Howard H. Quint Papers, 1940-1981 Finding Aid : Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries

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Author, historian, professor, and Chairman of the History Department at the University of Massachusetts who was instrumental in initiating the PhD program in history, doubling the number of undergraduate courses offered, and appointing over thirty faculty members. During the war years (1942-1946) Quint served as Propaganda Analyst for the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service, as Political Analyst for the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, and as Political and Economic Analyst for the Office of Strategic Services. Includes correspondence (largely professional); research notes, correspondence, and miscellaneous materials related to the writing and publishing of five books; lecture notes and other course-related materials; notecards and annotated typescripts of speeches with related newspaper clippings; articles and book reviews; materials reflecting Quint's administrative duties at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Background on Howard H. Quint

Howard H. Quint was born in New Haven, Conn. on January 3, 1917, the son of Louis and Bessie (Clark) Quint. He received his bachelors degree from Yale University in 1940, then went on to obtain his masters degree from Stanford in 1942, and his PhD from Johns Hopkins in 1947.

During the war years (1942-1946) Quint served as Propaganda Analyst for the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service, as Political Analyst for the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, and as Political and Economic Analyst for the Office of Strategic Services.

From 1947 to 1958 he served as Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina, as the Smith-Mundt Visiting Professor at the University of Mexico in 1956, and as a visiting lecturer at Johns Hopkins in 1953 and the University of Wisconsin in 1958. In 1954 he published his first book, The Forging of American Socialism; and in 1958 he published Profiles in Black and White, a study of the segregation controversy in the South. The sensitive nature of this book led to his resignation from the University of South Carolina.

From 1958 to 1959 he served as Associate-Director of the Inter-University Committee on the Superior Student and Co-director of the Senior Colloquium, both at the University of Colorado. In 1959 he accepted a position as Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts. During the 1961-1962 school year Quint served as a Visiting Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, in Bologna, Italy on a Fulbright scholarship.

Upon his return he was selected as Chairman of the History Department, a position he retained until 1968. While serving as Chairman, Dr. Quint was instrumental in initiating the PhD program in history, doubling the number of undergraduate courses offered, and appointing over thirty faculty members. In addition to his activities as Chairman, he served as Director of the University's Summer School in Bologna, Italy Program in 1966, 1968, and 1970, and was responsible for establishing the Honors Program at the University of Massachusetts.

In addition to the two books already mentioned, Dr. Quint published The Talkative President: The Off-the-Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge (1964), Main Problems in American History (1964), and Men, Women, and Issues in American History (1970). He also wrote substantial numbers of book reviews for various historical journals, The New York Times, The New Haven Register, and The Boston Globe. After retiring as department Chairman in 1968, Dr. Quint continued as Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts until his death on June 23, 1981.

Scope of collection

The papers of Howard H. Quint document his distinguished career as professor, author, and Chairman of the History Department at the University of Massachusetts. They consist of biographical materials, general correspondence (largely professional); research and other materials related to the writing and publishing of five books; lecture notes with related newsclippings, syllabi, and other course-related material; notecards and annotated typescripts of speeches with related newsclippings; and articles, and book reviews. The bulk of the papers were generated between 1963 and 1968, the years that Dr. Quint was History Department Chairman, and the period when the Summer School in Bologna program was at its height, 1963-1970.

Sparsely represented in this collection is Dr. Quint's correspondence prior to his appointment as Professor at the University of Massachusetts, and course materials and lecture notes after 1965.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into four series:

Serise 1. General Correspondence, 1953-1981
Series 2. Writings and Research, 1954-1981
Series 3. Subject Files, 1961-1981
Series 4. Course Materials, 1955-1981

Series descriptions

Series 1. Correspondence

1953-1981

9 boxes, 4.5 linear feet

The letters are arranged chronologically, as they were received.

The General Correspondence consists of letters to and from Howard Quint from 1953 to 1981. The bulk of the material dates from the year 1963, when he became Chairman of the History Department, until his death in 1981.

Well documented are his extensive activities as Chairman of the Department, his contacts with other professors throughout America and Europe, correspondence pertaining to his writings, and letters to important political leaders on the various current issues of the day.

In the correspondence of 1963-1964 there exists a substantial body of letters between Quint and professors Milton Cantor and Dean Albertson, both later members of the History Department at the University of Massachusetts. These documents concern the writing of the textbook Main Problems in American History, a work in which they were co-editors with Dr. Quint. Additional information on this subject exists in Series 2: Writings. Letters pertaining to Dean Albertson's research on Harding were transferred to the Harding Collection (RG 402).

