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Donald D. Horward Papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 2011-0415

Scope and Contents

The Donald D. Horward Papers are composed primarily of the operational and financial records of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution created by Dr. Horward in 1990, and the conference files of the Consortium on Revolutionary Europe, also founded by Dr. Horward, in 1971. The Institute Records comprise proposals for the Institute at Florida State University (including a proposal to the French government for Institute support); Institute Newsletters; International Napoleonic Society materials (Ben Weider Literary Awards); Ben Weider Student Scholarships, and files documenting Dr. Horward's involvement with Napoleon screenplay and television productions. The Consortia and Conference files include extensive correspondence with Dr. Horward and his colleagues about the various consortia and the Wellington Congresses and the International Congress on the Iberian Peninsula.

The collection also includes Dr. Horward's professional files, which comprise addresses, awards, committee files, correspondence, research materials, speeches, writings related to Dr. Horward's scholarship and that of his students, and publications related to the Napoleonic Era. Materials in his professional files include speeches he delivered at Florida State University, the Pelet Conference, Peninsular War Conference, VMI, and the War College at West Point; Florida State University Press Committee on which he served; starting the Napoleon and French Revolution Collection; Ben Weider's activities; teaching materials (slide transparencies) used by Dr. Horward in his West Point classes; and research materials concerning the Duke of Wellington from the British Museum and Public Record Office.

Publications include catalogs used by Dr. Horward in building the Napoleon and the French Revolution collection; a selection of Napoleonic  journals, both popular and scholarly; and several scholarly monographic works, such as Dr. Jean Sarramon's La Guerre de l'Independance de la peninsule Iberique contre Napoleon, which Dr Horward, collaborating with his colleague William R. Johnson in 1967, used in his research.

Dates

  • created: 1961-2011
  • Other: Date acquired: 05/26/2011

Language of Materials

Collection includes materials in English and French.

Conditions Governing Access

This collections is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast, or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of University Libraries.  Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical or Historical Information

Dr. Donald Horward, a native of Pennsylvania, received his B.A. at Waynesburg College, his M.A. from Ohio University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.  He joined the faculty at Florida State University (FSU) in 1961.  Since his arrival on campus, over 16,000 students have been introduced to Napoleon and the French Revolution in his classes through the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution.  Graduate students were quickly attracted to the field and by 1963 the first master's degree was awarded. Three years later, the first Ph.D. graduated in Napoleonic history from FSU.

Dr. Horward was awarded the Distinguished Professorship in Military History at West Point and  taught  over  6,000  cadets  there. He also held  the  Edwin Conquest  Eminent Scholar Chair at Virginia Military Institute and taught hundreds of cadets in Lexington.He has written or contributed over  twenty  volumes  and  almost  sixty articles in scholarly journals, delivered  over 200  papers  and  throughout  the  U.S.and  Europe,  and  his contributions have been recognized by decorations from six countries.

A total of 101 doctorates and M.A. theses were completed under Dr. Horward's direction, making FSU the most prolific center for the study of Napoleon in the U.S. A unique aspect of the Institute program has been its relationship with the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.  Seventeen officers, destined for the history faculty at West Point, have been trained in the Napoleonic period at the Institute.  This is particularly appropriate since a large segment of the Military Art Course, required of all cadets, focuses on Napoleon and his system of operations.

Dr. Horward was the recipient of the first university-wide teaching award, and received five additional awards for excellence in teaching, including the title of Distinguished Teaching Professor.  He lectured at universities throughout the U.S., the Smithsonian on several occasions, and gave presentations in Europe at such universities as Frederick Schiller University in Germany, Charles University and Masaryk Universities in the Czech Republic, Cambridge University and Southampton University in England, the University of Budapest in Hungary, and the Borodino/Mazajsk Center, Russia.

In 1998, Dr. Ben Weider established at Florida State University the first chair devoted to the Napoleonic period in the U.S. and Dr. Horward was designated as the first chair holder. Dr. Weider also established a chair in the French Revolution and four scholarships for the study of Napoleon  at  FSU.  Soon thereafter, Baron  Roger Jomini,  descendent  of Napoleon's famous strategist, contributed funds  for  student scholarships. Dr. Proctor Jones provided substantial support for student grants to do research in Paris,and generous scholarships were established by Dr.Skip Vichnessand  Dr.George  Knight, graduatesof the Napoleonic program  at  FSU.

For  his  work  in  the  Napoleonic period,  Dr. Horward  was  decorated  by the  French, American,  and  Portuguese and recognized  by  the  Czech  Republic  and  Spanish governments.  He waselected to the  Portuguese Academy of History in1991 and named a Grand Officer of theOrder  of Infante  Dom Henrique (Prince Henry the Navigator).  In 2001, he was honored  by the  Napoleonic Alliance as the first John Elting Scholar "for his extraordinary contributions to the study of Napoleonic History."  He received  the Renaissance  Francaise  Award in 2010, but his most distinguished award was given by France, The Legion of Honor,  in full ceremony at West  Point in 2002.

