, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Hermann Eduard Von Holst (1841-1904), Professor of History, University of Chicago. Von Holst was a German national who taught at the Universities of Freiburg and Strasbourg prior to his immigration to the United States in 1892. Upon his arrival he became Chair of the History Department at Chicago, a position he held until ill health forced his retirement in 1900. Von Holst's master work, The Constitutional and Political History of the United States (1876), looked critically at the development and operation of American democracy. In particular, Von Holst demonstrated the incommensurability of liberal ideals and the institution of slavery. American scholars and citizens alike were dismayed by the suggestions of immorality and self-interestedness within their leadership class. Von Holst's other publications include The Constitutional Law of the United States of America (1885); John C. Calhoun (1882); John Brown (1888); and The French Revolution Tested by Mirabeau's Career (1894).

The materials are divided into five series. Series I consists of biographical material. Series II contains correspondence both to and from Von Holst. Many of the letters are of a personal nature. Series III contains draft and published versions of Von Holst's writings. Many of the photographs that constitute Series IV depict Von Holst, but others are of unidentified individuals. Series V, which consists of a single box of oversized materials, contains certificates issued to Von Holst and others by various organizations.

The Von Holst collection consists primarily of biographical and scholarly material. The correspondence section includes numerous letters to and from his wife and mother, and a smaller amount of correspondence with academic colleagues. The collection also contains several journals and notebooks pertaining to his travels and research notes. There is a small amount of Von Holst's published material and unpublished writings. Finally, the collection contains newspaper clippings both extracted by and pertaining to him, and there are several folders of photographs of Von Holst and family members.

One item of particular interest is a letterbook generated by the German Patriotic Aid Society compiled during Von Holst's first period of residence in the United States, 1867-1874. Von Holst, like many other German immigrants, was deeply concerned with the unification wars in Germany. He and Theodor F.C. Petrasch (not identified) served as secretaries of the New York City-based German Patriotic Aid Society. The dates of the Society's letterbook, July 28, 1870-January 24, 1871, parallel the dates of the Franco-Prussian War, July 19, 1870-January 28, 1871. German aid societies were organized in many American cities. The letterbook contains copies of letters to representatives of aid societies nationwide.

The letters were intended to persuade all the German-American aid societies to adhere to a central organization based on the Chicago constitution of August 18, 1870. In Chicago, delegates determined that all contributions for the relief of war invalids and soldiers' widows and orphans would be channeled through New York. The 30 Chicago delegates appointed as their Berlin representative Friedrich Kapp, 1824-1884. Kapp was one of the most respected German-American leaders in New York from 1850 until 1870, when he returned to his homeland to participate in the formation of the new German state. The correspondence between Von Holst and Kapp pertaining to the German Patriotic Aid Society is housed in Series II of the Von Holst collection.

The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:

• Names
  • Von Holst, H. (Hermann), 1841-1904
  • Gates, Frederick Taylor, 1853-1929
  • Goodspeed, Thomas Wakefield, 1842-1927
  • Harper, William Rainey, 1856-1906
  • Hart, Albert Bushnell, 1854-1943
  • Laughlin, J. Laurence, 1850-1933
  • Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906
  • Terry, Benjamin, 1857-1931
  • Thompson, James Westfall, 1869-1924
  • Villard, Henry, 1835-1900
  • Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
• Subject
  • Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871
  • Germans -- United States
  • War Relief