Dr. Quint took an active interest in political issues throughout his career. This is well documented in his correspondence with political leaders. Included are letters to and from Senator Edward Kennedy (3/8/68, 8/29/68, 3/25/69, 7/29/70), Vice-President Hubert H. Humphrey (5/24/67), Senator Leverett Saltonstall (5/14/64), Representative William S. Moorhead (2/12/65), Representative Silvio 0. Conte (9/8/65, 9/16/65, 9/20/65, 9/21/65, 9/28/65, 4/8/71), Senator George Aiken (7/7/69), Senator Edward W. Brooke (3/25/69, 7/9/69), Senator William Proxmire (7/12/69), Senator Abraham Ribicoff (4/22/71), Senator Lowell Weicher (2/7/75), Eugine McCarthy (5/24/68), and an inaugural invitation from Jimmy Carter (1/20/77). There is also a letter to President Lyndon Johnson (3/3/68), but no reply.

Also included in this series are newspaper articles relating to the correspondence.

Series 2. Writings and Research

1954-1981

5 boxes, 2.5 linear feet

Howard Quint wrote or edited five published books: The Forging Of American Socialism (1954), Profiles in Black and White (1958), The Talkative President (1964), Main Problems in American History (1964), and Men, Women, and Issues in American History (1970). This series includes correspondence and miscellaneous materials related to the writing and publishing of his books. Also included are book reviews, speeches, articles, and his senior honors thesis, written while he was at Yale (1940).

By far the largest amount of correspondence pertains to the publications of the textbook Main Problems in American History, especially with Professors Milton Cantor and Dean Albertson, co-editors of the book. Additional information on this subject exists in Series I General Correspondence.

The material on The Talkative President includes correspondence, reviews of the book in newspapers and journals, and notecards used in preparation. Most of the documents fall within the years 1963-1965. This work was the first book published by the University of Massachusetts Press. The materials on Profiles in Black and White consist of newspaper articles used by Quint in the preparation of the monograph, as well as reviews of the book, dated 1955-1957.

His reviews of books by others include his annotated typescripts as well as printed versions. Also included in this section are reviews of Dr. Quint's books, reviews of books in his fields of interest, and newspaper articles written by Dr. Quint for The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The New Haven Register, and various historical journals. Under speeches are annotated typescripts, notecards, and newspaper clippings (1958-1964) about his speeches.

Accession #2001-009 includes research notecards on socialism (Bellamy Revision?).

Series 3. Subject Files

1961-1981

2 boxes, 1 linear foot

This series consists of miscellaneous files, retained in the order established by Dr. Quint. The largest section of this material is his correspondence relating to the University of Massachusetts Summer School at Bologna, Italy (1961-1970). It consists primarily of letters, but also includes newsletters, schedules of activities, flyers, money orders, and invoices related to the program. A second large category in this series is the extensive correspondence between Dr. Quint and his graduate students between 1967 and 1979.

Also included here are correspondence and memoranda related to his involvement with the History Department Speakers Committee during 1978-1979, correspondence and memoranda relating to the retirement of William A. Davis from the History Department, letters, questionnaires, and miscellaneous materials concerning Dr. Quint's sabbatical project of 1974 on the nature and extent of the teaching of American history at European universities, and finally, correspondence, news releases, newspaper clippings, and pamphlets of the Inter-University Committee on the Superior Student (1958-1959).

Series 4. Course Materials

1955-1981

4 boxes, 2 linear feet

This series contains Dr. Quint's lecture notes, syllabi, newsclippings utilized in class, and other course-related material. The documents are dated from 1955 to 1979, but the largest portion falls in the years between 1955 and 1963.

Dr. Quint taught a variety of courses in American intellectual and cultural history. Among those represented in this collection are Constitutional History to 1860, U.S. History 1492-1865, U.S. Intellectual History, Historiography, American Thought and Culture, and Modern U.S. History. Also included in this series are the lecture notes of the American History course taught in Spanish at the University of Mexico in 1956, and the Modern U.S. History course taught at the Bologna Center of Johns Hopkins University in 1961-1962.

Administrative information

Access

The collection is open for research.

Provenance

Acquired from the widow of Howard Quint in 1981, 1982, and 2000.

Processing Information

Processed by Guy A. McLain Jr., 1983.

Language:

English

Acknowledgments

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Copyright and Use (More information )

Cite as: Howard H. Quint Papers (RG 40/11 Quint). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.

Howard H. Quint Papers