Much of the current research on Napoleon in the United States has been carried out by Dr. Horward's former students.This is closely related to his success in amassing the volumes of the Napoleon Collection at  FSU and his influential role in sustaining and expanding the Consortium on Revolutionary Europe. In addition to the thousands of  students he has taught in his graduate and  undergraduate classes at FSU,  the U.S.Military Academy at  West  Point, and other universities, his former students have introduced thousands of their students throughout the United States to the Napoleonic era.

After 44 years of distinguished service, Dr. Horward retired in 2005. The Institute and its students, the Napoleon and French Revolution Collection, the Ben Weider Endowment opportunities, and a series of other fellowships comprise a rich legacy - one that Florida State University is proud to share with its community of scholars.

The Napoleon and French Revolution Collection at Florida State University

The creation and growth of the French Revolution and Napoleon Collection at Florida State University was a direct result of Dr. Horward’s efforts. In 1961 there were some 250 volumes in the collection. As a result of his 28 trips to Europe doing research  and searching for books, as of late 2012 the collection includes over 20,000 volumes, some from collections as those of King Ernest August of Hanover and Achille Murat, King of Naples. It is among the most extensive in the country. The Collection attracts students and scholars from through the U.S. and Europe.

Of the 48 Ph.D.s and 52 M.A.s based primarily on the Napoleon and French Revolution Collection at FSU,as of late 2012, 42 books have been published and almost a thousand articles have been produced in scholarly journals.  Doctoral students who have completed their research in the Napoleon Collection have taught at scores of universities and colleges from California  to  New York.  Six of their volumes have been awarded the International  Book Prize of the International Napoleonic Society for the  best book published in Napoleonic history in a particular year.

The Collection has provided the basic research and degrees for fifteen officers who have taught Military Art and Napoleonic history at theUnited States Military Academy,West Point. Many have taught at the US Command and Staff College at Fort Levenworth, Kansas, the Army Command College at the Von BraunCenter, Huntsville, Alabama, the Naval Post Graduate School at Monterey, California, the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island, and the Air ForceCommand  and StaffCollege in Montgomery,  Alabama.  Others have occupied senior command positions in Rome, Afghanistan, Iraq,and South Korea as well as throughout the United States. In addition, the Napoleon Collection has proved to be a significant source of strategic, logistical, and tactical  information for officers who taught tens of thousandsof cadets at West Point.

Scholars from throughout the United States and Europe have traveled to FSU to work in the Napoleon Collection to complete their research, contributing to hundreds of publications. Inaddition, the Collection became the basis of  the  most  complete  bibliography on Napoleon and the French Revolution that exist in any language by one of our graduates. Oneof Dr. Horward’s students, Major Mike Bonura, published a  volume with NYU Press in 2012, Under theShadow of Napoleon, which traces  the extraordinary impact the Napoleonic system of  War has had upon the American military system, from President Thomas Jefferson to the onslaught of the Nazi Blitzkrieg in 1940.

Note written by Burt Altman, C.A., University Librarian/Archivist

Extent

19.50 Linear Feet

Abstract

Professional files of Dr. Donald D. Horward, including addresses and speeches, awards, committee files, correspondence, research materials, writings, operational and financial records of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution, consortia, conference and congress files, and publications.

Arrangement Note

The Donald D. Horward Papers are organized in four series: Series 1. Professional Files. Arranged alphabetically by subject, then chronologically within subject.                   Sub-Series 1.  Addresses and Papers                   Sub-Series 2. Awards                   Sub-Series 3. Committees                   Sub-Series 4. Correspondence                   Sub-Series 5. Writings                   Sub-Series 6. Teaching Materials                   Sub-Series 7. Research Materials Series 2. Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution. Each sub-series arranged chronologically.                   Sub-Series 1. General Files                   Sub-Series 2. Financial Records                   Sub-Series 3. Project Files Series 3. Consortia and Conference Files                  Sub-Series 1. Consortia. Arranged chronologically.                  Sub-Series 2. Congresses. Arranged alphabetically by Congress, then chronologically within each Congress.                  Sub-Series 3. Conferences and Symposia. Arranged alphabetically by conference or symposia, then chronologically within each Congress. Series 4. Publications.  All sub-series arranged alphabetically by publication.                  Sub-Series 1. Catalogs                  Sub-Series 2. Napoleonic Journals                  Sub-Series 3. Monographs

Source of Acquisition

Dr. Donald D. Horward

Method of Acquisition

Gift

Accruals and Additions

Additions to collections: May 26 and June 6, 2011 June 20, 2012 July 24 and December 19, 2013

Related Materials

General Jean-Jacques-Germain Pelet-Clozeau Papers, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/MSS_94-3

Title
Donald D. Horward Papers
Author
Kelly Glaze and Burt Altman
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
eng

Repository Details

Part of the FSU Special Collections & Archives Repository

Contact:
116 Honors Way
PO Box 3062047
Tallahassee FL 32306-2047 US
850-644-3271