Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biographical History
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: James P. Walsh Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS-2003-12-01
Physical Description:
4 boxes
(2 linear feet)
Date (inclusive): 1950-2006
Abstract: The James P. Walsh papers document the professional work of San José State University Emeritus Professor of History. The collection
consists of chapter drafts, subject files, photographs and draft copies of his
books; San José State University: An Interpretive History 1950-2000 and
One and the Same: The History of Continuing Education at San José State University 1857-2007, which document the history of SJSU.
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives 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 reader. Copyright restrictions
also apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational
purposes.
Preferred Citation
James P. Walsh Papers, MSS-2003-12-01, San José State University Library Special Collections and Archives.
Acquisition Information
Donated to the San José State University Library by James Walsh, 2006 and 2007.
Biographical History
James P. Walsh was born in 1937 in San Francisco, California, the younger of two sons of Irish immigrant parents. His father,
Patrick Walsh managed and maintained a Catholic men's club in San Francisco. His mother, Nellie Murphy Walsh was a homemaker.
During his youth, James Walsh attended Catholic schools in San Francisco, graduating from Sacred Heart High School in 1955.
From there he attended the University of San Francisco, where he received his bachelor's degree in history in 1959, and his
master's degree in history in 1962. He married Ann McKinnon, also a University of San Francisco graduate, in 1962. They have
three children.
In 1960 Walsh accepted a position teaching history in a Marin County high school. While his winters and springs were spent
teaching history to high school students, his summer months were spent teaching military subjects at The Sixth US Army Intelligence
School in Monterey, California, as partial fulfillment of his US Army Reserve obligations. There, he met several members of
the San José State College faculty including Charles Burdick, George Moore, Benjamin Hazard, Bert Brazil, and Fredrick Weed.
The teaching and academic examples provided by these professors encouraged Walsh to pursue a higher degree. In 1964 Walsh
left his teaching position to pursue a Ph.D. in history at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1966, he joined the
history department at San José State College and in 1970 received his doctorate degree from Berkeley.
Walsh's career spanned 35 years at San José State. During that time he served as chair of the history department (1982-1986),
associate dean of the College of Social Sciences (1987-1988), Dean of the College of Social Sciences (1988-1994), and academic
vice president [renamed Provost] (1995). During his career he received three foreign research and teaching appointments and
published eight books. In recognition of his contributions to the historical profession, the California Historical Society
honored Walsh with the J.S. Holliday Award.
San José State University: An Interpretive History 1950-2000 is the result of James Walsh's recommendation to University President
Robert L. Caret that the previous university history,
Washington Square, 1857-1979, San José State University, was out of date and that a new history was needed. Since the previous history's publication in 1980, the campus, faculty,
student body, and educational mission of San José State University had changed significantly. In addition, Washington Square's
co-author and Walsh's mentor, Charles Burdick, encouraged him to reassess that work if given the opportunity.
He spent one additional year researching and writing the history of Continuing Education as well as International Studies
SJSU (2005).
Continuing Education Since 1857: San José State University, chronicles the connection between the development of San José State University as a modern institution and the continuing
education programs that existed at the begining of its institutional life.
Walsh's other major works include:
Ethnic militancy; an Irish Catholic prototype,
The Irish: America's Political Class,
The San Francisco Irish and
San Francisco's Hallinan : toughest lawyer in town,
The Irish in the American West,
Legacy of a Native Son. A more complete list of his publications and a retrospective on their meaning are available in
Essays on Good Fortune by Donald Jordan and Timothy J. O'Keefe.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection consists of the research files collected and created by Professor Walsh in the production of his books,
San José State University: An Interpretive History 1950-2000 and
One and the same: The History of continuing Education at San José State University 1857-2007. The collection contains manuscripts, research and subject files as well as photographs.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in 3 series. I. Manuscripts; II. Photographs and Ephemera; III. Subject Files.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
San José State University -- History -- 20th century